The reason I love preseason all-conference teams in football —- especially those voted upon with a couple representatives from each school in attendance —- is to see just how many of the players who were brought to the event wind up on the top of the ballot.
Obviously, some of them are legitimately good. Others happen to just be seniors who have played a lot in the past. Leaving it to the media to sort it out is admittedly not always the wisest move.
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Of the 25 players on this year’s all-ACC preseason team, 12 happened to be at the ACC Kickoff.
Anyway, Maryland had one representative —- center Edwin Williams, who was in attendance. Virginia had two: Linebacker Clint Sintim (also in attendance) and massive offensive tackle Eugene Monroe.
Another school of interest had only a pair: Virginia Tech‘s representatives were guard Sergio Render and cornerback Victor “Macho” Harris. For the purposes of full disclosure, neither was in attendance.
The preseason player of the year? As expected, quarterback Cullen Harper of Clemson. He got 34 out of 64 votes, with Tigers tailbacks James Davis (16) and C.J. Spiller (4) accounting for another 20 selections.
The other 10 votes were mostly spread around to Wake Forest’s backfield (tailback Josh Adams and quarterback Riley Skinner both got two nods each) and a pair of senior quarterbacks (Florida State’s Drew Weatherford and Virginia Tech’s Sean Glennon both picked up a couple votes).
A couple of defensive players received nods —- Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry and Virginia Tech’s Harris. That means someone else really likes the chances of Harris, a Discourse favorite, to enjoy a remarkably strong season.
—- Patrick Stevens
