Ranking the Top 10 most impactful ACC, Notre Dame players ahead of 2024 college football season
The 2024 season is nearly here. Rejoice! With Week 0 just around the corner, I’m unveiling my Top 10 players from each power conference and then unveiling the Top 25 players nationally.
This is a fun, but tough exercise. In these loaded conferences — especially the SEC and Big Ten — whittling down to just 10 guys is nearly an impossibility.
But that’s what makes it fun!
Real stars and All-Americans don’t even make the cut.
I unveiled my Top 10 SEC players Monday, and yesterday looked at the 10 most impactful players from the Big Ten. Today, we turn our attention to the ACC and Notre Dame.
Once again, some really quality players didn’t even sniff the honorable mention category. Notre Dame quarterback (and former ACC standout at Duke) Riley Leonard just missed the cut. Same for Miami slot receiver Xavier Restrepo, who should have a big season catching passes from Cam Ward, and Clemson offensive tackle Blake Miller.
As a reminder, this is not a list of the 10 best future pros — although that does factor into my equation. But ultimately, it’s my Top 10 most impactful players in the Big Ten, right now, heading into the 2024 season.
So debate away.
Honorable Mention: EDGE Kaimon Rucker, Duke; LB Francis Mauigoa, Miami; EDGE Antwaun Powell-Ryland, Virginia Tech; QB Kyron Drones, Virginia Tech; WR KC Concepcion, NC State
10. DL Peter Woods, Clemson
The Tigers’ 5-star freshman graded out as Clemson’s most valuable defensive player in 2023 — this on a unit that included multiple NFL Draft picks in Nate Wiggins, Tyler Davis, Jeremiah Trotter, Duke Orhorhoro and 2024 teammate Barrett Carter. Ironically, Woods didn’t record a single sack last year, but he had over 20 pressures and his pass-rush win-rate ranked No. 3 among all DTs. He along with fellow freshman TJ Parker (5.5 sacks in 2023) will headline Clemson’s defensive line this fall.
9. QB Cam Ward, Miami
The lone quarterback in the Top 10, Ward has Heisman Trophy hopes in 2024 after initially flirting with the NFL Draft only to transfer to Miami. If he can fix his fumbles, then Ward is a threat to make a game-changing play on every snap. He had 3,700 yards and 33 total touchdowns last fall, and those numbers could skyrocket in an offense flush with better players at receiver and offensive line.
8. RB Jaydn Ott, Cal
ACC fans may not be familiar with Cal’s stud tailback — but they soon will be. The junior led the Pac-12 with over 1,300 yards with 12 touchdowns. He averaged over 20 attempts per game — by far the most in the conference. Ott’s workload should be lessened a bit with some of the portal additions Cal made this offseason, but make no mistake, he’s the bell cow of the Bears’ offense. The junior will battle Hampton and Miami transfer Damien Martinez (also formally of the Pac-12) for the All-ACC tailback spot.
7. LB Barrett Carter, Clemson
Carter’s play slipped a bit during his junior season, causing the former blue-chip recruit to forgo the NFL for one more season and return to school to improve his tape. Still, Carter’s body of work is in a class of its own compared to most college linebackers. Carter is a true three-down player who can do everything — rush the passer (3.5 sacks), stop the run (9.5 tackles for loss) and cover tight ends/backs (six PBUs, one INT). If he improves his open-field tackling (17 missed tackles in 2023), then he should have little issue fulfilling his “unfinished business” promise when he decided to play his senior season for the Tigers.
6. EDGE Rueben Bain Jr., Miami
Bain Jr. burst onto the scene as a freshman, as the fringe 5-star recruit instantly became Miami’s best pure pass rusher. He finished the season with 7.5 sacks and an elite 89.3 pass rush grade — the highest among any freshman since Myles Garrett in 2014 when PFF first started charting players. Considering the OL situations at Florida and in the ACC, Bain could be positioned to lead the ACC in sacks as a sophomore.
5. EDGE Patrick Payton, Florida State
Payton was a reliable role player on FSU’s top-flight defense in 2023, but now as a junior, the bendy 6-3, 235-pound edge gets to be the headliner with Jared Verse, Braden Fiske and others off to the NFL. He flirted with transferring this offseason, but he decided to stay in Tallahassee, which was huge news for Mike Norvell’s team. Payton racked up 7.0 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss last season, and he could dwarf those numbers in 2024.
4. EDGE Ashton Gillotte, Louisville
Gillotte led the ACC with 11 sacks in 2023, and he finished his junior season with a whopping 58 pressures (Top 10 nationally). At 6-3, 270, Louisville’s lion (with a mane of curly hair) packs a powerful punch and is the leader of the Cardinals’ defense.
3. RB Omarion Hampton, North Carolina
Hampton was the workhorse tailback of the ACC in 2023, leading the league in touches, total yards (1,726), rushing yards, and total touchdowns (16). He had seven games with over 112 yards and was the only tailback in the conference to average over 100 yards per game all season — this all in an offense designed specifically around the talents of quarterback Drake Maye. Well, Maye is off to the NFL, so it’s Hampton’s show now, and UNC’s hopes this fall could hinge on how much the Tar Heels can lean on their junior ‘back.
2. CB Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame
Morrison is in the conversation with Michigan’s Will Johnson, Oregon’s Jabbar Muhammed and Ohio State’s Denzel Burke for the No. 1 corner in the country. As a freshman, all Morrison did was intercept six passes (tied for the most among all power programs). While he wasn’t targeted as much as a sophomore, the former top recruit still had three picks and another 10 PBUs. He’s a ball-hawking defensive back just as reliable in press coverage as drop-zone.
1. DL Howard Cross, Notre Dame
The Irish’s hoss in the middle graded out as the best returning defensive lineman (edge or interior) in college football in 2023, per PFF, essentially playing as well as eventual Round 1 pick Byron Murphy of Texas. Cross isn’t the biggest dude (6-0, 285 pounds), but he plays very similarly to former Georgia and NFL All-Pro Geno Atkins — a super disruptive and explosive interior rusher (39 pressures last season) and a valuable run defender.