How many NC State players have a chance to be first-team All-ACC in 2020?

Here’s an in-depth look at the most realistic candidates and why they may make it or why they are likely to be left off when the team is revealed.

Ekwonu was one of only two ACC offensive linemen to be named Lineman of the Week multiple times in 2020, joining Notre Dame’s Liam Eichenburg. The latter is probably a lock however to make the first-team at offensive tackle. Eichenburg is the lone ACC player to be a finalist for the Outland Trophy, awarded to college football’s top lineman.

The other leading candidate is probably Christian Darrisaw of Virginia Tech, who recently announced that he is turning pro after he achieved the third highest grade among all offensive linemen in college football according to Pro Football Focus (PFF), with a 95.6 overall offense score.

Further hurting Ekwonu’s chances of being first-team All-ACC is that PFF also graded out Notre Dame’s other tackle, Robert Hainsey, at 91.0, which is even higher than Eichenburg’s 88.2. Ekwonu’s season-long score was 80.8.

Both Hainsey and Darrisaw were ACC Lineman of the Week once during the season, and those two along with Eichenburg were PFF All-Americans at tackle.

Angeline posted good numbers for a tight end, catching 27 passes for 412 yards and six touchdowns, and he has a good chance of being on an All-ACC team, just probably not the first one.

That honor is a good bet to go to Boston College’s Hunter Long, who like Darrisaw has already announced his intentions to turn pro. Long made 57 catches for 685 yards and five touchdowns this season and is up for the Mackey Award, given to college football’s top tight end.

Miami’s Brevin Jordan probably would have been a favorite as well had he not missed a decent part of the season. Jordan finished with 30 receptions for 480 yards and five touchdowns.

The only excuse for McNeill not to make first-team All-ACC is because enough writers were not paying attention well enough and are just going to go back pure stats, which do not indicate the dominance McNeill had during the season.

On Monday, PFF made McNeill a first-team All-American after he had the seventh best grade for overall defense (90.7) of any defender in the country to play at least 100 snaps this season and tops among ACC players. McNeill’s 92.1 score against the run was best among defensive linemen in the conference, applying the same minimum, and fourth best in the country overall.

It’s hard to see where Wilson is not first-team All-ACC. He and UNC’s Chazz Surratt were the only players to win multiple ACC Linebacker of the Week honors, with Wilson being the only to get it three times on the season.

Wilson also led the ACC in tackles (108) and tackles per game (10.8), becoming the first Wolfpack player since Levar Fisher (2000) to lead the league in tackles.

Dunn and Gill rank among the top kicking tandems in the ACC, but statistically speaking probably have an uphill climb for first-team All-ACC.

Gill was fourth in the ACC in punting average at 44.8 per game, and he, perhaps unsurprisingly, had the fifth best PFF grade for punters in the league. Georgia Tech’s Pressley Harving III (48.0 average) and Miami’s Lou Hedley (47.3) had the two best averages, while Syracuse’s Nolan Cooney averaged 44.8 yards and led the ACC by pinning 24 boots inside the 20. That may explain why Cooney was PFF’s second-graded punter.

Dunn was his usual excellent self, making 12 of 15 field goals with a long of 53 yards (done twice), but a lot of times being first-team All-ACC is about opportunities. Miami’s Jose Borregales, Virginia Tech’s Brian Johnson and Pittsburgh's Alex Kessman may be the three leading contenders for that reason.

Borregales was PFF’s top-graded kicker in the country after making 18 of 20 tries with a long of 57 yards. Kessman made a league-high 23 kicks on 29 attempts and had the longest make of the season at 58 yards. Johnson was 20 of 26 with a long of 55.

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