Going into fall practice, the Hokies have several potention position battles that can impact the season. Here is my take on a potential suprise.
Tight End: Most of the discussion in the spring was focused on Randall Dunn being utilized as an H-Back but there was very little discussion about Chris Drager's full time replacement. Eric Martin got the most snaps of the returners, but based on my film evaluation, his reputation as "the blocking tight end" doesn't translate to the tape. He is lead footed, meaning that his feet freeze on contact during a down block, which allows the defender to get upfield despite Martin's advantagous angle. He also wasn't much of a threat in the passing game.
George George is also limited athletically and fell to 4th on the depth chart in spring. Perhaps the most "quiet" news of the spring was the rosters for the tight end. Martin was listed with the starters along with Dunn on the roster handed out at the gate, but during warmups, Malleck was with Dunn and Martin was with George. Malleck was good enough last fall that the Hokies coaching staff didn't redshirt him (which proved to be a huge mistake.) I suggested then that perhaps the coaches plan on Malleck being the regular tight end with Dunn playing H back.
Then, last week Frank Beamer had some pointed praise for Malleck. According to the Hampton Roads Daily Press, Beamer said that " Malleck is probably Tech's best all-around tight end in terms of his ability to run block, pass protect and be a threat in the passing game."
http://www.dailypress.com/sports/colleges/uva/dp-spt-uva-tech-football-p...
I think he ends up winning the job. If not, they better redshirt him, but if they do, expect not to see Martin or George much except in short yardage sets.
What are some suprises that you expect to see coming out of fall camp?
Comments
I'll put these odds at 3-2.
I think Trey Edmunds dazzles the coaches this August. He earns a spot in the running back rotation. J.C. Coleman takes a redshirt year.
hadn't considered the redshirt for JC
but I feel Trey has a good chance to beat him out as well.
Trey Edmunds may be an offensive surprise this year
Hadn't thought about the redshirt for JC either but I agree about Edmunds, I have a feeling he's gonna end up getting a large number of carries as the year progresses and be pretty good for us.
6'2 205lbs, 4.5 in the 40
Parade All American
http://www2.godanriver.com/sports/2012/jan/12/trey-edmunds-named-parade-...
Highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYPH96CspAk
I hesitate on Edmunds, not because I think he can't do the job, but because I think he will be the best Hokie backer since Adibi, but he would be a servicable running back. I think Scales will have a role and we shouldn't dismiss him (remember, they played Oglesby over Wilson in 2009.)
Other questions:
1) Does Via beat out Painter, Benedict, or Wang? Via was better than Jaymes Brooks in long stretches last year (watch key drives against Michigan and Georgia Tech. Also, Via was better than Brooks against Clemson.)
2) Ronnie Van Dyke is too good not to play. Do they Barquell Rivers JWG and Tweedy, or do they consider RVD back at rover where there is no proven backup (or starter really.)
3) What is ultimately the defensive line rotation? By most accounts, McCray and Harley were banging on the door this spring, and Maddy was the defensive MVP. Does Wiles decide to go with Antoine Hopkins? And, is there even a possibility that if McCray shows up as the monster we all know he can be, does he beat out Collins, whose level of play dropped precipitously after the Georgia Tech game.
4) Who is the next man up at corner?
5) Who is the number 4 wide receiver? Do they sit Caleb and play Fuller (what I call the CJ Leak scenario) to make sure that Kendall... if he commits, doesn't change midstream? Or does Caleb play? Where does Knowles and Willie Byrn fit in?
6) Something we have not talked about either. This is the first year in a long time that the Hokies don't have a crusher as the kickoff man. Journell was fine on field goals, but does he have that Justin Meyer mule leg. Meyer was an underappreciated weapon, often winning the initial field position battle for the Hokies until the punters gave the advantage back.
7) Punting. Can Caleb punt? I jest, but last year's performance isn't acceptable. The Rangers have also lost their top two punt return guys, which may be the toughest part time job in football.
Via can play every position with the exception of left tackle. In my mind, he's the "sixth starter", meaning he'll play a lot of snaps on a predetermined rotational basis. I think he'll play where we're the weakest, so here's how I feel about the line, beginning with the most confident on down.
1. Andrew Miller -- Has a season starting under his belt.
2. Becton -- Played half the season last year, been on the field the last two years, doesn't have turf toe, looks lean and apparently has gotten nasty.
via TSL
via Mark G
3. Wang -- The Coaches have done nothing but rave about him, and he's got the bloodline. However, he hasn't had the opportunity to prove himself against great–elite competition on the field.
4. Painter -- He has the most upside. The coaches said the light went on during spring, but like Wang he hasn't done it on the field. If it did click for him, he has the potential to be an early draft pick.
5. Benedict -- A mean old dawg, see what I did there? The coaches knows his weakness, he can't block in space, so they conceded to move him inside to guard. He struggled a bit with pass protection in the spring, but he's in a new system, so I hope it's the learning curve.
If the starting five are solid, perhaps Via gets every 1/3 series from at right tackle and right guard. If Benedict struggles, it's still possible Via beats him out for the starting job, same goes for Painter at tackle. That's not a good scenario, because if Benedict and Painter aren't on the field at right guard and tackle, respectively, they're on the pine. They don't have the versatility Via has which is why he's so valuable. In order to be successful against the elite competition (think FSU with a defensive line as deep as our's) we need quality depth that doesn't just play because of injuries. Caleb Farris having a breakout camp and earning playing time at guard would go a long way to solve that problem too.
I think Via has a legitimate shot at starting at either guard. I have major concerns about Wang's size and Wang & Benedict's durability, especially when Miller struggled against 1 techniques and most teams played their 1 technique to the left side.
It kills me that we didn't get to see them play live. That would have probably helped my worries.
I'm with you French, I think he can start at either guard spot. Watching those two spring scrimmages obviously doesn't mean that much...but neither Wang nor Benedict set the world on fire.
I'm big on Wang
It seems like Wang got a lot of support from the coaches as being the most technically sound lineman, i think one quote was "best technician." Hopefully he gets his weight up.
I def like having Via there to spell and challenge both at the guard spots and possibly at tackle to keep all OL from getting complacent.
I can tell you, if he is 6'1, I am 6'3. I dwarf him. He looked about 5'10, 240 in pads.
His lack of height doesn't bother me.
A lower center of gravity can be a good thing. He's always around the top of the strength tests too.
Edmunds
While the highlights of him on offense are nice, most of those kids are scared to death to hit him.
Do you remember that many folks were asking me how to beat Clemson's misdirection? Quick reads and then attack and knock the shit out of it, demonstrated here by Edmunds. http://youtu.be/CYPH96CspAk?t=4m38s That is just nasty.
Or, even better... KILL EVERYONE! Here, he hits the pulling guard and the fullback dive, then, he has the reaction time to realize the fullback doesn't have the ball, scrapes off them and kills the option for a 3 yard loss. Three highlight reel sticks on one play!: http://youtu.be/CYPH96CspAk?t=5m39s
Big Fan of Edmunds on D
I think Edmunds projects extremely well on D but think jury is out on offense a bit because of competition he faced in lower division. I know it seems as if I questioned him on offense because of competition then it would be a criticism on D but when looking at it displays great instincts/reads and not just physical killing but on offense seems to me most of his success was just by being physically better.
For position battles-
1) Definitely want to see RVD challenge. He's future of position and would love for it to be a at least a question brought to the coaches to show that we have depth.
2) Agree w/ French on Malleck. For all the TE recruit jokes from a year ago sucks that we don't have a clear do it all TE settled but hopefully Malleck could be it. Also Dunn was listed as 244 in spring and would be great if he got a bit tougher stronger over the summer before his last year. If Dunn improves his blocking would be a great weapon at TE and even still should do well as a HB.
3) Amazing to have questions on DL regarding who deserves to play because there are a lot of qualified bodies. Backup rotation will be interesting and hoping for a lot of substitutes. Will be interesting how some shakeup from some backups like Marshall/McCray end up between playing inside/outside from reading Hokie Annual seems as if Wiles would like McCray to gain weight and play more on the inside.
4) I think people are sleeping on JC Coleman. I think he has more of an impact than most think and I think the spring struggles with seeing how much faster the college game is will help a lot. I'll go out on a limb and say he shows the biggest improvement from spring to fall practice.
Edmunds has the wheels to play tailback. He looks very similar to Lee Suggs when he runs. But, my concern is the same as yours. Those kids are scared to death to hit him. Who knows how he moves against top notch pursuit.
That being said, regardless of the talent level you can't teach what he was doing on defense. I think he will be elite, starting as soon as Edwards graduates. And, he may push him for playing time early, like Xavier Adibi did to Mikel Baquee and James Anderson did to Brandon Manning.
wasn't my initial instinct
but you all make a compelling argument, and having another talent like Adibi would/will be fantastic.
A few bold RB predictions –
1) We see two true freshmen RB’s getting reps on opening night.
2) A true freshman contributes (600+ yds for the year).
I am expecting #2 to be Edmunds, but I’m not ruling out that Chris Mangus ends up being one of the two guys to really emerge.
I agree on Mangus, he looks really good in his highlight films. He looks to have great vision and DW type speed.
RB possibilities
With Redd bolting for USC, I am wondering where Zach Zwinak stands with his commitment to PSU. On one hand, he's one of the favorites to replace Redd.
On the other hand, PSU barely beat VT out on recruiting Zwinak and his dad is a former Hokie.
Could VT find their next great RB in College State? At a minimum, he'd be bruiser and great goal-line option.
Whip Linebacker
I was really surprised to see Giannotto say that Vandyke has a good chance of starting this year (I imagine this starts after GT)...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/hokies-journal/post/redshirt-freshma...
I don't know about you guys, but this really excites me. I know we have two veteran seniors that each bring their own assets and experience to the table, and you always like to see guys that have worked hard for so long be paid off with some serious playing time their last year, but the prospect of Vandyke beating them out as a Redshirt Freshman really excites me. Guys, we could have the same guy playing arguably the most important position in our defense for four years!! That's huge. Would be interested to hear what other more learned Hokies think though...
at a minimum, it appears that he is going to get some significant reps ... i don't think that he will start from day 1 though. he has yet to prove himself in a game. he'll get reps and if he ends up being as good as advertised (and all-round better than tweedy and jgw), possibly starting sometime into the season.
Mangus
His decisiveness between the tackles and burst could go a long way towards him seeing the field in 2012. I know one should never make too much of high school film, but he had too many plays where I just shook my head and said, "wow, how'd he break off that one?"
I am also very high on Chris Mangus. He played in the same conference as Keith Marshall, the #1 RB in the nation last year, and had more rushing yards and
touchdowns. Idk if that means anything but I'm really excited to see how he does here.