All-ACC football team

[jimsumner]

Congrats to Matt Daniels, Connor Vernon and Alex King

http://www.theacc.com/sports/m-footb...112811aae.html

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Congrats to Matt Daniels, Connor Vernon and Alex King

http://www.theacc.com/sports/m-footb...112811aae.html

All three earned this recognition. It was good to see Cooper Helfet recognized in the honorable mention. It's a shame that Donovan Varner isn't on the list at all.

[OldPhiKap]

Congrats to Matt Daniels, Connor Vernon and Alex King

http://www.theacc.com/sports/m-footb...112811aae.html

Yes, great job by all three. Glad to see they are being recognized.

[chrishoke]

Thanks Jim. Congrats to our warriors, Matt, Conner and Alex - we love being your fans.

[jimsumner]

Alex King is actually a pretty remarkable story. He's a walk-on. He went into the 2010 season as a backup to senior Kevin Jones. The expectation was that Jones would finish out his career and be replaced this season by true freshman Will Monday.

A funny thing happened. Jones dropped a routine snap from center against WF, resulting in a huge Deacs touchdown.

Jones was replaced by King. King was competent, then a little better than competent. King keeps getting better and better and Duke decides to redshirt Monday this season. King perfects that little sand-wedge that hits at the 5 and just dies. The insurance policy becomes a real asset, then an All-ACC player.

He did that this season dealing with the death of his father.

Serious kudos.

[Newton_14]

Congrats to all 3 guys for the honor. Matt Daniels is just a beast and is my favorite Duke FB player by a wide margin. We have had other defensive guys in recent years who were really good, but Matt is just a special guy in my book. He had an incredible year. Class act off the field as well. I will miss seeing 40 out there doing his thing for Duke, but I do expect to see him on Sunday's next year.

[CDu]

All three earned this recognition. It was good to see Cooper Helfet recognized in the honorable mention. It's a shame that Donovan Varner isn't on the list at all.

Varner probably was on the fringe of the top-10 among WR in the ACC. While he was 6th in catches, he was 10th in receiving yards, just outside the top-10 in receiving yards per game, and well outside the top-20 in receiving TDs (though that list may include a few TE ahead of him). So unless the honorable mention list reaches 5th-team, he probably wasn't going to make it.

Glad to see 3 Duke names on the list, and glad to see Daniels make 1st team defense. Well deserved, as was the honor for Vernon and Helfet.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Varner probably was on the fringe of the top-10 among WR in the ACC. While he was 6th in catches, he was 10th in receiving yards, just outside the top-10 in receiving yards per game, and well outside the top-20 in receiving TDs (though that list may include a few TE ahead of him). So unless the honorable mention list reaches 5th-team, he probably wasn't going to make it.

Glad to see 3 Duke names on the list, and glad to see Daniels make 1st team defense. Well deserved, as was the honor for Vernon and Helfet.

I'm well aware of the stats involved. That awareness doesn't preclude being disappointed that Donovan wasn't on the All ACC list at all.

I'm proud of all four who were listed. The most remarkable one honored may well be Alex King.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Congrats to all our guys!