By Jim Johnson
SouthernPigskin.com

Follow us at Twitter.com/SouthernPigskin.  Become a fan at the SouthernPigskin.com Facebook Page

The 2019 All-Sun Belt first, second, and third teams, according to the OAYP advanced metric.

Now that the 2019 regular season has come to an end, its time to release OAYPs all-conference teams.

For the uninitiated, OAYP for individual players is a measure of efficiency and value and is presented relative to the positional mean, kind of like WAR in baseball, as determined by the average scores across Southern Pigskins entire FBS coverage area — the ACC, SEC, and Sun Belt. There is also a formula for measuring overall opponent adjusted team strength as well as offensive and defensive efficiency, plus strength of schedule.

Given that this is OAYPs first season, the formula for both individuals and teams was modestly adapted, and I would argue improved. For teams, that involved simply removing a small redundancy. The individual rankings, however, took on a bit of a different tenor than I initially envisioned. Organically, it occured to me around week two or three that the most straightforward way to approach the opponent adjustments for players would be to calculate individual game scores and then average those, as opposed to looking at one block of data. The early season data was then retroactively updated to reflect the formulas evolution.

I think this offshoot of average game score, an idea stemming from a similar metric used in basketball, is a bit more unique and offers a different prism from which to view a given players proficiency. It will also allow for consistency adjustments in the offseason, when I start doing the 2020 player projections.

For these purposes, there is no consistency adjustment, because outlier performances happened and those players deserve credit for them. But, as a predictive measure, it stands to reason that factoring those out to some degree will be more telling.

In any case, here are the All-ACC First, Second, and Third teams, as denoted by average game score (among qualifying players), according to OAYP:

FIRST TEAM

QB — Layne Hatcher, Arkansas State
RB — Wesley Kennedy, Georgia Southern
RB — Darrynton Evans, App State
WR — Omar Bayless, Arkansas State
WR — JaMarcus Bradley, Louisiana
WR — Corey Sutton, App State
TE — Josh Pederson, ULM
OT — Max Mitchell, Louisiana
OT — Cooper Hodges, App State
OG — Kevin Dotson, Louisiana
OG — Ryan Neuzil, App State
C — Noah Hannon, App State

EDGE — Akeem Davis-Gaither, App State
EDGE — William Bradley-King, Arkansas State
DL — Tarron Jackson, Coastal Carolina
DL — Demetrius Taylor, App State
LB — Carlton Martial, Troy
LB — Jordan Fehr, App State
LB — Bryan London, Texas State
CB — Shaun Jolly, App State
CB — Corey Straughter, ULM
S — Desmond Franklin, App State
S — Josh Thomas, App State
DB — BJ Edmonds, Arkansas State

SECOND TEAM

QB — Zac Thomas, App State
RB — Tra Barnett, Georgia State
RB — Josh Johnson, ULM
WR — Jalen Tolbert, South Alabama
WR — Kirk Merritt, Arkansas State
WR — Kaylon Geiger, Troy
TE — Isaiah Likely, Coastal Carolina
OT — Hunter Atkinson, Georgia State
OT — Aaron Brewer, Texas State
OG — OCyrus Torrence, Louisiana
OG — Baer Hunter, App State
C — Bobby Reynolds, ULM

EDGE — Randy Wade, Georgia Southern
EDGE — Kerry Starks, ULM
DL — Ishmael Davis, Texas State
DL — Will Choloh, Troy
LB — Rashad Byrd, Georgia Southern
LB — Nikolas Daniels, Texas State
LB — Cortez Cisco, ULM
CB — Michael Jacquet, Louisiana
CB — Jarron Morris, Texas State
S — Darreon Jackson, Arkansas State
S — Kenderick Duncan, Georgia Southern
DB — Will Sunderland, Troy

THIRD TEAM

QB — Caleb Evans, ULM
RB — Raymond Calais, Louisiana
RB — CJ Marable, Coastal Carolina
WR — Reggie Todd, Troy
WR — Khalil McClain, Troy
WR — Trevis Graham, Texas State
TE — Roger Carter, Georgia State
OT — Victor Johnson, App State
OT — Sam Williams, ULM
OG — Brandon Jones, ULM
OG — Andre Harris, Arkansas State
C — Shane Vallot, Louisiana

EDGE — Frankie Griffin, Texas State
EDGE — Donald Louis, ULM
DL — Kevin Thurmon, Arkansas State
DL — CJ Brewer, Coastal Carolina
LB — Jacques Boudreaux, Louisiana
LB — Tajhea Chambers, Arkansas State
LB — DMarco Jackson, App State
CB — Jeremy Smith, Arkansas State
CB — Shemar Jean-Charles, App State
S — Percy Butler, Louisiana
S — Keith Gallmon, South Alabama
DB — Logan Wescott, Arkansas State