Athlon Sports has released its preseason All-ACC teams ahead of the 2025 college football season, and the lists are full of Duke Blue Devils. Duke boasts the fourth-most selections of any team in the Atlantic Coast Conference with 12. Clemson leads the pack with 16 selections, followed by Miami at 15, and then SMU at 14.
Blue Devils on Athlon Sports All-ACC teams:
First-Team Offense:
OL Brian Parker II
First-Team Defense:
CB Chandler Rivers
S Terry Moore
Second-Team Defense:
DL Wesley Williams
Second-Team Specialists
P Kade Reynolds
Third-Team Defense:
LB Tre Freeman
Fourth-Team Offense:
RB Jaquez Moore
WR Que'Sean Brown
OL Matt Craycraft
OL Justin Pickett
Fourth-Team Defense:
DL Vincent Anthony Jr.
Fourth-Team Specialists:
PR Que'Sean Brown
In total, the Blue Devils had 11 different players selected for Athlon's All-ACC preseason squads. Duke had 12 total selections as rising sophomore Que'Sean Brown made the list as both a wide receiver and a punt returner. The majority of the players selected out of the Duke program come from the defensive side of the ball, but that makes sense as the Blue Devils boasted one of the top defensive units in the nation last season.
Although Duke as a program has been wildly disrespected throughout the preseason in terms of how legitimate a national contender it is, or even a true threat in the ACC, networks are still honoring the defensive firepower that Manny Diaz and his guys are looking to build on last year.
In 2024, Duke finished second in the nation in tackles for loss (116), fourth in the nation in sacks (43), and 26th nationally in third-down conversion percentage (33.8).
After bringing back several key defensive pieces from that squad, many of whom are listed here, Duke is poised to have one of the scariest defenses in the conference.
The main snub on this list is rising redshirt sophomore quarterback Darian Mensah, who was left off all these teams completely. One of the top signal callers in the transfer portal, Mensah is viewed as one of the top QBs in the nation and one of the biggest breakout candidates of 2025. The former Tulane product was shockingly left off, which seems ridiculous.
Nonetheless, the Blue Devils are still very well represented as a whole.