Thomas’ ability to fend off increased attention towards him, or Ford’s ability to stay healthy. TE- Greg Boone, Virginia Tech: Easy choice here, I would think. OT- Anthony Castonzo, Boston College, and Jason Fox, Miami (Castonzo, Fox): You can always count on BC linemen to be solid, and Fox is just a fantastic athlete for his size. One of the easier selections I made. OG- Rodney Hudson, Florida State, and Cord Howard, Georgia Tech (Hudson, Sergio Render, Virginia Tech): Honestly, I thought about voting for Render, but he is just a bit slow and inconsistent for my tastes. Howard will surely get a chance to show some athletic ability as a pulling guard in Paul Johnson’s option system. I think his ability in the open field opening up lanes for Dwyer, Josh Nesbitt, and their slew of running backs gets him some recognition. C- Matt Tennant, Boston College (Tennant): Certainly helped by the fact that he was in attendance, but again, BC linemen are always solid. Phil Costa of Maryland also got consideration from yours truly. K- Matt Bosher, Miami (Bosher): He bailed them out many a time last year, and Randy Shannon stressed the importance of having a consistent kicker over and over again at his table on Monday. Specialist: C.J. Spiller, Clemson (Spiller): An easy choice here, as I think this is his most productive position on the field. He will produce some Heisman-worthy highlights, and if he proves me wrong at tailback, he may jump into legitimate Heisman consideration.
Preseason All-ACC Ballot- Defense August 3, 2009 Since I presented my All-ACC Offense in a previous post, here is the defense. Thankfully, the Tar Heels are well represented on both mine and the official ballots. DE- Willie Young, N.C. State, and Derrick Morgan, Ga. Tech (Young and Jason Worilds, Virginia Tech): Young will have to anchor a Wolfpack D that may be without star LB Nate Irving for most of the season. Since he passed up the chance to be a first-round pick in April’s draft, I think he has the talent. Morgan is the lone holdover from last year on Georgia Tech’s D-line, but the man can play. DT- Marvin Austin, North Carolina, and Vince Ohgobaase, Duke (Austin and Ohgobaase): Two former 5-star recruits, playing at rival schools. I like both of these picks, and both could be firstround picks come April 2010. LB- Quan Sturdivant, North Carolina, Dekoda Watson, Florida State, and Nigel Bradham, Florida State (Sturdivant, Watson, Alex Wujciak, Maryland): OK, OK… I’ll admit. Bradham, as a first-year starter, may have been a bit of a shot in the dark. However, I’ve loved his game since he was in high school, and he and Watson could form one of the better linebacking tandems in the country. Sturdivant teamed with punt-blocker extraordinaire Bruce Carter and speedster Zach Brown won’t make a bad group either. CB- Vic Hall, Virginia, and Patrick Robinson, Florida State (Ras-I Dowling, Virginia, and Kendric Burney, North Carolina): Well, apparently I got the wrong UVA corner. I think Dowling’s shutdown ability will allow Hall a chance to pad his stats this year. Playing double duty at QB should only help his chances of getting this honor. I was shocked that Burney made it, only because Carolina’s corners seem to get picked on by the media. I love this pick though,
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