A look at football players to watch in the Atlantic Coast Conference coming out of spring practices and heading into preseason camp:
Running back Evan Dickens could boost the ground game for the Eagles as they come off a 2-10 season. The 5-foot-10, 195-pound back ran for 1,339 yards and 16 touchdowns last season at Liberty and set a tone with a 40-yard TD run in the team's third spring practice in March
.Quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele will garner
national attention in returning from a strong freshman season with the Golden Bears. He committed in December to staying on to play under new coach Tosh Lupoi, coming after he threw for 3,117 yards and 17 TDs while being named the ACC rookie of the week four times.
The plan has been for redshirt junior Christopher Vizzina to take over the offense after the departure of Cade Klubnik. Vizzina has appeared in 14 games through three seasons, and he had a big output in his lone college start against SMU (29 of 42 passing, 317 yards, three TDs) last year. He's set to helm an offense being directed by Chad Morris in his second stint as the Tigers' offensive coordinator.
Duke added graduate transfer Nick Del Grande from Coastal Carolina to help bolster its offensive line. The Blue Devils lost starting tackles Brian Parker II and Bruno Fina from last year's ACC title run, so there's an opportunity for the 6-4, 302-pound Del Grande with 35 career starts to jump right in up front.
The Seminoles announced Auburn transfer Ashton Daniels as the starting quarterback on Tuesday after the completion of spring drills. Coach Mike Norvell had praised Daniels' leadership and deep-ball passing touch.
Quarterback Alberto Mendoza spent the spring seemingly positioning himself to take over for departed multi-year starter Haynes King. The Indiana transfer and younger brother of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza was the offensive captain for the team's recent spring game, with coach Brent Key saying over the weekend: “Alberto is the guy.”
The Cardinals brought in QB Lincoln Kienholz after three seasons at Ohio State, where he backed up Julian Sayin last year for a team that reached the College Football Playoff. Kienholz has thrown 36 career passes and could lead an offense that returns Isaac Brown as a career 2,000-yard rusher.
Darian Mensah has moved on from Duke to be the QB for a Miami team that made the College Football Playoff and pushed all the way to the championship game. Mensah finished second last year in the Bowl Subdivision ranks in both passing yardage (3,973) and touchdown throws (34). He had three TD throws during scrimmage work at last weekend's spring game.
Linebacker Harvey Dyson offers transfer help for a unit that ranked 12th in the ACC in scoring defense (27.2) and 14th in total defense (411.9). Dyson started his career at Texas Tech before playing last year at Tulane, starting all 14 games for a CFP team. He finished as the team leader there with 11.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks.
Tight end Jordan Washington arrives as a transfer from Texas as the Tar Heels adapt to new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino's scheme. The 6-foot-4, 264-pound redshirt sophomore had seven catches for 109 yards and a score last year. Petrino described Washington as a “take charge, no-nonsense type of guy — and then has shown up on video playing that way."
Receiver Bryce Yates had 11 catches for 202 yards while playing 11 games as a true freshman. Notably, that included a 60-yard touchdown against Duquesne and a 68-yard catch against West Virginia, showing his big-play potential. Yates told reporters earlier this month he had gained a better understanding of coverages and his receiver routes.
Running back Dramekco Green is poised to take a key role in the backfield after the departure of TJ. Harden, who ran for a team-high 812 yards. The redshirt freshman is a hard-running back with a strong frame (6-foot, 203 pounds), running for 90 yards in five games last year.
Tight end Benji Blackburn could have a bigger role under new coach Tavita Pritchard. That comes with Sam Roush headed to the NFL after tallying 89 catches with four TD grabs the past two seasons. The 6-6, 260-pound Blackburn made five starts last year, finishing with nine catches for 109 yards and a touchdown.
Quarterback Steve Angeli helped Syracuse start 3-1 last year, including a win at Clemson, before going down to a season-ending Achilles tendon injury. His recovery ahead of preseason camp and next season will prove critical, though he said he “could go right now if I wanted to” when speaking to reporters during spring drills. "When it's time to play real ball and everything matters, our first game, I'll be good to go,” Angeli said.
Receiver Rico Flores Jr. has gone from Notre Dame to UCLA and now Virginia, which is coming off an 11-win season. Offensive coordinator Des Kitchings said the 6-2, 205-pound graduate student has worked to “build a rapport” on deep throws with QBs but is also willing to block in the run game — saying Flores is ”sold out" to do whatever it takes to win.
Duke transfer receiver Que'Sean Brown is positioned to bolster the Hokies' receiving corps. The redshirt junior had 64 catches for 846 yards and five touchdowns for last year's ACC champs, starting 12 games. He had a 14-yard touchdown grab in the Hokies' spring game last weekend.
Defensive back Davaughn Patterson could be a key piece of a defense that might have to lead the way for Jake Dickert's second season with the Demon Deacons. He's been a two-year starter with 154 tackles the past two seasons, showing the ability to help in coverage or close to the line of scrimmage.
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