Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson and Jameis Winston rank 1-2-3 among ACC players in career total offense per game. Winston won the 2013 Heisman Trophy, led Florida State to the national championship and never lost a conference game; Louisville’s Jackson won the 2016 Heisman Trophy and finished third a year later; Watson steered Clemson to consecutive College Football Playoff finals and the 2016 national title.
How to select an All-ACC quarterback for the last 15 years from among those luminaries? The group is so accomplished that they overshadow Boston College’s Matt Ryan and North Carolina State’s Russell Wilson.
To mark the 15 seasons since the ACC’s 2004 expansion, I thought it would be fun to pick an all-league team from that time. Yesterday was the defense, today the offense, and quarterback wasn’t the only paralyzing decision, illuminating the conference’s depth.
Consider tight end, where Virginia’s Heath Miller, Clemson’s Dwayne Allen and Florida State’s Nick O’Leary were consensus All-Americans, but Wake Forest’s Cam Serigne set ACC career records for receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches by a tight end.
Boston College’s Andre Williams shattered the conference’s single-season rushing yardage standard with 2,177 yards in 2013, when he became the league’s only winner of the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back. But does one landmark year — that was Williams’ only season with more than 600 yards — make the cut?
And how about kicker? Dustin Hopkins left Florida State in 2012 with more career points than any kicker in Bowl Subdivision history (466), but his accuracy doesn’t match another All-American Seminole.
On to the picks. Asterisks indicate a consensus All-American, which the NCAA defines as a player who made at least two of the five recognized All-America teams.
QUARTERBACK
Deshaun Watson* (Clemson 2014-16): The first two-time ACC Player of the Year since Florida State’s Charlie Ward in 1992 and ’93, Jackson would be a great choice. So would Winston, whose lone defeat in two collegiate seasons was to Oregon in the 2014 CFP semifinals. Then why select Watson, the only one of the three without a Heisman? Well, he was 32-3 as a starter, and one of the setbacks came when he exited in the first quarter with a knee injury. Most telling, in four playoff starts he was epic, throwing for 1,271 yards and nine touchdowns, while rushing for 318 yards and four other scores.
Honorable mention: Jackson*, Winston*, Ryan, Wilson, Virginia Tech’s Tyrod Taylor, Clemson’s Tajh Boyd, Virginia Tech’s Bryan Randall and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence.
RUNNING BACKS
Dalvin Cook* (Florida State 2014-16): Impossible to argue with three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, an ACC career-record 117.5 yards per game and a stirring 6.5 yards per carry.
James Conner (Pittsburgh 2013-16): Stirring doesn’t begin to describe the personal story of Conner. The 2014 ACC Player of the Year, he missed most of the following season with a knee injury and was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in November 2015. Declared cancer-free six months later, he rushed for 1,092 yards in 2016. His 52 rushing touchdowns and 56 total touchdowns are ACC career records.
Honorable mention: Boston College’s Andre Williams*, Miami’s Duke Johnson, Clemson’s C.J. Spiller, North Carolina’s Giovani Bernard, Georgia Tech’s Jonathan Dwyer, Virginia Tech’s David Wilson, Wake Forest’s Chris Barclay and Clemson’s Travis Etienne.
RECEIVERS
Calvin Johnson* (Georgia Tech 2004-06): The only receiver in the last 20 seasons named ACC Player of the Year, Johnson was a three-time, first-team all-conference selection and a unanimous All-American in 2006. Awards and stats don’t reflect just how dynamic he was.
Rashad Greene (Florida State 2011-14): The ACC’s career leader in receiving yards with 3,830, Greene also ranks third in receptions with 270 and fourth in touchdown catches with 29. He was Winston’s favorite target as the Seminoles went a combined 27-1 in 2013 and ’14.
Sammy Watkins (Clemson 2011-13): Separating Watkins from fellow Tigers wideouts De’Andre Hopkins and Mike Williams is a bear, but Watkins was the only one of the trio to make first-team all-league twice. His 27 career touchdown receptions trail only Greene’s 29 and Johnson’s 28 in the last 15 years.
Honorable mention: Hopkins, Williams, Pitt’s Tyler Boyd, Duke’s Jamison Crowder, Duke’s Conner Vernon, Virginia Tech’s Isaiah Ford, Virginia Tech’s Cam Phillips, Clemson’s Hunter Renfrow, North Carolina’s Quinshad Davis, North Carolina’s Ryan Switzer, Syracuse’s Steve Ishmael, Virginia’s Olamide Zaccheaus, Georgia Tech’s Demaryius Thomas and Syracuse’s Amba Etta-Tawo.
TIGHT END
Heath Miller* (Virginia 2002-04): Miller’s best statistical year was pre-expansion, when he caught 70 passes in 2003, an ACC record for a tight end. But his overall play as a blocker and pass-catcher earned him unanimous All-America honors in ’04, when he also won the Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end.
Honorable mention: Florida State’s Nick O’Leary*, Clemson’s Dwayne Allen*, Wake Forest’s Cam Serigne, North Carolina’s Eric Ebron, Maryland’s Vernon Davis and N.C. State’s Jaylen Samuels.
CENTER
Garrett Bradbury* (North Carolina State 2015-18): The Wolfpack’s most decorated center since Jim Richter in 1979, Bradbury won the Rimington Award as the nation’s best at his position last season. He was a three-year starter and selected 18th overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL draft. The last center picked earlier was Damien Woody, chosen 17th by the New England Patriots out of Boston College in 1999.
Honorable mention: Florida State’s Bryan Stork* and Wake Forest’s Steve Justice.
GUARDS
Rodney Hudson* (Florida State 2007-10): A four-time all-conference selection, the last three as a first-teamer, Hudson is among the most-honored offensive linemen in ACC history. He was a unanimous All-American as a senior and two-time winner of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the league’s top o-lineman.
Jonathan Cooper* (North Carolina 2009-12): NFL teams rarely spend top-10 draft picks on guards, but Cooper went seventh overall to the Arizona Cardinals after earning unanimous All-America honors as a senior.
Honorable mention: Virginia’s Elton Brown*, Florida State’s Tre Jackson*, Georgia Tech’s Shaq Mason, Duke’s Laken Tomlinson, Clemson’s Tyrone Crowder, Virginia’s Branden Albert, North Carolina’s Landon Turner, Georgia Tech’s Omoregie Uzzi and Boston College’s Josh Beekman.
TACKLES
D’Brickashaw Ferguson* (Virginia 2002-05): The first Cavaliers true freshman to start a season-opener on the offensive line, Ferguson was a two-time, first-team All-ACC selection and the fourth overall pick of the 2006 NFL draft. He started all 160 games of his 10-year New York Jets career, and the only snap he missed was for a gimmick play in the 2008 season-finale.
Mitch Hyatt* (Clemson 2015-18): Every player on this team, including Wake Forest punter Ryan Plackemeier, was drafted – except for the undersized Hyatt. But Hyatt and former Virginia All-American Jim Dombrowski (1983-85) are the only offensive tackles named first-team All-ACC three times. Moreover, coaches twice awarded Hyatt the league’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy. He started for two national champions and helped the Tigers go 55-4 during the last four seasons.
Honorable mention: Florida State’s Alex Barron*, Boston College’s Anthony Castonzo, Virginia’s Eugene Monroe, Florida State’s Roderick Johnson, Miami’s Eric Winston, Georgia Tech’s Andrew Gardner, Clemson’s Barry Richardson, and Virginia Tech’s Blake DeChristopher.
KICKER
Roberto Aguayo* (Florida State 2013-15): Aguayo not only succeeded Dustin Hopkins as the Seminoles’ kicker but also surpassed him. OK, so his three-year point total of 405 fell shy of Hopkins’ then-record 466 in four seasons. But Aguayo set ACC career accuracy records for extra points (198-of-198) and field goals among those with at least 50 attempts (69-of-78, or 88.4%).
Honorable mention: Syracuse’s Andre Szmyt*, Boston College’s Nate Freese, Virginia Tech’s Brandon Pace, Duke’s Ross Martin, Virginia’s Connor Hughes, Clemson’s Chandler Catanzaro, Florida State’s Graham Gano and Hopkins.
KICKOFF RETURNER
C.J. Spiller* (Clemson 2006-09): Division I’s career leader with seven kickoff returns for touchdown, Spiller took a punt to the house as well. His eight total kick returns for touchdown also are a Division I record. Five of those scores, four via kickoff and one on a punt, came in 2009, when Spiller was a unanimous All-American.
Honorable mention: Pitt’s Quadree Henderson*, Duke’s DeVon Edwards, Maryland’s Torrey Smith, Clemson’s Justin Miller, Virginia Tech’s David Wilson, Miami’s Duke Johnson, Virginia’s Joe Reed, North Carolina’s T.J. Logan and Florida State’s Kermit Whitfield. Special applause for Whitfield, author of the most important kickoff return in ACC history, a 100-yarder in the fourth quarter of FSU’s 34-31 conquest of Auburn for the 2013 national championship.
PUNT RETURNER
Ryan Switzer (North Carolina 2013-16): As a freshman, Switzer returned a Division I record five punts for touchdown. He also held the career standard of seven until Washington’s Dante Pettis upped the ante to eight in 2017.
Honorable mention: Florida State’s Willie Reid, Florida State’s Greg Reid, Syracuse’s Brisly Estime, Maryland’s Tony Logan, Virginia Tech’s Eddie Royal, Duke’s Jamison Crowder, North Carolina’s Giovani Bernard and Miami’s Devin Hester.
COACH
Dabo Swinney (Clemson 2008-present): Most head coaches have coordinator experience. Few interim head coaches survive the interim. Formerly the Tigers’ receivers coach, Swinney defied both conventions to author a career that will land him in the College Football Hall of Fame. He’s at two national championships – and counting – and always brings his own guts.
Honorable mention: Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer and Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher.
For those keeping score at home, 12 schools are represented on the combined teams. Clemson and Florida State have six players each, Wake Forest three, N.C. State, North Carolina, Pitt and Virginia two each, Virginia Tech, Duke, Boston College, Georgia Tech and Louisville one each.
Hope y’all enjoyed reading these two columns as much as I did the writing. Later this year an even more daunting assignment: Picking the best of ACC basketball from the post-expansion era.
