2015 ACC Football Kickoff: Terrel Hunt & Zaire Franklin Will Rep Syracuse

The selection of which players will represent the Syracuse Orange at conference media day is always an intriguing one. Sometimes the choices are obvious and sometimes the choices tell us something about what the coaches see and fans might not see just yet.

This year's duo is a bit of that.

Senior quarterback Terrel Hunt and sophomore linebacker Zaire Franklin will represent the Orange at the 2015 ACC Football Kickoff, which will be held July 19-21 at the Pinehurst Resort in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C.

Hunt's selection is obvious. He's the team leader and the face of the offense. He's also got a story to tell as he returns from a season-ending injury that derailed his and the team's progress.

Franklin is the curious selection. Rimington Award watchlist lineman Rob Trudo would have been an obvious pick. John Raymon and Ron Thompson might have been potential selections as well. To say nothing of Heisman hopeful Riley Dixon...

However, it speaks volumes that Scott Shafer chose the sophomore instead. Franklin will almost certainly be Syracuse's starting MLB this season and will anchor was has been the defense's strongest unit in the last decade. He is also Syracuse's top returning tackler (44 in 2014) and will probably be so again this year. Franklin is one of only two sophomores headed to the event.

The selection reminds me of when Jay Bromley was chosen to represent SU in 2012. At the time, Bromley wasn't an obvious choice to fans, but he ended up developing into a top talent that later seemed predestined to be there.

Some other players who will be attending the event include Florida State placekicker Roberto Aguayo (2013 Lou Groza Award-winner), first-team 2015 All-Americans James Conner of Pitt and Jalen Ramsey of Florida State and second-team All-Americans Kendall Fuller of Virginia Tech and Jeremy Cash of Duke.

Louisville and Florida State will not bring any offense players with them to the event. Wonder if De'Andre Johnson was supposed to attend before, well, you know.