Virginia Tech Football: Top 5 Recruiting Committs Who Will Impact 2011 Season

The Hokies are once again putting together a solid recruiting class.

Virginia Tech is never going to be the school that blows you away with the nation's best recruits. Instead the coaches look for players they can plug into their system.

The Hokies are also working with limited scholarships in 2011 because they can only have 85 scholarship players. However, that's also a sign of a young team, which the Hokies remain, but they're young with experience.

Not many recruits make it on the field as true freshmen in Blacksburg, but here are five names that have a chance to make an impact on the field for the 2011 season.

Caleb Farris

Here's a bit of a curveball right off the top. Caleb Farris was recruited in 2010 and attended community college last fall. Rivals had him listed as a 3-star prospect from Lexington, VA, and he has good size at 6'4", weighing 315 pounds.

The reason he has a chance to make an impact this season is because he will be a member of spring practices. Farris enrolled this January and will have extra time to learn and grow with the offense, and he's a year older than most of the commits coming in for 2011.

He's unlikely to get on the field this season, but his presence in spring practice could make a difference.

Michael Branthover

Who is Michael Branthover? Well, the Hokies have had a long string of walk-on kickers take the field, but they went out and recruited one this time.

Branthover is from Maryland and played at Dematha. He's a 2-star prospect, and Rivals has rated him as the 13th best kicker.

This position is always up in the air for the Hokies, but if Branthover can come in and make a good impression in summer practices, there's a good chance he could see the field in some capacity.

Who knows? Maybe the Hokies can field the same kicker for four straight seasons.

Justin Taylor

Justin Taylor is a defensive end prospect who has enrolled in classes for the spring semester. Taylor spent the fall semester at Hargrave Military Academy and before that went to high school in North Carolina.

Taylor was rated by Rivals as the 30th best defensive end in the country and the 16th best player in the state of North Carolina.

The 6'3", 225-pound prospect has a chance to give the Hokies added depth at the defensive end position. He likely has no chance of starting this season, but given he spent an extra semester at a prep school, he has a chance to contribute on special teams.

Adeboye Aromire

Adeboye Aromire is another player who will be in Blacksburg for the spring semester and spring practice. He's also one of the Hokies' top recruits.

Aromire is 6'0" and weighs 192 pounds. He's the 32nd-ranked defensive back in the nation and the third best player out of Washington, D.C.

Aromire is a guy who could come in and play right away, but his biggest problem will be the position he plays. The Hokies are loaded with young guys at defensive back, and there's a good chance he will redshirt this season.

However, if he impresses the coaching staff like David Wilson did, he'll give them a reason to put him on the field.

He does have one thing going for him, though: Kyle Fuller played as a true freshman this past season, and Jayron Hosley also played as a true freshman two years ago. Both of those players, especially Hosley, have been a big part of the Virginia Tech football team, not just the defense.

Look for Aromire to get on the field in 2011.

Kris Harley

Kris Harley is the Hokies coaching staff's most prized recruit, depending on who you ask. Harley is rated as the 20th best defensive tackle in the country and the third best player in the state of Indiana.

He's 6'2" and weighs 265 pounds, so if he's going to play defensive tackle, he will probably need to bulk up a little bit. However, he fits the mold of previous defensive tackles at Virginia Tech. John Graves was always considered to be undersized but was a huge part of the Hokies defense for three-plus seasons.

Harley could add some depth to the position in 2011, but it's up to the coaching staff. The Hokies have young players at defensive tackle, so the chances of him seeing the field in 2011 will depend on how he performs in summer practice.