If you haven’t been paying close attention to college football lately, you might not be aware of the conference realignment that has taken place. There’ve been some major changes to all the top conferences, and you may no longer recognize the college football landscape. The short version is that geography no longer matters and the “Power 5” conferences are now a “Power 4.”
As for the Atlantic Coast Conference, “Atlantic Coast” is much more of a ceremonial term than a geographical namesake. The ACC has welcomed the California Golden Bears, Stanford Cardinals, and SMU Mustangs into the conference. That’s right, the ACC now has two teams on the Pacific Coast and one team from Texas. The ACC now comprises Boston College, California, Clemson, Duke, Florida state, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, NC State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest.
Once again, rather than analyzing the impact of conference realignment, the goal is to help you familiarize yourself with the top handful of players that will likely be playing on Sundays in 2025. If you’re like most dynasty managers, you’ve got one eye on the future. These are five of the top names you’ll want to know for the 2024 college football season from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Cam Ward | QB | Miami | 6’2” | 223 lbs.
The first player I will highlight is former Incarnate Word and Washington State Cougar quarterback, Cam Ward. He strongly considered entering the 2024 NFL Draft before ultimately deciding to enter the transfer portal. Ward left the Pacific Northwest and the dissolving Pac-12 Conference for the sunny beaches of Miami, Florida, a mere 3,000 miles away. Besides the upgrade of weather and scenery from Pullman, WA to Miami, FL, this move was also a wise football decision for Ward.
Ward enters the 2024 season with the hopes of parlaying his success as a two-year starter at Washington State into an early-round draft pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. If he’s going to be successful, he’ll need to improve his consistency on the field, on a play-to-play and game-to-game basis. At times it’s easy to see why Ward has generated first-round draft buzz, but at other times he looks like a borderline NFL-level prospect. He improvises well and makes off-script throws using a variety of arm angles. He displays great anticipation, touch, and accuracy when delivering passes. However, he doesn’t have elite arm strength and will sometimes hold on to the ball too long. Right now, I think he’s more likely to be a Day 2 pick in the draft with the potential to rise up draft boards.
Damien Martinez | RB | Miami | 6’0” | 232 lbs.
If one former PNW player transferring to Miami is good, then two must be better. Next up we have Damien Martinez, the former Oregon State running back who also decided to make the 3,000+ mile journey down to Coral Gables, FL. Like Ward, Martinez will hopefully benefit from another year in college.
Martinez produced strong numbers in his first 2 years, rushing for over 2,000 yards and 16 TDs in that span. At 232 lbs., he profiles as more of a power back. However, he’s shown a strong blend of power, agility, and burst to keep defenders from making easy tackles. He only caught 15 passes through his first 2 years, but has displayed the ability to be a viable weapon out of the backfield. The biggest question that Martinez faces is if he possesses enough speed to play at the next level. As of now, he’s in my third tier of RBs, but there’s room to move up throughout the season.
Jaydn Ott | RB | California | 6’0” | 210 lbs.
A running back with zero concerns about speed is The University of California’s Jaydn Ott. He is another former member of the Pac-12 Conference that will be in the ACC this season. Ott put up an impressive freshman season in 2022 where he ran for nearly 900 yards on 170 carries and added almost 50 receptions out of the backfield. He then became the focal point of Cal’s offense in 2023, rushing for 1,305 yards and 12 TDs while catching 26 passes. Ott is poised to put up big numbers again this year and could run his way up draft boards in the process.
As a draft prospect, Ott has exceptional patience behind the line, quick feet and agility in the hole, and elite acceleration through the hole to the second level of the defense and beyond. He is a well-above average receiver, and can be flanked out wide or in the slot to create mismatches. The main knock on Ott is that he often tries to bounce runs to the outside and hasn’t displayed much power. I have Ott near the bottom of my second tier of 2025 running backs.
Antonio Williams | WR | Clemson | 5’11” | 190 lbs.
The next player of note is Antonio Willliams, the wide receiver from Clemson. After a very promising freshman season in 2022, Williams struggled with injuries last year. He was limited to only 208 yards receiving on 21 catches in 5 games.
As a receiver prospect, Williams has smooth hands, quick feet, crisp route-running skills, and dynamic ability after the catch. He has shown positional versatility by playing both in the slot and outside. His quickness in and out of breaks should translate well at the NFL level to create separation from defenders. The major concerns for Williams are that he is slightly undersized and that he’s dealt with multiple injuries throughout his career. At this point, I have Antonio Williams as a potential Day 2 pick in the upcoming draft. I will be watching his progression closely to see if he can elevate his stock throughout the season.
Omarion Hampton | RB | North Carolina | 6’0” | 220 lbs.
Not to intentionally save the best for last, but Omarion Hampton is the final player I will highlight for the ACC. He took over the lead running back duties for North Carolina last season and exploded onto the national scene with over 1,500 yards on the ground and 15 TDs. With Drake Maye moving onto the NFL, the North Carolina Tar Heels’ offense will look vastly different in 2024. This season will be a good test for Hampton as he will be asked to carry a bigger burden of the offensive output.
At 6’0” and 220 lbs., Hampton has the size to be a prototypical workhorse back at the NFL level. He also has the on-field skills to match. As a runner, Hampton is vicious and punishing. He hits the hole with a combination of speed and power, often looking for contact. As a receiver, he checks the box of being a viable option out of the backfield. My biggest concern with Hampton is that he isn’t particularly elusive, so at the NFL level, he may not be able to run through as many arm tackles. I currently have Omarion Hampton ranked in my second tier of RBs.
If you are interested in more in-depth prospect rankings, be on the lookout for my prospect positional rankings articles as well as my Dynasty Big Board coming soon. You can also check out Bobby Bishop’s Preseason Big Board here.
Honorable Mentions
- Jake Briningstool | TE | Clemson
- Xavier Restrepo | WR | Miami
- RJ Maryland | TE | SMU
- Kyron Drones | QB | Virginia Tech
- Orade Gadsden II | TE | Syracuse
- Bryson Nesbit | TE | North Carolina
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