I agree, it's not the same as being an actual all-american, but there are VERY few freshmen QBs that play. There are a lot more freshmen who play at other positions (except OL, which is another spot where almost no freshmen play).

For instance, last year there were a ton of freshmen who played significantly and got a lot of stats. Rowe's were pretty good (35 solo tackles, 34 assisted tackles, 9 PBU, 1 INT).

I'm not saying Rowe or Blechen are the best safeties ever to play at Utah (Weddle and RoJo are still #1 and #2 in my mind, and there are a bunch of other names in the mix), but freshman all-american is still a pretty big deal.