After finishing their regular season with a statement win against Wake Forest Sunday, the Blue Devils continued their miraculous turnaround season Tuesday afternoon by receiving nine All-ACC honors.
Offensive tackle Graham Barton headlines the list as Duke's only First-Team selection. The 6-foot-5, 311-pound junior received the honor after leading an offensive line that led the ACC in total sacks allowed and average tackles for loss allowed. Barton himself had the fifth-highest Pro Football Focus player grade of any offensive tackle in the nation.
Sophomore Riley Leonard was one of four ACC quarterbacks to be honored Tuesday, joining North Carolina's Drake Maye, Florida State's Jordan Travis and Wake Forest's Sam Hartman. The Fairhope, Ala., native received an Honorable Mention after his first season starting for the Blue Devils, in which he scored 11 rushing touchdowns and 20 passing touchdowns, the first Duke quarterback to ever do so. He also leads all ACC quarterbacks in rushing yards and is third in total touchdowns behind Maye and Hartman.
Team captain and redshirt junior DeWayne Carter made the Second Team as a defensive tackle. Carter leads the Blue Devils with 11 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks and leads the ACC in fumble recoveries. Duke's defensive line as a whole has excelled, holding opponent rushing attacks to just 3.73 yards per carry and eight rushing touchdowns.
Senior wide receiver Jalon Calhoun raked in three honors, making the Third Team for both offense and specialists, as well as being named an all-purpose Honorable Mention. He has 811 season receiving yards for four touchdowns, and his 2298 career yards rank him ninth in Duke history. As a punt returner, Calhoun has averaged 12.6 yards across nine returns. In total, Calhoun ranks 11th in the ACC with 950 all-purpose yards.
Meanwhile, graduate safety Darius Joiner made the Third Team on defense behind a team-leading 57 solo tackles. He also possesses the team's second-most total tackles with 89 behind All-ACC honorable mention Shaka Heyward, a redshirt senior linebacker.
Senior center Jacob Monk, whose regular season ended early due to injury, sophomore safety Brandon Johnson and redshirt junior punter Porter Wilson rounded out Duke's representatives on the Honorable Mention list.
ACC Players of the Year and ACC Coach of the Year will be announced later this week.
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Sasha Richie is a Trinity senior and a sports managing editor of The Chronicle's 118th volume.