3 takeaways from our choices for 2025 ACC Football preseason honors

To begin with, there were only a handful of positions on either side of the ball in which Syracuse players were even listed on the official ballot distributed by the league last week.

Voting concluded Monday afternoon for the credentialed media who attended the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte July 22-24.

In the end, based on as objective criteria that we could find, mixed in with some subjective thoughts covering the Orange on a regular basis, we only selected one SU player to the preseason all-ACC squad.

1. Our choice for ACC quarterback is also our preseason player of the year selection.

For the record, there were no Syracuse quarterbacks on the selection list, totally understandable with the "official" battle to cement the starting job still to be decided over the next several weeks. But with Rickie Collins' appearance at the 'Kickoff" event, it his starting job to lose to Steve Angeli.

It's hard not to think that Clemson's Cade Klubnik is going to live up to his preseason hype after helping guide the Tigers to the ACC title over SMU, and an eventual CFP opening round loss at Texas. Klubnik is our choice as the top QB in "a league of QBs" as the conference has been promoting this summer.

Klubnik, who is one of only three players to be named the ACC Championship game MVP, will be the target for the Syracuse defense in a week four matchup (September 20) at Memorial Stadium. He is also our selection for ACC preseason player of the year.

2. The lone Orange player we selected is a popular choice as the preseason top punter.

As we profiled last week, Jack Stonehouse is ready to carry the momentum of his two 'Cuse seasons after transferring from Missouri, into an All-Conference, even All-American type season in 2025.

In discussions with other media members who cover either SU or other league teams in Charlotte last week, the consensus seemed to be that Stonehouse would be a favorite as the top punter selection among a talented group.

Besides Stonehouse, other Syracuse nominees on offense included junior Texas transfer wide receiver Johntay Cook, sophomore running back Yasin Willis, and senior redshirt guard Da'Metrius Weatherspoon.

On defense, one of the defensive back nominees was incoming freshman Demetres Samuel Jr., which should provide you an indication of what the coaching staff thinks of the Floridian, two-way (WR) talent. Also nominated was redshirt senior tackle Dion "Tank" Wilson Jr.

3. Our predicted order of finish included a challenge where to place Syracuse with many offensive unknowns.

The seemingly consensus Top-3 going into the season are Clemson, Miami, and SMU, and yes, all three are road games on the Orange schedule, and tough games to come away victorious.

Other teams we placed ahead of SU on the schedule were Duke and North Carolina, both Dome games that SU could win, but still finish behind those teams in the standings, and Georgia Tech, another tough road game.

Our predicted order of finish for 2025 ACC football:

1. Clemson

2. Miami

3. SMU

4. Louisville

5. Duke

6. Georgia Tech

7. N.C. State

8. Florida State

9. North Carolina

10. Syracuse

11. Pittsburgh

12. Virginia Tech

13. Boston College

14. California

15. Virginia

16. Wake Forest

17. Stanford

SUPPORT THE JUICE ONLINE

Do you like our Syracuse coverage? Be sure to follow us on Twitter @TheJuiceOnline, like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram @SUJuiceOnline and listen to our podcast.