Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - ACC SQUAD - Where do ACC Coaches Rank as Recruiters?

Episode Date: June 5, 2025

ACC football under fire: Is Paul Finebaum's criticism fair? Hosts from Locked On ACC podcasts tackle recent comments dismissing the conference's relevance.The panel dissects Finebaum's controversial statements, exploring ACC's place in college football's landscape. ESPN's FPI rankings spark debate, with Miami's surprising 9th-place position raising eyebrows. Clemson's Cade Klubnik leads the discussion on top ACC quarterbacks, with Georgia Tech's Haynes King and SMU's Kevin Jennings also in the mix.Jackson Holzer moderates a heated exchange between Kenton Gibbs, Grayson Boone, Morgan Thomas, and AJ Black, offering diverse perspectives on ACC's future.Tune in for an unfiltered look at ACC football's challenges and potential in a changing college sports world. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Man, I hate Paul Feinbaum, but if you wanted to work for the ACC, I take him. You're talking ball with the ACC squad, sponsored by game time. From Florida State to North Carolina, from Syracuse to Miami, and from NC State to California, it's the local experts of the Locked-on podcast network, bringing you scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive preview of the upcoming ACC weekend. Hang on, it could get loud. It could get heated. and it will definitely be fun.

Squad up, you're part of the ACC squad. Hello everyone and welcome in the Locked-on ACC. This is the ACC squad. I'm Jackson Holeser, the host of Locked-on Syracuse, and we got a great panel today. We got Kent and Gibbs and Grayson Boone, the hosts of Lockdown Wolfpack, Morgan Thomas, the host of Lockdown Clemson Tigers,

and A.J. Black, the host of Lockdown, Boston College. and we got an action-pack show for you all today. ESPN-FPI, first rankings of the off-season. Three teams in the ACC were represented. And the top team in the ACC, well, it might surprise you. And we will talk about that later on in the show. Plus, top three quarterbacks in the ACC. Thank you, Kenton, for inspiring this topic 20 minutes ago.

You guys did not see it. It was behind the season before we hit this recording. But we will go over our top three quarterbacks in the ACC. because Penn's got a controversial take for you all. But first, Paul Feinbaum, SEC network, apologist, propagandist, analyst. Well, without getting into all the quotes here, he basically told the ACC and the Big 12 to go screw themselves.

And that's a euphemism for I think you know what word I would actually use. But, you know, we want this to be monetized here and all. I will get into one quote, though. he said, quote, quite frankly, if they get a couple of automatic qualifiers for an expanded college football playoff, that's probably more than they deserve. Folks, thank you all. All right. Who's buying the first round here? What do we have to say to Paul Feimbaum?

The same thing I always got to say to Paul Feinbaum. What exactly is, is anybody, this is who he has always been, this is who he will always be. This is another example of SEC media just grooming everybody to think, oh, yeah, we're just so much better. We're so superior. Nobody deserves anything but us. We deserve all the things. We deserve all the stuff. We've got all the good teams.

Hey, nobody can come over here and have into success like those boys over there. In the quotes from the article that we're talking about here, he said that it was so upsetting and frustrating. for him to hear the commissioner and head coaches in the best conference in college football talk about having to give SMU an equal chance. Oh, the crime, the travesty of giving a team a finished second and a power for a conference a chance. Oh, my God. How awful is that?

You know what we should have done instead, Jackson? You know what we should have done instead, Grayson? We should have put in an Alabama team that, by the way, we have more host on this show than they score points against Oklahoma. Yeah, that's an actual fact here. And that's the team that should have been in. Oh, they're just so sad that they didn't get in. We weren't arguing for a nine win, Miami,

because we understood that their defense couldn't stop a running nose with robatuss in the COVID booster and three packs of tissue. We understood why they weren't getting in, despite having a number one pick. But, oh, no, not the special, wonderful little boys and girls from the SEC. It just means more, even though we saw them get their tail.

kick all throughout the playoff and all throughout now the baseball, the college baseball world series as well. We're watching get their tail kicked again, but it just means more down there at SEC. Oh, it just means so much more. I'll jump in next. The amount of gatekeeping going on in college football right now is nauseating. Like, you know, it's the SEC, as Kenton very eloquently just said, like this is, this is their their new thing sort to die on like they're better than everybody else they're

they're it's superior and before you guys all get in the chat yes i cover boston college and yes i know with a whipping boy for a lot of different schools i get that that's not the point i'm talking about college football here and and just the health of of everything anyways right like it's there's so much more to football than just the power conference c cc schools and we're so deep into the trees right now that we're not seeing that all we see is those numbers the the tv contracts the amount of money that they spend the the recruiting you know the recruiting classes all that good stuff but at the end of the day this things are going to change and if we just let the SEC run away with everything then the rest of the rest of the the rest of the sports going to be left

behind and it's not going to be as special as it's been the whole point of all this is that we have a whole bunch of schools around the country that are special that have a lot of traditions, the things that are great about them. And we're just ignoring them because Alabama, Georgia, Florida, they want to throw a temper tantrum and have Paul Feinbaum do it for them. It's enough. I hate listening to all this crap. And this is one of the biggest things about the Aussies I can't stand is just the SEC temper tantrums every single year.

This is certainly how you know the month of June has arrived because it's just SEC heads talking. They all sound like Charlie Brown's parents. Wah, what, wah, wah, wah. That's all this is. Him saying that is effectively just to get guys like us, five ACC guys, to complain about it. It's a good thing that Paul Feinbaum's not the one making the decisions

because we have a probable national champion in Clemson coming out of the ACC this year. I think Clemson's going to be one of the best teams in the country. And so just to discount the entire conference because, well, we're the SEC, We deserve everything. And the Big Ten, they get a little less than us, but we certainly get our piece of the pie. I mean, it is what it is.

It's Paul Feinbaum. What do you expect? He's just saying stuff to get us all riled up. And that's why if he worked for the ACC, we would love him. Well, I don't know. He's definitely doing the job. They need, the ACC, they need some,

they need someone like him. The ACC needs a version of Paul Feimbaum. Yes. Exactly. First of all, I don't trust no man. bald completely on the top but left the sides fully. I don't trust nobody who does that. That's insane as a fellow brother in baldness.

Just get rid of it. Stop it. That tells me you make bad decisions right there. But in all seriousness, like these guys have already mentioned, there is so much goodness from around the country. And Morgan, please chime in on this because, again, I think that all are potential champions. Y'all have been champions in the past.

And I think that the SEC is not that different than every other conference. And that everybody says, oh, well, the ACC only, has two to three good teams, two to three good brands, and everybody else is hogwash. What the hell do you think the SEC is? What? Why is, why under God's green earth is Lane Kiff and saying anything? What can you possibly have to complain about? Where is Ole Misses' championships?

Where is Ole Miss SEC championship? What the hell? You don't think they've never won. The man the spot. Last time they won, I wouldn't have been allowed to go to that school. I'm pretty sure. If they do have one. I need to go with the OmmonS.

This college football reference, Morgan, you can go chime in here. I mean, you know, and I like what AJ was saying because, well, first of all, no disrespect to Homer Simpson and my dad out there for that haircut because they're rocking it right now. But, you know, I agree with AJ because I hope that Paul Fine Mom and what he says is obviously a talking head. And he is paid by ESPN who is paying him to be a homer of the SEC, just like the other guys and father. are paying Joel Clatt to be a homer of the big, the big 12, right? So, or excuse me, the big 10 now. But so, you know, I get it. They're paid to do that.

And in a lot of ways, we're paid to back up the ACC, which is to your point, you know, I thought Mark Packer was going to be that guy, but they kind of watered him down because the Mark Packer of 20 years ago would stand toe to toe with a Paul Feinbaum. But, you know, I get it. He's kind of in retirement age and he's moved on. and I get it, but, you know, they do need someone. Can it be Eric McLean? Can it be EJ. Manuel? I don't know. Whoever it can be for the ACCC Network needs to step up and to kind of grow a backbone because we know Jim Phillips is not going to do that. And I will say that, you know,

second class citizens just is extremely disrespectful to North Carolina State in their history and Syracuse and their history and Boston College and their history and Stanford and Cal and SMU. Everybody has history. Now, Clemson has had the opportunity and the success of being able to stand toe to toe with any team out there, they've been able to bring in. When you look at the college football playoffs, what are some of the best games and the best ratings out there? It's Clemson, LSU, it's Clemson, Alabama.

And so when we have been able to make it there, we have brought a lot of views and a lot of fans that are traveling to those stadiums to watch them. I went across the country, and many Clemson fans did that multiple times without any second guessing of it. So we have fans. We have a tradition. And I'm not just talking about Clemson. I'm talking about all the other teams.

So to say that everybody else is second class, okay, second class to Mississippi State. No, we'll never be second class to Mississippi State. We'll never be second class to Arkansas. They own the whole state and we have better ratings than them on every single game we ever play, even the one against Furman. So don't tell me that the entire SEC just gets, you know, a free pass because they're all together collective as well. because I believe we deserve a seat at the table.

And as AJ said, it's just ridiculous that we have to do this every single year. Get to preach and Morgan. That was a speech. I'm going to run through a wall right now. Come on, Morgan. You're the guy. You go toe to toe with Paul 5. I'm telling to screw it.

We got a new voice of ACC right here. He figured it out. It was just not. Nobody. If nobody in the ACC network want to do it, then Locked-O Podcast Network has a plethora. We got five right here. We got Morgan right here.

He's going to read all the speeches. Exactly. Six, seven, Morgan. He'll talk about the history of everyone. We're going to go back to Jim Brown and Ernie Davis. And I think that, you know, I get it. It's like, you know, I don't like that he said that SMU, you know, just doesn't deserve an equal opportunity either.

I don't think that that's outdated. I do think that if we only allow his mindset, then you could see basically those two conferences having the Super League and not allowing anybody else in and even having some sort of barrier to entry that is, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars. And to me, I don't see how if he takes a step back, couldn't say that that's bad for college football as. a whole. You know, it's not just about 30 teams like the NFL. College football is different, and that's what we like about it. I think we can continue this conversation, so why not? Absolutely. All right. We're going to continue this conversation right after this. The NBA finals are in full swing, and every night delivers highlight worthy performances, major momentum shifts, and can't miss moments, whether it's a game-winning shot or a breakout player.

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Make every moment more a Fandul official sports betting partner of the NBA. Let's continue this conversation about Paul Feinbaum dissing the ACC and also the Big 12 for that matter. He kind of threw him under the bus as well. He grouped this all together. Maybe we should form an alliance with the Big 12, right? Maybe we should have a little fun there with them. ACC and Big 12 squad together.

How about that? How did the last alliance go? Not well. See, I was about to say, if you're going to do it in the Lions, you've got to get something in writing. You got to use this handshake and, oh, we're doing fairy dust and rainbows and this a weasel, it's a wieselisk, a Wazzo. It's a lot of guys, it ain't going to work out if you're going to do an alliance.

It needs to be something written down on paper. But I just want to bring up Jackson's team real quick. If we're going to talk about, hey, it doesn't matter what your record is. it's just about you playing tough games, right? This spot plays damn near half of the playoff from last year. You've got Tennessee, you've got SMU, you've got Notre Dame as well. So three of the eight teams that were in the playoff, Syracuse's, oh, hey, Clemson, I'm sorry, so they do play half. I apologize.

So they play exactly half of the playoff from last year. I keep hearing from SEC schools, well, if you lose four games, but they're to really good teams, is it the same? Is it, well, is it, it's different because you lost to good teams. Will that hold consistent if Syracuse goes eight and four next year? Absolutely. Will anybody, will anybody be screaming and moaning? Well, they beat Yukon, they beat Colgate, they beat Duke, they beat Pitt, they beat Georgia Tech,

they beat Carolina, they beat Miami, they beat Boston College. Will anybody be screaming for poor Syracuse? You know what would happen? If Syracuse, week one, they play tennis league. If they beat Tennessee, you know what's going to be said? Oh, they don't have Nico anymore. Tennessee's just not good. They're just not a good team.

I don't know what to tell you. They're going to finish last in the SEC. Of course, you can beat the last team in the SEC on a neutral site. But maybe if you played that game in Knoxville, you would have lost. Yeah, well, what if they would have played in the carrier, though? Now, you know, and if some butts were very much will happen. Of course. But that's my problem.

That is my problem with perception. kind of bending reality. Perception should not do that in the way of, well, I think this is a good team, therefore this is a good team. No, line it the hell up. Who won the football game? Who looked good?

Who didn't? People are talking to me about, you know, that LSU team is right there. They were right there last year. I'll tell you what. You're talking about the same team that lost the USC? What are we doing here?

What are we? Again, there is, I understand teams are not the same team they were from week one, but Clemson had week one held against them all year. Clemson had, oh, what Georgia did to them, they're not a serious team. They might have made the playoff. They might have won ACC, but they're not a serious team. They weren't allowed to get better. But LSU is? What's the difference between the Tigers?

They're both Tigers. They both play in Death Valley. They're more similar than we'd like to think here. But for some reason, one of them was allowed to get better and grow. And I can't wait. Morgan, I can't wait. You need to get them that pregame piece that you just gave us because I can't wait to see Clemson put belt to behind in game one this year. I need it as bad as I need air, Morgan. Yeah, you know, I'm looking forward to that game. I think everybody's got it circled. It's, it's coming up quick. And Clemson's schedule has gotten a little bit more difficult as well because we've got some revenge games. You know, Jackson, I'm looking at that Syracuse game like Fran Brown is saying, hey, we got you in the ACC. And, you know, I can, I get it. This year, and as, as Grayson mentioned,

This year is kind of a do-or-die, make-or-break year because, you know, statistically, you have a roster that is stacked with returning starters. Probably, I think statistically, if you look at like Phil Steele's numbers, it might be even percentage-wise the most returning starters of any power for conference team. So they have to be able to make that. Now, it all hinges around probably what we'll talk about later on in the show, which is the quarterback. and Cade Clubnick truly being the best quarterback in the conference and also maybe even in the country. Some people say he could be a first round draft pick. But the thing about Kate is, while he's beaten, you know, Kentucky, he's beaten the Tar Heels. He really hasn't won that marquee game in front of all nation, you know, ESPN, everything, like nighttime lights,

everything. He hasn't won that game. So this LSU game is important for him because he didn't win Georgia. He didn't win Tennessee. And while he was younger in those, and you could kind of say those mistakes were forgiven, he has to step up now because you've got, you've got LSU starting out. Then you're going to have SMU.

You're going to have Syracuse. It's going to be wanting to come. You got to play Louisville on Friday night, you know. And then you got South Carolina in their house this year, which we have a good street going there, but still they're going to want to show what, they did at Clemson again in their in their stadium. So Clemson's got to navigate a more difficult schedule than last year and they should have the roster to do it. Dabo Sweeney's made the right decisions

going forward for the staff as well. They just got to put it all together. I think this is a great start. And as you mentioned, the biggest thing for me with the ACC and perception is really week one. What has hurt the ACC more than anything? And Clemson included, Clemson has been at times like the team you wish that they would be at week one. But then a lot of times they've stubbed their toe week one. And I hate it. You see Duke stubbed their toe. You see Clemson stub their toe.

You see other ACC teams getting opportunities like Jackson. You mentioned you've got Tennessee this year. We all have to come together and say, hey, you know what? If we want the respect, it starts week one because if Kent mentioned, they're not going to let you forget about it. Yeah. Well, I actually, on that note, I think this is a perfect transition to the ESPN FPI that was released earlier this week. Now, keep in mind, you all are watching or listening to this. It's premiering on Thursday evening. We are recording this on Tuesday, but I believe it was the first one that ESPN released. It was their early top 25, right? Three ACC teams were in. So, of course, the ACC doesn't get a whole lot of respect. But Clemson, They're in the top 25. They're 11th, which is pretty good.

SMU's 20th. But notice how I'm leaving out a team here. Miami is the best team in the ACC in the first ESPN FPI. So, I mean, who wants to buy the first round here? I mean, who else found that surprising? Or is it not surprising to you all? I'll buy the first round and then dump it out over the floor. It's not going to be Miami.

I'm sorry, because Carson Beck is your quarterback. If anyone's heard me talk about Carson Beck before, you know how I feel. I mean, best of luck to Alex Dono, but I just, I don't see it. He's coming off of Tommy John surgery, no less. So, I mean, you hope that he can least be fully 100% healthy. Miami's problem last year was their defense. They could score with absolutely anyone in the country, but could they stop them on the back side of that? Until I see that problem get assured, I don't know about the hurricanes.

Now, what I do want to say is about Clemson. Clemson has the defense. In fact, they just went out and got perhaps the best defensive coordinator in the country in Tom Allen from Penn State. How Miami is over Clemson right now is beyond comprehension for me. You know, the most interesting thing that I find about the Miami situation is, and by the way, Dono, I know you're listening. We love your brother, but we got to tell the truth. That's what we do on this show. The most interesting thing that I find about the Miami situation is not even that you got Beck coming off injury.

It's that Beck has not thrown to these receivers at all. He has not proven himself. I mean, you're not wrong, Grayson. I am in the same mode as Grayson on Carson Beck. And even beyond that, even if I did think, hey, he's a really good quarterback, there is a first year transfer thing that happens. If you're not an elite of the elite number one or number two overall pick type of guy, you're just that first year is not going to click.

And even for guys that are that at times, It doesn't click, a Joe Burrow, who year one at LSU, he was all right. There were moments. There were flashes. Year two, he became a superstar. By and large, we see with these first year quarterbacks, it takes time. There are exceptions. Miami had the exception last year with Cam Ward.

Miami had the exception. Syracuse had exception. But everybody else for the most part, you look around the country and you say, what did Riley Leonard do in terms of who he was at Notre Dame? What did NC State get in Grayson McCall? And, you know, with all due respect to him in an injury situation, that may be a little different. But still, for the most part, these one-year transfer guys, they don't produce at the level

that you expect them to because they're somewhere they had three, four years in the system. They know the receivers. They know the routes. They know who likes to get what ball where. And then you're going into a new system. I just, I don't see it. And here's the thing.

I love Miami's defense. I just think they got what I like to call can't get right eyedice. They're always right there. They're always, oh, on paper, they should do it. And then when you put rubber to roll, they can't make it. Or play against Georgia Tech. Or Syracuse. You know, I don't know if, and I'm looking at this,

and it looks like the win loss is the same for Clemson, Miami. Even some of the ESPN experts have mentioned that it's kind of shocking how Miami is so high up. I don't think it's the Carson Beck effect. I joked pre-show that it was probably the Carson Beck effect. Maybe it's the Cavender twin effect. I think they probably have a little bit more pull than Carson Beck, even though I know that's kind of a touchy situation right now with Carson. Sorry, Carson.

Yeah, they broke up. Yeah, sorry about that, Carson. You know, my bad. He'll live. He's okay. Yeah, I think he's fine. You know, he's obviously getting a lot of money. But we know what happens when guys get a lot of money,

whether it's in the NFL or when it's in college football. They typically end up at another university doing nothing just like they did at that university. So Carson Beck progressively got worse as the season went on, and I think was one of the big reasons why Georgia did not win a national championship again. And I don't know if he's going to be able to bring any success to Miami, and I hope he doesn't, to be honest with you. Their NFL talent is, to me, found in Rubin Bain. It's found in maybe their wide receivers. I love Ray Ray Joseph. It was really heartbreaking that he decommitted from Clemson after being the first commit

and being a commit for like two years and then leaving. And he's one of the fastest guys in the country. So, you know, if he can figure out how to work well together with Carson Beck, then he could be extremely explosive. They've got a ton of transfers. And you know, we all love their tackle Maui Goa. I mean, this dude's been a massive presence since being a true. freshman and just, you know, basically holding his own against Clemson as a true freshman.

So they have talent. But what has Mario Cristobal been able to do, not put it all together? That's my definition for him. He has a lot of success and he knows how to build an offensive line. Yeah, I'll give him a ton of credit. But putting it all together to actually have success for an entire season, we still haven't seen it from Mario Cristobal. And I don't know if you're going to see it from this team here.

and they've added in some good pieces. But to me, I think there's obviously the flash. That gives them a huge advantage over Clemson. Davosweeney's not a transfer portal lover. This is the first year he's really been serious with it. But again, it goes back to, can Miami actually live up to any kind of the preseason hype that we get to with them? The record says no right now, at least. All right.

I'm kind of surprised by it, too, that they're ninth. Yeah. I think that's a little too high. I think Clemson is definitely in the top 10. I would have put Miami somewhere in the 20s. Maybe you can make a case for like 18 or 20 or something like that. But 9th for Miami with coming off elbow surgery. I don't know about it.

When you look at this top 15, I could definitely see them slotting in there. I mean, you've got the Auburn Tigers in there for Christ's sake. Get Zach Blackerbeat out of these rank. immediately. Get him away from these rankings because what are they doing? It just means more. Jackson, what is that polar bear doing in Dallas? Why is there a polar bear in Dallas, Jackson? How is Louisville just seven spots ahead of Florida State? Like Louisville should be a top 25.

Yeah, they're going to be good. They're 40, 41. What? But that's my point. That's my point about this in time. of the SEC and us letting a Paul fine bomb run a check. Because how the hell do you put somebody? Again, in what world is Auburn a top 20 team?

Auburn's 14. That's what I'm saying. Isn't Jackson Arnold? Yes, yes. They believe that a guy that got his spot taken is going to lead them to the promised land. At Oklahoma, who wasn't good. Yeah.

That's neither here nor there. But anyway, speaking of quarterbacks coming up, top three quarterbacks in the ACC. Let's talk about it. Who are the top three quarterbacks in the ACC? I guess we're just going to go around the room here. Kenton, let's start with you on this one. Oh, this is easy for me. I determined this by what I've seen guys do as well as what I'm projecting them to do in this upcoming season,

which gives me a very easy top three. Number one, Morgan's guy, Kay K. Klubnik. a bad man, majema, he started to figure it out at the end of last season. He started, you started to see why he was such a highly-tied recruit and why everybody was going crazy about him and when he committed to Clemsor. You started to see it at the end of the season. He continues that with the situation he has, with all that returning production, Westco and company are not going to get worse.

Williams was banged up all last year, still bought out. Same thing for Brown, who I believe is returning as well, or am I wrong there, Morgan? Is Brownback as well? Why, receiver? Yeah, Tyler Brown is back, but you're going to have Kristen Smith or Bryant Westgo or T.J. Mory, your top four. Right. And that's what I'm saying. They've got a ton of depth. They got a ton of talent. They've got all of the makings to be very good there. So I believe that they're going to be just fine. My next one up, this guy is such a good quarterback. He could not throw the ball. And they still said, hey, we're going to need you to win football games here. I saw it firsthand because he assisted in beating my team. Mr. Han. James King. We got to give love to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. He's been in college since all of us were in college, but he's still doing it. He's still bawling. And I'm going to tell you, dynamic, dual threat guy. He is a guy that we saw last year figured out on the passing side. The legs are always there. I think he's going to be dynamic this year. And my third guy, I'm worried about the situation around him. Everybody keeps telling me, hey, they've still got a ton of good players, but they lost a ton of production. But based on what I've seen him do, this is going to be make a break for him in terms of, is he a quarterback that you win because of or that you

win with? And that's my guy, Kevin Jennings from SMU. I think that he's the third best quarterback in the conference. I think those are the top three. And I think he's closer to Haynes King than Haynes King gets to K K Clubnick. But again, Kovnik's situation just puts him through the roof for me. He's got everything you can want except maybe a proven running game there, which Haynes King does have. SMU on the other hand, they're fully kind of restocking the shelves. But Kevin Jennings, that's a bad boy. I believe that he has a potential to be special. Me next. I got, I got Clubnik at one. I used to be a big Kade Clubnik doubter. Since then, I've kind of turned into a eat my words on Kade Clubnik guy. I think he's the best

quarterback in the ACC. He's turning into one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and there's really nothing else you can deny that with at this point. So I have Clubnik. I have Club Nick at one, and I think he's going to lead a very talented Clemson team this season. in the interest of being just a little bit different, I don't want to copy Kenton because I basically had the same three. I'm going to put Kevin Jennings at two. I think he's dynamite. I think what he can do with SMU,

even though they have some different pieces to work with this year. He is good enough, especially as a quarterback, sometimes as a running back, as a pure athlete, he is pure electricity. And I think he can have another dynamite season for SMU. Number three might surprise some folks.

I'm going to go with Kyron drones. I'm a big Chiron Drones guy. He kind of had a disappointing year last year. There's no debating that. I don't know what Virginia Tech is going to be either, but in terms of quarterback ability, I think Chiron Drones is up there with the best of them in the ACC. A lot will be dependent on the situation around them

and what kind of season that they want to have down there in Blacksburg. But I'm a big Chiron Drones guy. I have them at three. Yeah, a lot of people like Virginia Tech last season. Then week one happened. Believe it, believing in Kairn Drones is like Groundhog Day. Every year, you're like, this is his year. He's going to break out.

We'll find out. That's how you are with Thomas Castiano, to be fair. Oh, Tom. I'm not doing this with you, Jackson. I'm not doing this with you today, but Thomas Cassiano is an upper half of the conference. I'm just letting you know he's not in my top three. I would expect it. He's not in my top five.

He's not in my top seven. He's not even in my top ten. Now, you could make an argument that he's 14. I'm not doing this. That's rage bait. That's fake. I ain't doing it. I ain't doing it.

Morgan, please let us know your top three. Well, okay, so I'll go ahead and throw in another name, maybe somebody that I think is a transfer that studied under Lincoln Riley, that is under Jeff Brom now, you know, Miller Moss would be one that I think probably could jump on the scene. I don't want to put in Carson Beck because of the elbow problems and the fact that we've already finished spring

and I don't think he's thrown anything more than a tennis ball. And then, you know, for two for me would probably be Haynes King. I think that one play away from winning the Georgia game, one turnover worthy quarterback keeper was the difference between him basically having the biggest win of his, maybe even his life. And then number one for me would be K. Clubnick. But I'm not going to disrespect Kevin Jennings or Carson Beck. I do think that they're up there as well. in contention to be one of the better, you know,

quarterbacks out there. All right. I'll wrap things up here. And you guys have already said all the ones I was going to go with. But I'm going to go right outside of my top three with Miller Moss because I think Jeff Brom is, he's the quarterback whisper. He's going to bring in guys and they're going to work well in his system. And, you know, he may not be a NFL caliber quarterback, but he's going to be a damn good

ACC quarterback. So he's just right outside of that. Number three for me, Kevin Jennings, loved. watching him play last year. The guy is a baller. He's only just going to keep getting better and more confident. When he gets more confident, the level of explosive plays that this guy can put together, both with his arm and his legs, are unmatched in the conference. I think he's awesome. And as Morgan was just saying with Haynes King at number two,

watching that game against Georgia, the guy's a winner. And again, this is another year where he can grow and develop. Now he lost, you know, Eric Singletary to Auburn, one of the best wide receivers in the ACC. I don't think that should have honestly matter all that much because I think he's still talented enough to use whatever he's got. And then we'll make it unanimous, K-Klobnik number one. I also got K-Klebnik number one. If Carson Beck was healthy, he would easily be second and it would not even be close. The problem is he's not healthy.

So. Or good. There's that. I think he's good. I think he's good. He just has to be healthy, which I, that's my question mark with him. But I do know his ability and I do think he's a very good quarterback. But I can't put him second.

I got Haynes King and two. I think that's pretty obvious. And three is Kevin Jennings. But I'm surprised nobody mentioned. And speaking of the NC State guys, no CJ Bailey love. He's right outside that. He's right outside that group of me. And I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you, I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the season he ends up playing his way in here.

Because while we talk about situations, he has one of the best. He has a bunch of return of guys. Everybody's talking about Kevin Concepcion's going. Kevin Concepcion's this and that. if you saw the offense last year, force feeding Kevin Concepcion was not good for us. It was not good at all. They should have gone to other places.

You've got one of the best tight ends in the nation in Jolie. You've got a hell of a receiver room returning a ton of depth, a ton of talent so much so that we pushed out proven seniors that were ballless for us. And you've got a bunch of young guys that are absolute dynamite, like a, like a Terrell Anderson, like a Jonathan Paler company that he's going to be getting the ball to with a hail cat in. Hollywood smothers next to him at running back.

I think he'll be just fine. And one more sleeper. One more sleeper, though. And no Syracuse fans. I'm not going to say Steve Angelly, Ricky Collins. I'm sorry. Dary and Mensa. I feel like we haven't really talked about him a lot.

Derry Mensa at Duke. I mean, like, he was only one of the top transfer quarterbacks available this offseason coming from Tulane at a really good year. If you told me, there's a group of like seven, eight quarterbacks that I look at and if you tell me they're going to be second team all-ecc quarterback next season, I'll believe it. Yeah. Yeah. And he's like in that tier. So it's as much as we're doing top

three here, to me, I look at it as like, yeah, I think K Klubnick is the clear number one. And then everyone else I kind of look at and I say, hmm, I know you're really good. I know you're really good. And I know you're really good too or you could be really good too. And Miller Moss is steady. A lot of good quarterbacks in the ACC. It kind of reminds me a last year. year. We're the league of quarterbacks. Apparently our quarterback played just means more. Don't tell the SEC that, though. No, everyone in the SEC is better and don't negotiate. That's, that's it. You know, Trevor Lawrence in the SEC would have been terrible. That's, that's it. He would have been awful. Would have been awful. But folks, that is it for this edition of the locked on ACC squad.

I'm Jackson, also the host of Locked on Syracuse, Tenting Gibbs, and Grayson Boone, the host of Locked-on Wolfpack, Morgan Thomas, the host of Lockdown Clemson Tigers, and A.J. Black, the host of Locked-on Boston College Eagles and folks, check us all out. And also, when you get to our channel pages, if you can just do us all favor, hit that like button, hit that subscribe button, helps all the channels grow, and reach all of the fans of all those respective channels. And of course, for your other listen here when you're done with this podcast, You could check out the new Locked-on Portal show with football recruiting expert and the host of Lockdown Florida State Seminoles,

Brian Smith, who's got the latest rumors and signings each and every day. And you can find the Portal podcast on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast. And folks, thank you all so much for watching. Thank you all so much for listening. And we'll see you all again soon.