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| From Drop Box |
BOOM!
The other day, I was curiously* thinking about NFL free agency and in some roundabout way it got me to thinking, about the Hokies ... and my All-Hokie team. Over the last twenty years (since my freshman year in 1991) what would my perfect Hokie starting lineup look like? All of the guys on my team are all conference, but they aren't necessarily the best during that time, just my favorites.
Let me just say it pained me to leave off the following players, I loved all of these guys:
Tyrod Taylor, Jim Druckenmiller, Lee Suggs, Jarret Ferguson, Bryan Still, Antonio Davis, Cornell Brown, John Engleberger, Jim Davis, Jonathan Lewis, Jamel Smith, Xavier Adibi, George Del Ricco, Macho Harris, Ike Charlton, Aaron Rouse and Torrian Gray, but they just didn't quite make the cut. You might as well call these guys my second team!
Without further ado my 20-Year-Team ...
Offense
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| From Drop Box |
QB - Michael Vick 1998-2000
Well a no-brainer here, Vick was an athletic freak that his teammates rallied around. His pocket awareness, poise and speed were breathtaking. This never gets old. EVER.
RB - Ryan Williams 2008-2010
FB - Marcus Parker 1993-1997
So many choices at running back, but in the last 20 years no one looked as good Ryan Williams did in 2009. It was special. For fullback, I went with Parker, who while an average blocker was a weapon pass receiving. I miss the fake screen to the running back, only to be swung back to Parker for a big gain.
WR - Eddie Royal 2004-2007
WR - Andre Davis 1998-2001
Ed-die, Ed-die, Ed-die, … a crowd favorite not only because of his play, but of his high character. Big Play Andre Davis, a lightly recruited speed demon, who was Vick's partner in long touchdown bombs.
TE - Jeff King 2001-2005
Tough and clutch. Need a block or first down catch, Jeff was always willing.
OT - Eugene Chung 1988-1991
OG - Jake Grove 1999-2003
C - Jim Pyne 1989-1993
OG - Gennaro DiNapoli 1993-1997
OT - Duane Brown 2003-2007
This list is made up of dominant guys from the 90's. Chung was very good on a bad team and Jim Pyne was a bad-assed undersized All-American. I took some liberties and moved Grove to Guard, can't have too many play-to-the-whistle tough guys.
Defense
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| From Drop Box |
DE - Corey Moore 1997-1999
DT - Carlton Powell 2003-2007
DT - J.C. Price 1992-1995
DE - Darryl Tapp 2002-2005
Defensive End was the toughest choice for me, but Moore was a lock. A complete terror coming off the edge and no Hokie worked harder and commanded as much respect as Tapp. VT's best tackles as group came from the mid-00's so it's hard not to include at least one on this list. J.C. was my boy, I use to play basketball with him during the day at College Park, eat chicken wings with him at Sharkeys at night, in between he became an All-American.
Whip - Cody Grimm 2005-2009
Backer - Ben Taylor 1998-2002
Mike - Vince Hall 2003-2007
Arguably, Hall and Grimm were the best to ever man their positions in Bud's defense, and I loved the toughness of Taylor so much I named my dog after him.
CB - Brandon Flowers 2004-2007
CB - Jimmy Williams 2002-2005
Flowers was the best corner I've seen VT field and Williams physically dominated wide receivers, and one UVA All-ACC offensive lineman.
Rover - Corey Bird 1996-2000
Free Safety - Keion Carpenter 1994-1998
Bird was undersized, but tough and hard-nosed. He made many a play for the Hokies over the years. Big play Keion Carpenter, interceptions and touchdowns, I'm especially fond of his 100-yard pick six in ‘96 versus da U. Swagger.
Special Teams
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PK - Shayne Graham 1996-1999
The Kick. Clutch, accurate, distance, money.
Punter - Brent Bowden 2005-2009
Sunshine
Punt Returner - DeAngelo Hall 2001-2003
Electric, joins Michael Vick and David Wilson as the three best pure athletes VT has fielded.
Kick Returner - David Wilson 2009-present
Chick-fil-A on Sundays.
Special Teams Stud - Wayne Ward 1998-2001
In case you missed it earlier.
Please feel free to make your own team in the comments section. Whether you are a fan of five years or fifty, I would love to know the players that are special to you. I'm sure I'll see Will Furrer as the QB for Ryan's mythical team.
I did have to do some guessing on years for some of the players, my apologies if there is a mistake or two.
* I'm not a huge NFL fan, I watch but I don't make a point of it and have retired from Fantasy Football. I am meh on the League.
Comments
I think I'd have to go with KJ over Ru. It's a tough decision, one that I'll waiver on 100 more times going forward. Ru was probably a little more hard-nosed betweens the tackles, but I think KJ had that rare extra burst of acceleration.
Everyone in Lane had to pick their jaws up after this run.
Also, I'd start Jayron over D-Hall.
And this seemed appropriate to put here.
meh, ru over kj for sure.
RW had two runs just like kj's lsu run. although RMFW's best run is hard to choose from pulling the nc state dood 10 yards, the double juke against bc, the miami 60 yarder, i have to go with the diving td against bama. nasty.
Dont forget the run with all the broken takles against ecu in 09
The thing about RMFW...
was that, he didn't have to reverse field and run around for 5 minutes before he finally found a hole. Dude got the ball, hit the hole and that was it. While I think KJ was a better "athlete" then RMFW, he WAS NOT a better runner. Every textbook attribute you want to see in a good runner, you see in RMFW... vision, acceleration, running down hill... guy is a complete back.
Yes, yes
Agree with all the above. KJ was a very good, well trained athlete, while RMFW has that special ability.
Lee Suggs
I recently watched a ton of videos on Lee Suggs, Kevin Jones and Ryan Williams after Williams left to try to see who I thought was the best of the trio. I was lucky enough to be in school for the first two and needed a refresher course. I think Suggs gets overlooked far too often. He rushed for 1200+ yards and 27 TDs in 2000. Tore his ACL in the first game of 2001 and then returned in 2002 for over 1300 yards and 22 TDs. Would have been near the 1600 mark as well if not for splitting time with the talented Jones in 02. He ran an upper 4.2 forty and could run over people. Holds the NCAA record for scoring a TD in 27 consecutive games!
KJ is 3rd, at best
1. RMFW. Chance to break it every time he touched it.
1b. Suggs. Just a beast. 27 td in a season?!
2. KJ
3. Evans. I know it was Maryland, but 253 yards?!!!
4. Ore.
My All 20 Year Team
BeerControl,
That was a great list, although I have a couple of suggested edits.
First of all, Jarret Ferguson is the best fullback I have seen watching Virginia Tech football. He was an outstanding in between the tackles runner out of the option look, and it is no coincidence that the Hokies have not effectively featured the speed option since he graduated, despite a wonderful array of speedy QB's and electric tailbacks.
Ryan Williams circa 2009 was the best single season performance from a Virginia Tech tailback. Both Kevin Jones and Lee Suggs get consideration for having better overall careers. And, I still cringe a little when I remember that Lamont Pegues actually started over Shyrone Stith.
Your defensive line picks are indicitive of the biggest reason why VT has been a conference champion but have not reached the top of the BCS mountain. We have numerous terrific defensive ends to choose from (Cornell Brown and Corey Moore are my top choices, with Tapp, Engleberger, and Worilds all right there.) However, there has only been one really dominant defensive tackle in JC Price. They have had other disruptive tackles (Powell, Jonathan Lewis, David Pugh, Barry Booker, and my favorite Jim Davis) but no dominant two gap NFL caliber has emerged. I have said for the better part of the decade that the biggest barrier to Virginia Tech winning a BCS is the development of legitimate two gap NFL caliber defensive tackles.
At linebacker, George Del Ricco at mike, Xavier Adibi at backer, and Brandon Semones at whip have to get consideration.
I think you nailed the defensive backfield. After dealing with overrated guys like Whittaker and DeAngelo Hall getting torched in big games for years, Brandon Flowers defined the position for the Hokies. And, I can't think of a better game by any Hokie DB than Jimmy Williams taking away half the field against Brock Berlin.
remember
i didn't say the best, but my favorites.
ferguson easily our best blocking fb, but i loved how variable the O was with parker.
suggs is my no.2 rb, not jones. jones didn't have the vision, tho he had the physical.
pugh or beasely could have had powell's spot, an overlook. not davis. he was a tweener and not a complete dt.
loved delricco he almost made it for his fishbone shirt he had in college. the lil things, you know.
As the founder of the "Nic Schmitt is the God of Punters" Facebook group, I'll have to respectfully disagree with your choice of Sunshine at punter. While he might have been a better punter, he was not capable of ripping your arms off and beating you with them if he wanted to!
Agree
I was negligent and forgot to include Schmitt in my additions. He's one of my all-time favorite Hokies. He was awesome because he was big and wasn't afraid to stick his head into a pile. He has to be the emergency plan at defensive tackle.
YESSS
then ya gotta go down there and try to hit somebody." *swoon*
haha
another good choice.
I did a similar post for Gobbler Country early in 2010...
Although mine was simply a list of the best guys of the 2000's. Though knowing what I know now, I don't know how NOT to include Boykin. And how the hell did I ever pick Wilford over Andre Davis!? And yes I'm still taking Randall over Vick.
Have a look though if you'd like.
http://www.gobblercountry.com/2010/1/8/1230206/the-best-of-the-best-the-...
sweet
first off Joe's videos made me miss VT so much and at the same time got me so excited for the next season.
second, how can you leave Macho Harris off of your team. he is one of the best players i have ever watched play. his field vision was amazing. other than that one hiccup i think your team is great.
Great blocks
Greg Boone's block at 2:31 of the RW 2099 video.
Wayne Ward's block at 1:43 of the Andre Davis video (and replayed later).
Andre Davis definitely on the team. Great speed and could score on passes and returns.
I like Kam Chancellor. He wasn't the greatest at pass coverage but is a physical beast and hard hitter.
Lots of big hits in this game:
Vintage
I forgot how hard we dominated Clemson that game...
The 2006-07 defenses are part of the top five all-time at Tech. They were never paired with a capable enough offense, like matching one of the big money beers the BCO drinks with a McDonald's cheeseburger.
Lord Xavier Adibi was a beast, he just glided across the line and darted through it when he had to.
that clemson game
was one of my all time favorite defensive showings. we were sick nasty that game.
Carter Warley for PK
seriously though, Shane Grahm is the easy pick. At the time, I believe I was the only person out of 65k in Lane Stadium that thought Carter wouldn't suck every single week.
Back in the day I was a student manager at Dietrick and was in charge of the football team dinners every night, so I tended to always be big fans of the guys who were actually nice and would talk to me, including Carter, Michael Vick, and D-Hall. It was always fun to run into some of the guys downtown and go up and talk to them while sorority girls were freaking out that there were football players in the bar lol
And...
...by sorority girls, you meant guys like me!
honestly, me too
i may have tried to look cool in front of the few players i knew, but lets be honest, i was just as much of a fanboy as anybody else lol