Ranking 2010 ACC Football: Secondary

Posted by Brandon Rink on August 2, 2010 under ACC Football | Comments are off for this article

Breaking the ACC unit by unit as we approach football season, today, we hit a strength in the top tier – and a mystery in the final five or so teams, the secondary.

2010 ACC Secondary Rankings

1) North Carolina

Talent/Performance Grade (out of 10): 9.4
Depth: Spotty
Best DB (2009 Stats): Kendric Burney (5 interceptions and 52 tackles)
Best Safety (2009 Stats): FS Deunta Williams (6 interceptions and 47 tackles)
Stat: 19 INTs in 2009.
A Word (or two): For the most part, the talented UNC secondary has stayed out of the NCAA investigation drama and return everybody in the secondary.

2) Clemson

Talent/Performance Grade (out of 10): 9.3
Depth: Solid
Best DB (2009 Stats): Byron Maxwell (36 tackles and 2 INTs)
Best Safety (2009 Stats): DeAndre McDaniel (102 tackles and 8 INTs)
Stat: Finished 7^th in the country in pass defense in 2009.
A Word (or two): The Tigers have one of the best safeties in the nation with McDaniel and loads of experience at cornerback as well.

3) Miami

Talent/Performance Grade (out of 10): 8.9
Depth: Solid
Best DB (2009 Stats): Brandon Harris (58 tackles and 2 INTs)
Best Safety (2009 Stats): Vaughn Telemaque (48 tackles)
Stat: 43^rd in pass defense in 2009
A Word (or two): Talent is rarely the issue in Miami, and 2010 is no different – performance could improve though as Miami was middle of the road in 2009.

4) Virginia

Talent/Performance Grade (out of 10): 8.7
Depth: Spotty
Best DB (2009 Stats): Ras-I Dowling (58 tackles and 3 INTs)
Best Safety (2009 Stats): Rodney McLeod (52 tackles)
Stat: Ranked 23^rd in pass defense and pass efficiency defense in 2009.
A Word (or two): Past Dowling, the numbers aren’t staggering, but as a unit, the ‘Hoos have solid enough numbers to be in the top tier of the ACC.

5) Wake Forest

Talent/Performance Grade (out of 10): 8.5
Depth: Solid
Best DB (2009 Stats): Kenny Okoro (38 tackles and 3 INTs)
Best Safety (2009 Stats): Cyhl Quarles (62 tackles and 1 INT)
Stat: Gave up 387 passing yards and 3 TDs to Duke in the season finale 45-34 win.
A Word (or two): Wake once again loses its top CB, but Okoro and Quarles make up a solid Deacs secondary.

6) Boston College

Talent/Performance Grade (out of 10): 8.3
Depth: Solid
Best DB (2009 Stats): Donnie Fletcher (51 tackles and 1 INT)
Best Safety (2009 Stats):Wes Davis (46 tackles and 3 INTs)
Stat: Ended up 71st in pass defense, but 39th in pass efficiency defense in 2009
A Word (or two): BC isn’t usually known for their secondary, and usually don’t have to be with a strong LB corp and d-line – this crew has a lot to prove.

7) Virginia Tech

Talent/Performance Grade (out of 10): 8.3
Depth: Spotty
Best DB (2009 stats): Rashad Carmichael (55 tackles and 6 INTs)
Best Safety (2009 stats):Davon Morgan (47 tackles)
Stat: 8th in pass efficiency defense and 11th in pass defense overall in 2009.
A Word (or two): So odd to rank the Hokies this low in anything on D, but Carmichael is the main star on the defense as a whole – inexperience reigns elsewhere.

8) Georgia Tech

Talent/Performance Grade (out of 10): 7.9
Depth: Solid
Best DB (2009 stats): Mario Butler (45 tackles and 2 INTs)
Best Safety (2009 stats):Jerrard Tarrant (58 tackles and 2 INTs)
Stat: 88th in pass efficiency defense in 2009.
A Word (or two): We now enter the secondary looking for redemption area of the ACC – the Jackets couldn’t stop much last season, and they have the pieces to improve in 2010 under Groh.

9) Florida State

Talent/Performance Grade (out of 10): 7.6
Depth: Spotty
Best DB (2009 stats): Ochuko Jenije (31 tackles, 4 INTs)
Best Safety (2009 stats): Nick Moody (33 tackles)
Stat: Return 6 INTs – Jenije accounts for 4 of them from 2009.
A Word (or two): Here we have another “nowhere to go but up” squad as they have talent, but maybe under a new DC, they can use it.

10) Duke

Talent/Performance Grade (out of 10): 7.5
Depth: Solid
Best DB (2009 stats): Chris Rwabukamba (45 tackles)
Best Safety (2009 stats): Matt Daniels (83 tackles)
Stat: Reserve safety Lee Butler is the only Blue Devil returning with a pick from 2009.
A Word (or two): With a number of experienced players, the Blue Devils could be better than 10th, but they have to show me something.

11) Maryland

Talent/Performance Grade (out of 10): 7.5
Depth: Spotty
Best DB (2009 stats): Cameron Chism (66 tackles, 4 INTs)
Best Safety (2009 stats): Kenny Tate (47 tackles, 1 INT)
Stat: Finished 97th in pass defense in 2009.
A Word (or two): Safety might be the Terps saving grace as corner is an issue – overall, they were bad, real bad in 2009 and have to work on to scale these rankings.

12) NC State

Talent/Performance Grade (out of 10): 7.4
Depth: Poor
Best DB (2009 stats): C.J. Wilson (23 tackles)
Best Safety (2009 stats): Earl Wolff (42 tackles)
Stat: Finished 106th in the nation in pass efficiency defense in 2009.
A Word (or two): The injury to Rashard Smith knocks them down a bit because it wasn’t looking great to start, and now, more fresh meat hits the field to be grilled if the coaching doesn’t improve.

How would you rank them? Any players you expect to breakout in 2010 I didn’t mention?