The ACC officially put a wrap on their preseason honors on Thursday afternoon when they announced their preseason all-conference team and the preseason player of the year.
The Tar Heels saw just two players named to the preseason All-ACC team, with Omarion Hampton receiving the most votes of any running back (114) and Willie Lampkin doing the same among the offensive guards (64).
Hampton, the first team All-ACC member and second team All-American last year, enters his junior season looking to improve upon one of the best seasons from a running back in Tar Heel football history. The Doak Walker award finalist from a year ago ran for 1,504 yards and 15 touchdowns, while also catching 29 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown. Repeating that type of performance and finding the endzone a few more times might be enough to get him that first team All-American honor and the Doak Walker Award.
Lampkin earned third team All-ACC honors last season in his first year with the program and is looking for more this year. He graded out as the team’s best run blocker (77.3), pass blocker (83.9) and overall blocker (76.2) according to PFF and there is no reason to think he won’t be able to produce similar or better numbers this season. He has also stepped up as the leader of the group this offseason, demanding excellence from his teammates while leading by example. If he can put up similar numbers, he will be a favorite to land All-ACC first team honors in the postseason and could get some consideration to be an All-American.
While Hampton did enough to land first team All-ACC honors, he was spurned for the Preseason Player of the Year honor in favor of Miami quarterback Cam Ward. This is a rough look for the ACC media, who decided to go with a quarterback who was an honorable mention in the Pac-12 last season instead of a second team All-American. The margin is more concerning, with Ward, who faded down the stretch last season for a Washington State team that limped to the finish, receiving 71 first place votes to Hampton’s 38. Disgusting.
Worse than that is the fact that Kaimon Rucker is not a first team All-ACC member. Don’t get it wrong; Ashton Guillotte and Rueben Bain Jr. are worthy picks, but there was an option to place the versatile Guillotte at the defensive tackle spot in order to get Rucker on the first team, which should have been the move considering Rucker was one of the top pass rushers in the country last season according to Pro Football Focus’ statistics. Brutal.
Simply put, this should be bulletin board material for the Tar Heels. ACC media, let's be better.
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