Louisville will head into the 2026 season with two of its biggest names landing on the ACC preseason team.
Junior running back Isaac Brown and senior edge Clev Lubin were both picked by league media for the All-ACC Preseason Team, giving the Cardinals a presence on both sides of the ball. Brown also finished third in preseason Player of the Year voting, while Miami quarterback Darian Mensah took the top spot.
Brown’s selection comes after a season in which he kept producing even while dealing with injury. He ran for 884 yards and seven touchdowns on only 101 carries, a staggering 8.8 yards per attempt. That followed his 2024 ACC Rookie of the Year season, and now he enters 2026 as a preseason All-American candidate, an All-ACC favorite and one of the leading names in the race for the Doak Walker Award.
Lubin earned his spot after a disruptive 2025 campaign. He finished 25th nationally and fourth in the ACC with 8.5 sacks, added 13.5 tackles for loss to rank seventh in the league, and also posted a team-high seven quarterback hurries. He ended the year fourth on Louisville with 61 total tackles.
The Cardinals were also respected in the preseason team race. In the media voting, Louisville came in third behind Miami and SMU, with Clemson and Georgia Tech completing the top five.
Miami led the way on the preseason All-ACC team, placing Mensah at quarterback and stacking the roster with multiple selections. Brown was the lone Louisville player on offense, while Lubin represented the defense.
2026 All-ACC Preseason Football Team
Offense
QB: Darian Mensah, Miami (112) *
RB: Mark Fletcher, Jr., Miami (127)
RB: Isaac Brown, Louisville (94)
WR: Malachi Toney, Miami (164)
WR: Duce Robinson, Florida State (131)
WR: Bryant Wesco Jr., Clemson (64)
TE: Jeremiah Hasley, Duke (61)
AP: Malachi Toney, Miami (94)
OT: PJ Williams, SMU (96)
OT: McKale Boley, Virginia (77)
OG: Noah Josey, Virginia (71)
OG: Samson Okunlola, Miami (53)
C: Josh Bates, SMU (64)
Defense
DE: Will Heldt, Clemson (87)
DE: Clev Lubin, Louisville (79)
DT: Ahmad Moten Sr., Miami (126)
DT: Kemari Copeland, Virginia Tech (89)
LB: Sammy Brown, Clemson (139)
LB: Kam Robinson, Virginia (98)
LB: Mohamed Toure, Miami (64)
CB: Ashton Hampton, Clemson (81)
CB: Chris Peal, Syracuse (45)
S: Bryce Fitzgerald, Miami (86)
S: KP Price, Boston College (45)
Specialists
PK: Aidan Birr, Georgia Tech (105)
P: Daniel Sparks, Virginia (48)
SP: Malachi Toney, Miami (104)
Votes by position in parentheses
*Preseason Player of the Year
188 media voters
2026 ACC Football Preseason Player of the Year
Rank, Name, Position, School
- Darian Mensah, QB, Miami (97)
- Kevin Jennings, QB, SMU (25)
- Isaac Brown, RB, Louisville (16)
- CJ Bailey, QB, NC State (15)
- Duce Robinson, WR, Florida State (12)
- Sammy Brown, LB, Clemson (11)
- Kam Robinson, LB, Virginia (5)
- Will Heldt, DE, Clemson (4)
- Mason Heintschel, QB, Pitt (3)
Votes in parentheses
188 media voters
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