Virginia Tech Spring Football Preview: A Look at the Tight Ends

The Hokies have always possessed good tight ends, but they have never had any that are as talented as the ones that will hit the field for head coach Frank Beamer in 2009.

Virginia Tech returns everybody at the tight end position from a year ago so expect to hear more “BOOOOOOOOOONES” from the crowd at Lane Stadium this year.

Heading into this spring, the most important thing this group could work on is just becoming more consistent and being more physical at the point of attack. This group did very well last year so there is not a whole lot that will need to be addressed to these guys when spring practice opens up on March 16 for the Hokies.

First String

Greg Boone and Andre Smith will be the two starting tight ends heading into the spring. However, Smith will miss all of the spring practice session due to offseason surgery.

This means that Boone and Chris Drager will see an increase in reps when the Hokies line up in a two tight end set. 

It appears that Boone will get a chance to work out at the quarterback this fall since he has all of his assignments down at tight end.

This means that Tech fans can expect to see the so called “Wild Turkey” formation again this fall.

Second String

Sophomore Chris Drager is going to be an intriguing player to watch this spring. 

Drager played in his true freshman season back in 2007, but he tore his ACL during the William & Mary game and was forced to redshirt. 

Last season, the tight end out of Pennsylvania had solid showing with three receptions for 37 yards on the season. 

This year, Drager should make a bigger impact especially since he will get some first team reps this spring with Smith out for the entire month of practice.

Third String

Sam Wheeler tore his ACL back in 2007 and has not been the same since. 

However, this spring he will have a chance to show the coaches what he can do and could earn some more playing time because of it. Wheeler still may not be 100 percent, but he could help out some if one of the starters were to go down in a game situation.

Eric Martin enrolled this January after greyshirting and waiting a semester to begin classes at Virginia Tech.

Martin reminds me a lot of Jeff King, especially since he has almost the same build as him. I would expect him to redshirt this upcoming season, but getting a spring practice under his belt before redshirting is a big plus for any kid.

Summary

The tight ends will improve some heading into 2009 and I would expect another solid performance out of this group. 

Boone and Smith will supply Tyrod with two big targets in the passing game. According to Coach Frank Beamer, Boone will play a prominent role in the passing game this season from both the tight end position and the quarterback position.

Stay tuned Hokie fans, our offense could actually be fun to watch in 2009.

Lost From 2008

None

Enrolling in the Fall

Logan Thomas