The ACC announced its 2021 preseason All-ACC team on Tuesday as voted on by the credentialed members of the media during last week's media days event. Considering Clemson's ACC dominance in the College Football Playoff era, it should come as no surprise that eight Tigers received enough votes to be honored on the league's preseason team.
In a glimpse of where Clemson's strength might be in 2021, six of those eight players were on the defensive side of the ball. Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy were the top vote-getters at defensive tackle and defensive end, respectively. Bresee was joined on the first team by defensive tackle Tyler Davis, linebacker James Skalski, cornerback Andrew Booth and safety Nolan Turner. That's three of the top four defensive linemen as well as one of the top two players in the league at linebacker, cornerback and safety.
One of the biggest stars of the ACC Football Kickoff was Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, but he did not end up as the selection for Preseason Player of the Year or even first team quarterback. Those honors went to North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell, who was an overwhelming choice for player of the year earning 114 votes while second-place D'Eriq King, from Miami, had just 11.
2021 Preseason All-ACC team (Offense)
- QB: Sam Howell, North Carolina (118)
- RB: Zonovan Knight, NC State (96)
- RB: Mataeo Durant, Duke (49)
- WR: Justyn Ross, Clemson (110)
- WR: Zay Flowers, Boston College (101)
- WR: Jaquarii Roberson, Wake Forest (80)
- TE: James Mitchell, Virginia Tech (77)
- AP: Jahmyr Gibbs, Georgia Tech (56)
- OT: Ikem Ekwonu, NC State (83)
- OT: Jordan McFadden, Clemson (53)
- OG: Zion Johnson, Boston College (82)
- OG: Joshua Ezeudu, North Carolina (56)
- C: Alec Lindstrom, Boston College (77)
2021 Preseason All-ACC team (Defense)
- DE: Myles Murphy, Clemson (108)
- DE: Amare' Barno, Virginia Tech (63)
- DT: Bryan Bresee, Clemson (120)
- DT: Tyler Davis, Clemson (53)
- LB: Payton Wilson, NC State (99)
- LB: James Skalski, Clemson (95)
- LB: Nick Jackson, Virginia (37)
- CB: Andrew Booth Jr., Clemson (86)
- CB: Tony Grimes, North Carolina (55)
- S: Bubba Bolden, Miami (100)
- S: Nolan Turner, Clemson (85)
2021 Preseason All-ACC team (Specialists)
- PK: Nick Sciba, Wake Forest (69)
- P: Lou Hedley, Miami (84)
- SP: Jahmyr Gibbs, Georgia Tech (60)
Preseason Player of the Year
1. Sam Howell, QB, North Carolina, 114
2. D'Eriq King, QB, Miami, 11
3. Bryan Bresee, DE, Clemson, 8
4. D.J. Uiagalelei, QB, Clemson, 6
5. Phil Jurkovec, QB, Boston College, 3
6. Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College, 2
6. Jahmyr Gibbs, AP, Georgia Tech, 2
