Pitt defensive ends Patrick Jones II and Rashad Weaver both earned first-team All-America honors from the Walter Camp Football Foundation on Thursday. Walter Camp is the fifth and final major outlet to release its 2020 All-America list, and it was the only one to name Jones and Weaver first-teamers.
The announcement further cements Weaver’s status as a consensus All-American, as he came away with first-team honors from the the American Football Coaches Association, the Associated Press, the Football Writers Association of America and the Walter Camp Football Foundation in 2020. Sporting News, the only other major outlet considered in consensus and unanimous All-America honors, placed him on its second team.
As a result of Sporting News’ decision, Weaver fell one first-team nod shy of unanimous All-America honors. And had he secured that fifth first-team spot, he would have been Pitt’s first unanimous All-American since Aaron Donald.
As for Jones, Sporting News and Walter Camp were the only major outlets to concur on his status as a first-team All-American, despite a strong season that was comparable in many ways to Weaver’s. Meanwhile, the AP and FWAA both awarded him second-team honors, while the FWAA snubbed him altogether, rendering him a widely agreed upon All-American who came one first-team nod shy of consensus All-America status.
During the 2020 season, Weaver came up with 7.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for losses. Both were career highs for Weaver, and the 14.5 tackles for losses ranked eighth in the nation. On the opposite end of the Pitt defensive line, Jones came up with nine sacks and 13 tackles for losses. Both of those figures were also career highs for Jones, whose sack total ranked fifth in the nation. Weaver and Jones have declared for the NFL draft and are expected to go in the early rounds, and they will reunite at the Senior Bowl on Jan. 30.
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