Virginia Tech: Positional Breakdown

After a long, hot week of practice the Virginia Tech coaching staff is ready to begin finalizing the depth charts and start preparing to battle the East Carolina Pirates on August 30th.

I wont bore you guys with a bunch of interlude but I will add that so far this new class of freshmen might be the best incoming class Tech has ever had.  There are a lot of kids that have NFL futures if they keep working hard and keep listening to the coaches.
As you will see down below, there are also a lot of true freshmen battling for playing time this fall.

All right, without any further adieu, on to the positional analysis. 

Quarterbacks:

Neither Tyrod Taylor nor Sean Glennon has really separated themselves from one another at this point.  In the first real scrimmage of the fall, both quarterbacks faired about the same as Tyrod went 6-10 for 20 yards and Sean also went 6-10 for 49 yards.

At this point its really going to be impossible to say one deserves to be the starter over the other one.  Just from my observations, it will be another year of the two-quarterback system for the Hokies.

Running Backs:

The loss of Brandon Ore may have been a blessing in disguise for the Hokies due to the fact that the backfield will be absolutely loaded this fall.

Juniors Kenny Lewis and Jahre Cheeseman appear to be the front-runners for the starting job but freshmen Darren Evans, Ryan Williams, and Josh Oglesby are right behind the two upperclassmen.

Josh Oglesby was the star of the first scrimmage as he scampered for 65 yards on just five carries and scored the scrimmage’s only touchdown.  Ryan Williams managed just 20 yards on seven carries and Darren Evans ran for 26 yards on 7 carries as well.

The next inter-squad scrimmage is scheduled for Saturday and after that it appears that Coach Hite will take his top three backs and start increasing their reps to prepare them for the ECU showdown in three weeks.

Wide Receiver:

So far, the Hokie receivers have actually faired well during the first week of practice.  Freshmen Danny Coale and Jarrett Boykin have really been impressive and the same can be said for junior Ike Whitaker and sophomore Zach Luckett.

However, after those four there are some question marks as to who will provide depth for those guys.  Dyrell Roberts and Xavier Boyce are possibilities but how much can they contribute since they’re both true freshmen?

Redshirt freshmen Patrick Terry and Ervin Garner are a bit on the small side but have the speed necessary to stretch the field.

Marcus Davis was inline to play this fall but suffered a shoulder injury that will require him to redshirt and miss the upcoming season.

So as you can see there are still a lot of questions to be answered here.  Hopefully the next few scrimmages can shed some light on who the top six wide receivers will be.

Tight End:

The Hokies will feature four tight ends this year that can really help the football team in numerous ways.  Junior Greg Boone is having a great start to fall practice as he is catching everything in sight.  Boone will also play a few different roles this fall that require him to line up in the slot and even line up in the backfield on a few occasions.

Junior Sam Wheeler is still battling through his ACL injury that knocked him out of the second half of last season.  Sam will have to play with a little bit of pain this fall but he should be good to go full speed once the season begins.

Sophomore Andre Smith and freshman Chris Drager have both opened some eyes this fall with their athletic abilities.  Drager missed all of last season with an ACL injury and is picking up right where he left off.

Offensive Line:

The starting offensive line is set with Wang at LT, Marshman at LG, Shuman at C, Render at RG, and DeChristopher at RT.  After that the Hokies have about four more linemen that can provide depth along the line this fall.

Freshmen Jaymes Brooks has looked solid so far this fall and will be a solid backup at either guard position.  Sophomore Beau Warren is a very solid center that can step in immediately if something were to happen to the injury prone Ryan Shuman.  Also freshmen Will Alvarez and Greg Nosal are very capable linemen that haven’t gotten there mentally yet but have the physical skills to compete if they were needed sometime this season.

All in all the offensive line should be a lot better then they were last season.

Defensive Line:

So far this fall, the defensive ends have been pretty solid especially with the emergence of sophomore Steven Friday.  Friday finally gained some weight and is listed at 245 pounds on the latest update of the Virginia Tech roster.  As long as he continues to improve, I would expect Steven to be sophomore Jason Worilds backup throughout the year.

Senior Orion Martin and junior Nekos Brown both had a productive first scrimmage even though combined they only played about fifty-percent of the plays.

So the ends are looking pretty good however, the picture is much less clear at defensive tackle.  Sophomore John Graves has battled hard and earned one of the starting spots and it appears that junior Cordarrow Thompson will be the starter opposite of Graves after losing thirty pounds this past summer.  Also it seems that former linebacker Demetrius Taylor has finally found a home at tackle as he has bulked up to around 270 pounds.  Taylor will serve as a fresh body that will rotate in and out throughout the course of games.

However, after those three players there are a gaggle of freshmen that are contending for the final spot in the two-deep.  Redshirt freshmen Kwamaine Battle and Justin Young are battling the true freshmen in Vinston Painter, Antoine Hopkins, and Courtney Prince. 
Right now it seems that Battle may have the upper had because of his knowledge of the defense but both Painter and Hopkins are playing hard in hopes of earning that spot in the two-deep.

Linebacker:

I don’t see the Hokies taking much of a step back this season even with the loss of Vince Hall and Xavier Adibi.  Seniors Brett Warren and Purnell Sturdivant both are very capable linebackers that are talented enough and have been in the system long enough to take over where Hall and Adibi left off.

Junior Cam Martin has been solid so far in the first week of practice as it appears that he has now mastered the WHIP linebacker position.

Depth at linebacker still remains a concern, as it appears that true freshmen Jake Johnson and Quillie Odom will both have their opportunity to back up Sturdivant this season.  More then likely whoever wins the battle between those two will play while the other one redshirts.  Johnson has appeared to be the more logical choice but there’s still a few weeks left before a decision has to be made and anything can happen.
Barquell Rivers has shown flashes so far this fall but is still a year away mentally.  However, if something were to happen to Warren Rivers should be able to handle the position with minimal amount of mistakes.

Defensive Back:

Macho Harris has done a nice job adjusting to the boundary corner position this fall and is ready for a great senior season.  Junior Stephen Virgil has really turned some heads at the field corner spot and it appears that he will be the starter opposite of Macho week one.  Sophomore Rashad Carmichael and freshman Cris Hill will provide depth at cornerback as both have bright futures ahead of them if they stay healthy.

Kam Chancellor is adjusting to the free safety position nicely after spending all of last season as the starting Rover.  Ron Cooper was slated to be Kam’s backup until he suffered an ALC injury a week ago.  Now it appears that sophomore Davon Morgan will provide depth at both the free safety spot and the Rover position.

Dorion Porch has really been thriving at Rover this fall, which is good news for the Hokies.  Tech needs a good athlete at that position to balance out the secondary and Porch gives them an exceptional athlete there.

Special Teams:

Senior Dustin Keys has all but locked up the starting job at place kicker although freshman Tim Pisano is giving him a run for his money.  Both kickers have proven that they’re good from up to fifty-five yards.

Junior Brent Bowden was booming punts in Tech’s first scrimmage as he is already on his way to possible first team All-ACC honors if everything goes to plan.

Overview:

The team is beginning to come together some and is working hard to make this year another exceptional Virginia Tech football season.  This team will be young but they’ll be tough and I doubt we’ll see a team out hustle us this fall.

The biggest problem I saw in the first scrimmage was that this team just appeared sloppy and noticeably inexperienced at a lot of the skill positions.

Running backs fumbled too much, the wide receives dropped too many passes and failed to get open, and freshman Ryan Williams looked lost at times because he still doesn’t know the play book.

The Hokies are still a long way from where they need to be and they will be come the end of the season but this team does have plenty of hard-working players that will work their ass off to make this a successful season.

So, on to the next scrimmage which will be this Saturday, August 16th inside Lane Stadium.

Hopefully it will be prettier than the last one.