Hokies Football 8/7/16 Snapchat Review: Young DBs Shine

Day 2 in pads produced some highlights for young defensive backs who are looking to create depth in the secondary.

#21 Reggie Floyd was getting work with the first team D... I believe he was at free safety but it was hard to tell (he was at free or rover for sure.) Came up and fitted nicely on a back and the defense got pretty hyped.

Jahque Alleyne had a beautiful interception on a slot press drill. WR ran an outside release fade. Alleyne stayed right in his hip pocket, turned, and found the ball for the INT.

Anthony Shegog, who looks much bigger, got matched up against minute CJ Carroll on a fade route. Shegog doesn't get turned around (and may have gotten just a bit of the jersey) but breaks up the pass without interfering.

Pass Rush/Protection Drills

Jimmie Taylor vs Yosh Nijman- Nijman has looked terrific in these drills since the beginning of the spring. Here, Nijman gives a little ground, but still beats Taylor with the initial punch. Taylor tries to bull back and then drop his left shoulder to dip underneath Nijman. Nijman calmly delivers a second punch to push Taylor past the pocket. Big win for Nijman.

Tim Settle vs Colt Pettit- Tim has a great first step and pushed Pettit into the backfield, then follows up with a crossface and swim move. Settles crossface is a bit high- if he makes contact to the head that is a head slap and could be penalized, but this is an easy win for Big Tim.

Seth Dooley vs DeAndre Plantin- Dooley looks the part, but I am not sure what he is trying to execute here. He attempts a speed rush with his head down like he is just trying to run through Plantin's outside shoulder. He gets the edge on Plantin, but Plantin recovers and gets square. Dooley spins himself back into contain position and then rips, but at that point the quarterback would be gone or released the ball. This is a "eh" kind of win for Plantin.

Trevon Hill vs Jonathan McLaughlin- Hill has great get-off, but McLaughlin got a great push and met him square. Hill attempted a spin move that was so good, it turned McLaughlin completely around. The only problem is that Hill got himself a bit tied up and his leg buckled. Hill recovered and ripped back through the outside to get the win... but you can see flashes of what could make Hill an explosive pass rusher. You can tell- he isn't quite comfortable yet. It is coming.

Other Notes

Coach Fuente mentioned Peoples in interviews yesterday, but it seems like Chris Cunningham got more camera time with the top group. Cunningham is a strong natural receiver and will have to improve his blocking at the point of attack to win the job. He is certainly getting a good opportunity to prove himself.

We didn't get any team work clips. It looks like practice was finished with some up downs. There were some dead legs instead of good chopping before the "UP DOWN." Man, that brings back some bad memories.