11 Mustangs earn All-ACC honors from Phil Steele

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Multiple Mustangs earn preseason All-ACC honors by Phil Steele

DALLAS (SMU) ΓÇô SMU safety Isaiah Nwokobia headlined a plethora of Mustangs that earned preseason honors by the prestigious Phil Steele publication on Wednesday.

Eleven SMU student-athletes were named to various preseason All-ACC teams, with Nwokobia highlighting the selections, earning preseason fourth-team All-American honors.

Nwokobia was one of the premier defensive players in the ACC last season, earning first-team all-conference honors with his play, finishing with an 88.1 defensive grade by Pro Football Focus (PFF), the eighth highest by any player who played 300 snaps in the conference last year.

The Dallas native was a first-team preseason All-ACC choice, joining senior kicker Collin Rogers. Rogers set the program's all-time scoring record last year for SMU, breaking the record held by Doak Walker, Eric Dickerson and Xavier Jones.

On the second team, the Mustangs had five selections in Jordan Hudson, Kevin Jennings, RJ Maryland, Ahmaad Moses, and Logan Parr.

Jennings set career highs in all major statistical categories in 2024, highlighted by passing yards (3,245), completions (247), completion percentage (65.0), passing touchdowns (23), rushing yards (379) and rushing touchdowns (5). The Oak Cliff native posted a 9-2 mark as the starter on the year and helped guide the team to an ACC Championship game appearance after leading the team to an undefeated mark of 8-0 in conference play, which helped the program make its inaugural debut in the College Football Playoff, coming in as the No. 11 seed.

Hudson looks to build on a productive junior season, in which he posted a career-best 39 receptions. Maryland is set to return from injury after setting the program's record for most touchdown receptions by a tight end last year, while Parr helped anchor one of the best offensive lines in the country.

Moses enjoyed a breakout year, which powered an SMU defense that was one of the best in the ACC.

Third-team selections consisted of newcomers Addison Nichols and Chris Johnson Jr. while the fourth team had PJ Williams and Isaiah Smith on it.

Preseason Fourth Team All-American
Isaiah Nwokobia, S

Preseason First Team All-ACC
Isaiah Nwokobia, S
Collin Rogers, K

Preseason Second Team All-ACC
Kevin Jennings, QB
Jordan Hudson, WR
RJ Maryland, TE
Logan Parr, OG
Ahmaad Moses, S

Preseason Third Team All-ACC
Addison Nichols, C
Chris Johnson Jr., KR

Preseason Fourth Team All-ACC
PJ Williams, OT
Isaiah Smith, DE

[PonyPride]

Nwokobia also has been named Fourth Team All-America by Phil Steele.

[ClassOf81]

Maryland should be on the first team

Rogers should be all-American

[PerunaPunch]

Maryland should be on the first team

That's probably a stretch since RJ didn't play most of last year. We are also assuming (praying!) that he comes back 100%, which isn't a guaranteed thing.

[Hoofprint]

His recovery is going to be hugely important this year. I don't know where he ranks among ACC tight ends, but he clearly is a guy Jennings is really comfortable with, and he presents major matchup headaches for defenses. Hope he's 100 percent.

[Charleston Pony]

His recovery is going to be hugely important this year. I don't know where he ranks among ACC tight ends, but he clearly is a guy Jennings is really comfortable with, and he presents major matchup headaches for defenses. Hope he's 100 percent.

Agreed. RJ could be one of the "X factors" this season. The ACC didn't get to enjoy his presence last year and with the way Hibner came on last year in his absence we now have a lot of flexibility with the TE position in this offense.

[Hoofprint]

He's especially important since the WRs are so thin. Hudson and Brinson are studs, the freshmen look good but they're freshmen, and we don't know about the transfers yet. We lost half a dozen WRs from last year, and they weren't just guy -- they were productive guys who had played a ton. Can't replace that overnight.

Sure hope Maryland is back up to full speed.