Several Hokies on various preseason All-ACC teams
Slow news day so far. We’ll see if anything picks up in the afternoon, but in the meantime, here are some All-ACC teams that have come out in the last few weeks. It’s always interesting to see what outsiders think of the Hokies’ personnel.
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The only two that I see out there right now are Athlon and Phil Steele. If there are any others, let me know and I’ll add it to the list.
Athlon
- 1st — DE James Gayle, DB Kyle Fuller
- 2nd — QB Logan Thomas, DE J.R. Collins
- 3rd — WR Marcus Davis, C Andrew Miller, DT Derrick Hopkins, KR Dyrell Roberts
Phil Steele
- 1st — Thomas, LB Bruce Taylor
- 2nd — Miller, Gayle, Fuller
- 3rd — Davis, D. Hopkins, Collins, CB Antone Exum
- 4th — LB Tariq Edwards, Roberts (KR)
What are your thoughts? Any omissions? Somebody not high enough or too high?
UPDATE: Taylor was also picked as a fourth-team All-American by Steele. Interesting, considering the injury he is coming off of. He was the only Hokies player picked.
May 24, 2012 - 11:36 AM
Interesting how Steele and Athlon have Thomas flipped. Likewise with Gayle.
Personally, I think that defensively, Gayle should be a 1st teamer, hands down while Thomas’ a probable 2nd teamer when it comes to quarterbacks. I can’t remember, but there seem to be a few returning starting quarterbacks in the ACC. I read somewhere that some projects the Duke quarterback as a can’t-miss next with Thomas right behind him.
Lots of decent QBs in the league this year: Boyd (Clemson), Thomas (VT), Glennon (NCST), Washington (GT), Manuel (FSU), Renfree (Duke), Renner (UNC), Price (WF).
Rettig was pretty good at BC. Rocco too at UVa, with the slim chance that Sims could be eligible this year.
Certainly a deep group. I think I’d still put Thomas first. I voted that way on the All-ACC team last year. We’ll see how things unfold this year now that a lot of his weapons are gone.
The ACC is pretty loaded at QB this next year – and what is odd is how many of them are Virginia kids. That is the amazing thing. You want a QB? Apparently you need to recruit the Commonwealth.
I don’t put too much stock into pre-season, or post-season all conference teams. The real measure will come in April. Athlon might think Logan Thomas is a second team All-ACC guy now, but some NFL team is going to think of him as the first or second overall pick in the draft – and I’m guessing he’ll be #1 overall. His size is one thing, you can’t coach that, but he’s also a good guy, and good guys don’t embarrass you or cause you to waste your money.
Thomas won’t put up the numbers he did last year, but that does NOT mean he won’t be a better NFL prospect. New WR’s, new RB’s, new O-line means he’ll create a miracle if he matches his prior numbers.
He is the best QB in the conference, even if he doesn’t produce the biggest numbers.
Yeah I think you have to take these picks with a grain of salt, as with any pre-season hoopla. As you said Andy, interesting that Steele pegged Taylor as a first teamer coming off that injury, Dyrell Roberts is kind of the same thing also coming off an injury and not having returned a kick in over a year. Also Antone Exum looked good at CB in Spring, but kind of odd to have him pegged as 3rd team all ACC at corner not having played an official down at his new position. I agree with Athlon on Gayle and Fuller though, Gayle is a straight beast and Fuller can do it all, both NFL caliber for sure. Good to see these guys getting the recognition.
Logan Thomas will show how great he can be, along with the team, if and only if the o-line turns out to be really good. The wr’s and rb’s will be good as usual. Every year tech has a mediocre o-line at best which is what holds them back from getting to that next level. They lost 4 starters from last season and none of them even got a sniff in the draft. To me that says a lot considering they are a top 12 or so program.