College football prognosticator extraordinaire Phil Steele released his Preseason All-ACC Team this afternoon. Ten Hokies made the squad. Tech's headliners were Luther Maddy at DT, and Kendall Fuller at CB (obvious selections). Florida State dominated Steele's selections. Did anyone expect anything different? Does anyone have any grievances?
Offense
| 1st TEAM | 2nd TEAM | 3rd TEAM | 4th TEAM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Jameis Winston, Florida St | Marquise Williams, North Carolina | Anthony Boone, Duke | Will Gardner, Louisville |
| RB | Duke Johnson, Miami | Kevin Parks, Virginia | Dominique Brown, Louisville | TJ Logan, North Carolina |
| RB | Karlos Williams, Florida St | Trey Edmunds, Virginia Tech | James Conner, Pittsburgh | Wayne Gallman, Clemson |
| WR | Rashad Greene, Florida St | Tyler Boyd, Pittsburgh | Eli Rogers, Louisville | Charone Peake, Clemson |
| WR | Jamison Crowder, Duke | Quinshad Davis, North Carolina | Phillip Dorsett, Miami | Demitri Knowles, Va Tech |
| WR | DeVante Parker, Louisville | Stacy Coley, Miami | Joshua Stanford, Va Tech | Isaiah Jones, Florida St |
| TE | Nick O'Leary, Florida St | Braxton Deaver, Duke | Gerald Christian, Louisville | Clive Walford, Miami |
| C | Jake Smith, Louisville | Andy Gallik, Boston College | Shane McDermott, Miami | David Wang, Virginia Tech |
| OG | Tre' Jackson Florida St | Josue Matias, Florida St | John Miller, Louisville | Landon Turner, N Carolina |
| OG | Laken Tomlinson, Duke | Shaquille Mason, Georgia Tech | Matt Rotheram, Pittsburgh | Bobby Vardaro, Boston Coll |
| OT | Sean Hickey, Syracuse | Ereck Flowers, Miami | Jamon Brown, Louisville | Tyson Chandler, NC State |
| OT | Cameron Erving, Florida St | Bobby Hart, Florida St | Jonathan McLaughlin, Va Tech | Takoby Cofield, Duke |
Defense
| 1st TEAM | 2nd TEAM | 3rd TEAM | 4th TEAM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE | Vic Beasley, Clemson | Lorenzo Mauldin, Louisville | Corey Crawford, Clemson | Chris Casher, Florida St |
| DT | Grady Jarrett, Clemson | Eddie Goldman, Florida St | Adam Gotsis, Georgia Tech | Andrew Brown, Virginia |
| DT | Luther Maddy, Virginia Tech | Thomas Teal, NC State | David Dean, Virginia | Corey Marshall, Virginia Tech |
| DE | Mario Edwards, Florida St | Anthony Chickillo, Miami | Eli Harold, Virginia | Art Norman, NC State |
| LB | Denzel Perryman, Miami | Norkeithus Otis, North Carolina | Cameron Lynch, Syracuse | Reggie Northrup, Florida St |
| LB | Stephone Anthony, Clemson | Quayshawn Nealy, Georgia Tech | Henry Coley, Virginia | James Burgess, Louisville |
| LB | Kelby Brown, Duke | Dyshawn Davis, Syracuse | Steven Daniels, Boston Coll | Anthony Gonzalez, Pittsburgh |
| LB | Terrance Smith, Florida St | David Helton, Duke | Travis Hughes, North Carolina | Tony Steward, Clemson |
| CB | Kendall Fuller, Virginia Tech | Ronald Darby, Florida St | Kevin Johnson, Wake Forest | Tracy Howard, Miami |
| CB | PJ Williams, Florida St | Brandon Facyson, Virginia Tech | Charles Gaines, Louisville | Demetrious Nicholson, UVA |
| S | Anthony Harris, Virginia | Kyshoen Jarrett, Virginia Tech | Jayron Kearse, Clemson | Tim Scott, North Carolina |
| S | Jeremy Cash, Duke | Durell Eskridge, Syracuse | Jalen Ramsey, Florida St | Isaiah Johnson, Georgia Tech |
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Comments
No idea how Karlos Williams beats out Edmunds for RB2.. yeah he is on fsu but if you look at stats and % of load I think its Edmunds for sure.
Looking at Stat lines its close but really don't see a huge difference there. If anything Edmunds would have had a TD or 2 had he not got hurt. In the Miami week and then UVA he really started to see the lanes and make the proper cuts to find the open field.
Yard per carry are not even close and Williams is moving up to playing with the 1st string instead of 3rd string (was behind Freeman and Wilder Jr.). Yeah, he probably played garbage time in most of those games, but he also did it without the 1st string o-line. FSU's o-line should also help out again this year.
I get your point but I also would go as far to say our 1st string OL might not be better than FSU's 2's and 3's.. sad but the truth. This year it will change though..
Regardless its a ranking that means nothing
Can someone explain PJ Williams over Fayscon? I'm actually curious not asking a rhetorical question.
^^^^^explanation ^^^^^
If Marquise Williams is the 2nd best QB in this league, the ACC is screwed
Who is better than him?
For one I'd take Anthony Boone.
And probably Terrell Hunt of Syracuse as well. I'd also not over look Cole Stoudt (personal bias).
You're right, there isn't anyone better that we know of. I think Williams is a very solid QB who can get much better. Wish we had him.
i think you both have points
I'm shocked that nobody considered Greyson Lambert!!
Considering the amount of QBs that graduated it seems fair that ones that have starting and major game experience are at the top, unless there is a crazy awesome 5-star expected to start playing. Remember, Boyd is gone, Thomas is gone, Bridgewater is gone, Savage is gone, etc.
No Dadi Nicholas? If he's not one the 8 best DE's in the conference, I'll eat my hat.
Surprised that VT has two receivers in the top 12.
Trey Edmunds as 2nd team is a bit of a surprise, but not shocking.
If Marquis Williams is the 2nd best QB in the ACC (but may not even start), either the other guy at UNC is really good or the ACC is really hurting -- or both.
Oh...and UVa is probably a little overrepresented on the offensive side of the ball...
I agree! I'll add that they are definitely over represented on the defensive side of the ball
Strange to see the lack of Clemson players on the offensive side of the ball. Like the complete lack of them. I think when the season ends we'll see more of them there.
Also I'd take Anthony Boone over Marquise Williams any day. Hell, I think he may be the better QB in the league this season is JW has the typical sophomore slump.
If Anthony Boone is even the 2nd best QB in the ACC, the ACC is hurting.
I think Clemson hit lightning in a bottle the last three years and are due for a bigger drop-off than many expect.
I think you are severely underrated Marquise Williams. He was on my college fantasy team (yes, it exists and it's glorious) and he was racking up Manziel-esque statistics by the end of the season.
You're talking about Marquis Williams with UNC, right?
His rushing numbers were pretty good (~60 yrd/game), but other than the ODU game, his passing numbers -- against mostly bad teams -- were anything but Manziel-esque.
Brewer should be one of the top 4 QBs in the conference by seasons end.
The Hokies are well represented but Im not fully satisfied. The Offense has to do better to be on the first team next year.
How does Andrew Brown make the (4th, yes) team without having taken a college snap yet?
Same reason Harrison Barnes was preseason All-American a few years ago in basketball before he got on campus
I heard he's pretty good at football
If you pay attention to this list, UVa has the arguably the best front-7 on defense in the league, and most loaded defense, outside of maybe Florida State.
I just don't see that happening, or even coming close to happening this year. Thats a pipe dream, especially after the beatings they took week in and week out last year.
They will really miss Urban, but we don't know what Brown could be. Plenty of DT's have been big disruptors from Day 1.
I'm expecting a bit of rejuvenation from UVA this year, it's not easy going ...what....2-10? That takes some work. I think we will see them play above their talent, at least early in the year, as some last gasp to save it for London. But when they lose, the second half could be painful. I think they win 4 or 5 games and Lambert is considerably better than their QB play last year.
Bud Foster should be reserved for each 1st team position on Defense because:
Bud Foster + 5th Team All ACC > Any Coach + 1st Team All ACC (minus Kendall and Luther).
Whatever happened to Kwontie Moore? Didn't he get moved to DT or something similarly absurd?
He did. But it didn't work out so he was moved to DE last I checked.
I don't think there's a snow ball's chance in hell that a Virginia Tech TE isn't on this list by the season's end.
Kline, Malleck, and Hodges...that has to be the best tight end group in the conference, and I have a feeling we'll be using them a lot this year.
Also, if one were to cast a vote for the Hokies' Whip or Rover position would it be as a LB or a Safety? Or a Corner? I'm thinking Van Dyke may play his way on to this list as well.
Being the best unit could be more problematic than helpful. No one will stand out as spectacular and these lists are mostly about stats. 3 people tearing the field up don't have the same eye-popping numbers as a guy who stands out in an average group.
Yeah, that thought definitely crossed my mind. I still think one of them will put up at least 3rd or 4th team type numbers even if they have to share production, though. That's my bold, preseason prediction.
Harris over Jarrett? Really?
Didn't Harris lead the country in interceptions last year?
You are starting to see his name in mock drafts for next year as well. I don't see it, he looks very ordinary to me.
Really says something that Steele puts 2 VT receivers on the list with the current QB situation
I think at this point he was just pulling names out of a hat.
Didn't expect him to be on here, but if Brewer can crack the top 4 by the end of the season, we'll be in good shape.
Missing Sam Rogers. I guess there is no FB selection.
Any time you get to a 4th team All-Conference selection, it's probably based mostly on last season and/or high school tape/recruiting ranking. There's definitely plenty of room for movement for many guys. Good to see Big Lu up there on the first team, I think he's going to have a big impact for us this year.
As for WR's, think of the guys that graduated or left early and it's a pretty shallow pool. K. Benjamin, Watkins and Bryant of Clemson, Campanaro, Amidon at BC, Allen Hurns of Miami all left.
And like WR, QB was left desolate after this past season with so many guys graduating in the ACC. Leaves the door open for a guy like Brewer to play his way into position there. If he does that, then we should be a very solid team. I'm intrigued that McLaughlin already may be an All-ACC caliber lineman.
Who is this Harris and why have I never heard of him??
I keep seeing these players from Syracuse. Is that an ACC team?
Facyson>PJ