No. 13. Shawn Powell, P, Florida State

2011 stats: He led the nation with a single-season school-record average of 47.04 yards per punt (57 punts for 2,681 yards). He had 24 punts of 50 or more yards and 23 punts downed inside the 20-yard line. He forced seven fair catches and finished his career as FSU’s all-time leader with a 44.2 average (168-7,424).

Previous ranking: Not ranked.

Making the case for Powell: That’s right, there’s a punter on this list. In the top 15, no less. And he deserves it. Powell ranks fifth all-time in the ACC for career punting average, and he became the first ACC punter to lead the nation in both overall and net punting since Ryan Plackemeier of Wake Forest in 2005. He didn’t have a punt blocked in 168 career attempts, and he was the program’s first consensus All-American punter. His impact on defense and field position was invaluable, especially considering how the offense struggled.

No. 14 Zach Brown, LB, North Carolina

No. 15 Quinton Coples, DE, North Carolina

No. 16 Kyle Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech

No. 17 Sean Spence, LB, Miami

No. 18 Zebrie Sanders, OT, Florida State

No. 19 Joe Vellano, DT, Maryland

No. 20 Lamar Miller, RB, Miami

No. 21 Chris Givens, WR, Wake Forest

No. 22 Terrell Manning, LB, NC State

No. 23 Matt Conrath, DT, Virginia

No. 24 Omoregie Uzzi, RG, Georgia Tech

No. 25 Brandon Jenkins, DE, Florida State