Louisville football: Cards’ top candidate for each ACC award next season

ACC Offensive Player of the Year – Tutu Atwell

2019 winner: Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson

This award 99 percent of the time has been given to the ACC Player of the Year winner as the offensive side of the ball typically is rewarded with the award, but for the purposes of this article, we’re going to pick another player instead of selecting Micale Cunningham.

Javian Hawkins or Tutu Atwell; that’s the discussion when it comes to which player would be more likely to win the ACC Offensive Player of the Year award in 2020.

For Hawkins, the path to winning comes with a bit more resistance than Atwell’s, when you consider second-team All-ACC running back Hassan Hall and backups Jalen Mitchell & Aidan Robbins are set to return along with Hawkins, (likely eating a small number of Hawkins’ carries away) while Clemson will still have the services of 2019 winner Travis Etienne who just so happens to play the same position as Hawkins.

After arguably the biggest breakout season of any skill position player across the country in 2019, Atwell returns for his junior season ready to prove nothing was a fluke. Breaking a ton of records along the way, including the all-time receiving yardage mark in single-season, Atwell comfortably led the ACC in receiving yards with an incredible 1,276 yards on 70 receptions with 12 touchdowns.

Winning the offensive player award in 2020 likely would mean that Atwell would need to surpass those numbers at an even higher rate, something he is more than capable of with Micale Cunningham healthy for the entire season.

We’ve already highlighted the missed opportunities that the offense had with Cunningham not being healthy for the Notre Dame game as well as a few others late in the contest, including Wake Forest. But when healthy, there’s a reason why Cunningham led the nation in completions over 70, 80, and 90 yards; Tutu Atwell.

When you consider the missed opportunities for Atwell like Cunningham not being on the field, dropped touchdown passes (like the Clemson game), wrong reads, etc. it shows the potential to build on what was an already historic season.

In order for Atwell to even compete for an award of this level, a couple of boxes will have to be checked.

First off, Louisville winning at an even higher rate than expected will be required for Atwell to even be considered. Secondly as mentioned, he’ll have to produce at a higher rate than last season’s 1200-plus receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. This award that hasn’t been given to a wide receiver since Calvin Johnson in 2006, so gaudy stats will be crucial – meaning Atwell will need to push for something like a top-five all-time ACC finish in single-season receiving yards and maybe even a few touchdown passes sprinkled in.

The odds of Atwell winning the award are very slim unless the things mentioned above fall into place. But don’t get it twisted. Atwell is one of the top two or three receivers in the ACC (along with Justyn Ross at Clemson) and in an offense that has gives the quarterback every opportunity to push the ball downfield, don’t be shocked to see the junior do something crazy in 2020.