Virginia Tech Football: Athlon Sports Preseason All- ACC Teams Tallies Six Hokies

Sep 30, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Bowling Green Falcons running back Terion Stewart (4) runs the ball against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets during the second half at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Athlon Sports recently announced their 2025 preseason All-ACC teams, with four different teams being drafted.

Below is their scale for drafting players to each teams.

"An important note on the all-conference teams: These are based on how players will perform in 2025. Career statistics and awards matter in the evaluation, but choosing players for the 2025 all-conference team is largely based on predicting and projecting the best for the upcoming year. Also, team strength does not play a role in selections. These are the best individual players at each position in the league for '25."

Here are the Hokies who made the list.

Athlon Sports All-ACC Preseason Hokies 🏈#ThisIsHome | #TeamOverMe | @AthlonSports pic.twitter.com/FXVYk2HfqC

— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) July 2, 2025

We have spoken at length about Rimac, Stewart, and Bell, so those player profiles will be towards the bottom of this article, but the team thought it was really interesting to see Woodson and Holloway make the teams, so we are going to prioritize those two first.

Woodson took a big leap from his freshman to sophomore year. The Haymarket, VA, native totaled 72 tackles, including 7,5 tackles for loss and two sacks, with an interception against Duke in late November. Athlon sees Woodson as someone who can eat up tackles and marshal the middle of the field very well. A fourth-team nomination for a junior could mean something even better heading into his fifth season.

Holloway’s 2024 season was cut short after an injury in the spring, which kept the season in question until late in the year. Pry commented on the injury, saying,"He’ll be questionable for the season. And I say that because of the injury and I say that because he has a redshirt available, which he and I have already discussed, and we [will] kind of just let things play out and see what direction we go."Ultimately, the right knee injury was just too much to overcome.

Holloway, the punt returner and wide receiver, was a huge piece to the 2023 Virginia Tech team. He finished top ten in the nation in yards per punt return, and now he could easily slide back into his role of punt returner as Jaylin Lane, the Hokies’ returner in 2024, was recently selected in the NFL Draft.

Love has proven himself to be one of the best kickers in the nation over his time at Virginia Tech.

The redshirt junior established himself as a consistent utility for, at times, a struggling Virginia Tech offense. Love has twice finished inside the All-ACC Honorable Mention team. Love marked 16-18 from his field goal attempts last season, and finished the year with a perfect 42-42 from PATs.

Love tallied a 57-yard field goal against the Miami Hurricanes last season, exhibiting his ability to tick the desire boxes of a high-level kicker in collegiate football.

Stewart (5'9 220 LBS) was a four-year player at Bowling Green and an All-Mac selection this past season. In four years with the Falcons, he ran for 2,359 yards and 23 touchdowns, while averaging six yards per carry. He is a tough physical running back who will fit in the Hokies' system well. At Pro Football Focus, Stewart finished the 2024 season with a 78.9 offensive grade in 244 snaps, third highest on the Bowling Green offense. In 2023, PFF gave him an elite 95.3 grade on offense, including a 94.0 grade when it came to running the football. Stewart could be the bell cow running back for the Hokies next year, fitting right in next to quarterback Kyron Drones.

Stewart's defining performance of his career helped Bowling Green earn one of the biggest wins in school history. Stewart ran for 138 yards and one touchdown, while also catching a 27-yard touchdown, in the Falcons' massive upset win over Georgia Tech. He averaged 5.3 yards per carry and was a force all day long.

Sep 30, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets linebacker Charles Rosser (13) tackles Bowling Green Falcons running back Terion Stewart (4) during the first half at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Rimac comes to Southwest Virginia as a redshirt senior, automatically slotting in as a star for the Hokies' offensive front, which saw the Hokies lose the likes of eight offensive linemen.

According to Pro Football Focus, last season Rimac played 937 total snaps at left guard this past season and finished with a 77.1 overall offensive grade, including a very good 86.3 run-blocking grade. He finished with a 63.4 grade in 690 snaps in 2023 and a 68.9 grade in 440 snaps in 2022. He should be a plug-and-play starter.

Bell hails from Cedar Park, Texas, where the fifth-year edge rusher starred in the high school ranks. Bell then committed to Louisiana Tech. As a Bulldog, Bell marked 13 games over two years where Bell tallied 30 tackles and 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

Bell then moved to Texas State, where he continued his emergence as a quality defensive front man. With Texas State, Bell muscled 25 tackles at outside linebacker in his 13 games, with zero coming from starts. The following season was when the former Bobcat broke into stardom.

Bell added 57 tackles with 16 tackles for loss and 10 sacks in 13 games, seven of those being starts. Bell earned All-Sun Belt Second Team honors, Phil Steele All-Sun Belt Third Team honors, and an All-Texas First Team by Dave Campbell's Texas Football nomination.

Bell took the field just four times last season, closing in on an additional 13 tackles, which included 3.5 sacks, before preserving his redshirt for a transfer to the Hokies.