This week's ACC Blogger Roundtable is being hosted by the one and only Jim Young. Jim writes on the ACC and publishes his tastefully done nude photos of Ralph Friedgen at ACC Sports Journal. If you subscribe, you also get to see Jim's collection of photos of dogs dressed as ACC mascots humping each other to reflect the outcomes of the previous week's games. It truly is art.
Anyway, on to the questions!
Most of the ACC has now reached the halfway point of its season. On a scale of 1 (I'm rounding up pitchforks, torches and a mob to storm the football office) to 10 (I'm selling of organs to raise money for a statue of the coach) how do you feel about your team's performance thus far?
I give the Hokies a 10. We lost to the best team in the country and are 3-0 in conference and No. 4 in the rankings. Now it's up to them to keep it going in the season's make-or-break game against Georgia Tech.
Give me the best case scenario for your team the rest of the way. Then give me the worst case.
Best case scenario is the Hokies win out. If they do that and a BUNCH of other dominoes fall, we could be playing the BCSCG. If not, we settle for a 12-1 season and a third consecutive league title. That's not too shabby.
The worse case scenario is any combination of wins and losses that includes a loss to UVa.
Because it's my turn to host the roundtable and I like fantasy football, I'm going to ask a few questions with that theme. First, you're in an ACC keeper league. Which three players on your team do you designate as keepers for next season? (Obviously this rules out seniors, except for Riley Skinner, who I assume has six more years of eligibility remaining)
First and foremost, Ryan Williams. He's having an excellent rookie year for the Hokies. However, there are two downsides to keeping Williams. First, he will be splitting carries with Darren Evans, Josh Oglesby and David Wilson in 2010. Second, I have a feeling 2010 will be his final season in college.
For the other two, hell, I don't know. How about that kicker from Duke who made all those field goals against Virginia Tech and Russell Wilson?
Let's do the reverse of this, with coaches. You're forced to drop one member of your team's coaching staff. Who gets the axe? (Head coaches or assistant coaches are eligible here)
Alright Hokie coaches, get in line. Now, every coach that still has a job, please step forward. Not so fast, Curt Newsome.
Newsome, the Hokies' offensive line coach hasn't pulled his weight since he stepped on campus. Say what you want to about the play-calling or about the progression of the quarterbacks. But our offensive line has been consistently bad since the end of 2005 when Newsome arrived. So he has to leave. Bring on some fresh blood.
Let's say the rest of the ACC is available via free agency. Who's the one player from the other 11 teams that you'd most like to add to your squad?
I'd take Jonathan Dwyer. You can never have too much running back depth. Plus, if the Hokies have Dwyer, it means the other 11 ACC teams don't. Dwyer is the best back in the conference and can get his yards by pounding between the tackles or getting outside and out-running anyone.
But the main reason I'm taking Dwyer is so we don't have to face him.
Finally, we'll stage a mock draft of ACC quarterbacks. Who are you taking with the first pick, and why? And who would you get stuck with if you had to pick No. 12?
My first pick would be Thad Lewis. Part of it is because he's a savvy veteran who has been impressive since conference play started. The other reason is I'd love to see just how good Lewis could be if he had a good team around him. It's something we may never know about Thad, who has been a great quarterback for four years.
If I had the last pick, I'd get stuck with the pick-tastic Chris Turner. In his career, he's thrown 24 interceptions and 29 touchdowns. That's an astonishing number of picks. For that, Napoleon Dynamite will have to go to unlucky No. 12.