Peoria-area football fans don't disrespect defense.

Western Illinois commit Cameron Nickel, a star linebacker for Metamora, was voted the Peoria area's 2024 preseason football player of the year, according to fans who voted in the online poll this week.

Nickel, a 6-foot-3, 218-pound senior, was an all-Mid-Illini second-team linebacker in 2023. The three-star prospect had 68 tackles with nine tackles for loss, three sacks and one forced fumble. He committed to Western Illinois before the season.

Background: Metamora linebacker's family tree includes World Series MVP and NFL Pro Bowler

The vote was a two-player race between Nickel and Notre Dame's Ben Mullens. Nickel got 28,331 of the 71,011 votes, or about 40 percent — about 7 percent more than Mullens (23,427, 33 percent). Next highest was Farmington quarterback Lane Wheelwright, who earned about 11 percent (7,677 votes). Manual quarterback Amare Breedlove earned 6.1 percent (4,300), but no other player broke 3 percent. Full results are at pjstar.com.

There were 12 players on the ballot, the same who made our inaugural Dandy Dozen released in early August. Voting opened Monday at pjstar.com and ended Friday afternoon. Nominees are below.

2024 Fans Choice Journal Star Preseason Player of the Year

• Amare Breedlove, sr. QB/DB, Manual

• Seandon Buffington, sr. RB, Morton

• Ty Dykes, sr. lineman, Tremont

• Noah LaPorte, sr. TE, Princeton

• Connor Liescheidt, sr. lineman, East Peoria

• Ben Mullens, sr. RB/LB, Peoria Notre Dame

• Cameron Nickel, sr. LB, Metamora

• Carter Prina, sr. DL, Washington

• Zeb Rashid, sr. RB, Annawan/Wethersfield

• Mack Sutter, jr. TE/LB, Dunlap

• TQ Webb, sr. WR, Peoria High

• Lane Wheelwright, sr. QB, Farmington

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Poll results for preseason player of the year in Peoria football