RICHMOND – Virginia Tech LB Rayshard Ashby and CB Caleb Farley were named to the All-ACC first-team squad of respected college football analyst Phil Steele on Monday. T Christian Darrisaw, P Oscar Bradburn and PR Tayvion Robinson were all named to Steele's second-team ACC unit. CB Jermaine Waller was a third-team selection.
Ashby (5-10, 237) was named ACC Linebacker of the Week five times this season. The Chesterfield, Virginia native was the only defensive player in the league to win that many ACC POW honors in 2019. Ashby was a second-team All-ACC selection and finished third in the voting for ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Ashby leads Tech with 106 total tackles and ranks fourth in the ACC. He also leads the Hokies and is tied for fourth in the ACC with 14.5 tackles for loss. He has held VT's Lunch Pail for Bud Foster the entire season and leads a VT defense that helped the Hokies become the first ACC team to post back-to-back shutouts against Power Five foes for the first time since 1978.
Farley (6-2, 207) has blossomed into one of the ACC's top cornerbacks in just his second season playing that position after serving as a high school quarterback. A first-team All-ACC pick, he leads the ACC with 16 passes defensed & ranks fourth in the nation averaging 1.5 passes defensed per game. He is tied for the ACC lead with four INTs and registered a 17-yard INT return TD in a 45-0 shutout of Georgia Tech (11/16). The Hickory, N.C. native posted a career-high four passes defensed in a 43-41 six-OT win vs. North Carolina (10/19).
Bradburn (6-1, 221) Bradburn earned All-ACC honorable mention accolades in 2019 after being named a third-team All-ACC selection in 2018. A semifinalist for The Ray Guy Award, he ranks eighth in the nation in gross punting average (46.7). The Sydney, Australia native owns 21 punts of 50+ yards, 21 punts inside the 20. He also forced 21 fair catches while suffering only seven touchbacks. Bradburn was named the ACC Specialist of the Week following Tech's 36-14 victory over No. 22 Wake Forest. He boomed four punts for an average of 51.3 yards, hit a long punt of 59 yards and dropped three punts inside the 20 in that contest.
Darrisaw (6-5, 311) has started all 12 games at left tackle for Tech in 2019 after opening 12 contests at that position as a true freshman. The Upper Marlboro, Maryland native helped jumpstart Tech's rushing game in the regular season's final eight games as the Hokies averaged 184.4 rushing ypg & scored 17 rushing TDs over that span.
Robinson (5-10, 186) emerged as an explosive threat as return man, receiver and rusher for the Hokies in 2019. He was rated by PFF College as the highest-graded true freshman punt returner (83.0) in the nation and the eighth-highest overall among players with at least 10 punt returns, earning PFF College All-Freshman Team honors as a punt returner. A former high school quarterback at Cox High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia, he ran back 12 punts for 174 yards, good for an average of 14.5 yards per return, the nation's 10th-best mark using the above threshold. In addition to his punt return numbers, the speedy 757 native ranks third on Tech with 29 catches for 386 yards with one TD. He's also rushed the ball 10 times for 127 yards.
Waller (6-1, 180) emerged as a consistent cover corner for the Hokies as a true sophomore in 2019. The Washington, D.C. native is tied for fifth in the ACC with three interceptions and is tied for fourth in the league with 13 passes defensed. He ranks second on the squad in both categories behind teammate CB Caley Farley.