CHARLESTON, S.C – The Citadel senior linebacker Willie Eubanks III and graduate transfer B-Back Alex Ramsey were honored by Phil Steele Magazine as the Preseason Southern Conference Defensive and Offensive Players of the Year. The duo are just two of the 13 Bulldogs named to the preseason teams by the magazine.
 
The Bulldogs had five players selected to the first team in Ramsey, wide receiver Raleigh Webb, Eubanks, defensive back Chris Beverly and punter Matt Campbell.
 
The second team featured quarterback Brandon Rainey, offensive lineman Haden Haas, defensive lineman Dalton Owens, linebacker Marquise Blount and defensive back Sean-Thomas Faulkner.
 
Offensive lineman Johnathan Toole, defensive lineman Dewey Greene IV and defensive back Destin Mack were named to the third team.
 
Eubanks posted one of the best seasons in recent history for the Bulldogs in 2019. The consensus All-American posted 112 tackles, 63 solo, 11.5 tackles-for-loss, 4.0 sacks, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one interception and 11 quarterback hurries.
 
Eubanks has already been named Preseason First-Team All-American by Athlon Sports and a Preseason Third-Team All-American by HERO Sports.
 
Ramsey joins the Bulldogs this season after rushing for 1,326 yards and 22 touchdowns at VMI in 2019. The Walter Payton Award finalist posted six 100-yard performances, including a career-high 207 yards against Wofford. Two weeks later, Ramsey rushed for six touchdowns in an overtime victory against Samford.  
 
Webb is coming off a season in which he caught 30 passes for 617 yards and 10 touchdowns. He caught a touchdown in nine of the 12 games, including starting the season with a TD catch in five-straight games. Webb's 10 receiving touchdowns are the most since Andre Roberts caught 14 during the 2008 season.
 
Beverly started all 12 games at safety and ranked second on the team with 71 tackles. He added 2.0 tackles-for-loss, one interception, one forced fumble and six pass break-ups. His biggest play of the season came against ETSU when he stopped the receiver on the one-yard line on a 4^th-and-goal play to secure the victory for the Bulldogs. He followed that up with his first career interception against Chattanooga.
 
Campbell put together his second-straight all-conference season as he averaged 44.1 yards on 35 punts. Ten of his punts traveled at least 50 yards, with 12 resulting in fair catches and 13 being inside the 20-yard line.
 
The 2019 season saw Rainey account for a school-record 30 touchdowns and became just the second signal caller in school history to rush for and throw for at least 10 touchdowns in the same season. He finished the year by rushing for 900 yards and 17 touchdowns, while also throwing for 1,114 yards and 13 touchdowns. The 13 touchdown passes tied for the seventh most in a single season, and are the most since the 2008 season. Rainey is also the first quarterback to throw for more than 1,000 yards in a season since Bart Blanchard in 2008.
 
Haas has solidified the center spot for the past two seasons and has helped the Bulldogs to be one of the top rushing teams in the FCS in each of the last seasons.
 
Owens quietly put together a strong season in the interior of the defensive line. The sophomore posted 23 tackles, including 8.5 tackles-for-loss and 3.5 sacks.
 
Blount was putting together a dominating season before being shut down due to injury. The sophomore posted 42 tackles, 11.5 tackles-for-loss, 4.5 sacks, one forced fumble and five quarterback hurries in just eight games. He recorded a sack in each of the last three games he played, including a strip sack that led to a touchdown in the victory over Furman.
 
Faulkner started all 12 games and finished third on the team with 70 tackles, while adding 2.0 sacks, four pass break-ups and three quarterback hurries. He was named the SoCon Special Teams Player of the Week after blocking a pair of punts against Elon.
 
Toole earned a starting job last season as a redshirt freshman and earned Freshman All-America honors.
 
Mack started the final 10 games of the season, posting 35 tackles and tieing for the team lead with two interceptions.
 
For more information on The Citadel football, follow @citadelfootball on twitter or visit CitadelSports.com.
 
Membership in The Citadel Brigadier Foundation is open to alumni and friends of The Citadel who are interested in supporting Bulldog athletics. By joining, you provide annual charitable contributions that fund scholarships for cadet-student-athletes.  Supporters interested in joining TCBF or for more information, please click HERE.