Considering recruiting has dropped off a cliff recently, Tech may drop considerably in this ranking in the years to come if we don't pump out NFL talent. We need to regain our "brand" again.
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Only 8 first round picks though. Wonder where we stand 2000-2010 vs 2010-2020
No doubt. Luckily the 2013-2017 (2018 draft) years saw us put a newer crop into the league, but we def need to return to having multiple guys drafted each year. Not everyone sticks, or sticks past their rookie contract so it's really a numbers game. Gotta get guys drafted.
Unfortunately, a big difference between the two decades though!
2001-2010: 48 picks
2011-2020: 28 picks
Consistent with our fall-off in wins, and the likes of Clemson ascending in the ACC
The thing I've never understood is why more of our defensive players never went later on the draft. Guys like Tim Settle and Chuck Clark have proven to be reliable guys. Kyshoen Jarrett looked good until a career ending injury (and was such an impact that they kept him as a coach after only a partial rookie season). 5th round and up always felt safe to take a Bud Foster guy. I hope Justin Hamilton can keep that going with Deablo soon enough.
Deablo's size should make him better than 5th or later round
Nice to see us above Texas, Oregon, and a bunch of SEC teams. The drop-off in the past decade isn't surprising and tracks with our win-loss record. To stay in the top 15 range, some back-of-the-napkin math indicates we need roughly four guys drafted each year, so at any given moment we should have ~15 eventual NFL picks on our roster. Here's who I expect to get drafted from our current roster:
Note that I have absolutely zero player evaluation qualifications and am just a fan who wanted to think about our Hokies while watching the NFL on a rainy Sunday. But if my numbers are close to accurate, we're in an okay spot NFL-talent wise. We need to keep improving recruiting and winning more games, but I have hope! Go Hokies!
edit/bonus: Keonta Jenkins! Tons of potential.
Devin Taylor might have a shot depending on how he runs, he is alway near the ball.
It's really tough to project certain positions. Some NFL teams use strict height/weight/length cutoffs, sometimes OL will drop completely off draft boards if their arms aren't a certain length, etc.
Kendricks and Pollard would likely have to become substantially more disruptive to become NFL guys. They don't have a traditional NFL DL profile, but if they develop into high level interior rushers then there is a chance. I wouldn't put a ton of stock into that. I think both can become very good players for VT regardless. Bryant and Wooten have better NFL measurables, but we haven't seen enough of either to know about their NFL potential.
Overall I agree with you that the current roster has some NFL potential guys that could help restock our active NFL players list, but outside of a handful I don't think there are a lot of "sure things," in that regard.
It's this line of reasoning that means (unfortunately) I have a hard time believing Reed will get drafted as opposed to being teams' preferential UDFA target -- injury history and age. He's just got more risk with less upside.