Now with Hooker gone and the OL as well going, I was wondering what the team might look like next season.
Anticipating Darrisaw goes pro I think this might be an honest 2 deep for what they might look like year. This is with the assumption that all the seniors will be leaving- I will update when someone announces they are returning
DISCLAIMER- The ham defense confuses the heck out of me so I'm just listing the classic 4-3 for now
QB
1. Braxton Burmiester
2. Tahj Bullock
RB
1. Jalen Holston
2. Raheem Blackshear
WR- X
1. Tre Turner
2. Jaden Payoute
WR- Y
1. Kaleb Smith
2. Tayvion Robinson
TE
1. James Mitchell
2. Nick Gallo
LT.
1. Luke Tenuta
2. Tyrell Smith (STAYING)
LG
1. Austin Cannon (STAYING)
2. Walker Culver
C
1. Brock Hoffman
2.
RG
1. Lecitus Smith
2.
RT
1. Silas Dzansi
2. Jesse Hanson
DE
1. Amare Barno
2. Jaylen Griffin
DT
1. Norell Pollard
2. Maxx Philpott
DT
1. Josh Fuga
2. Mario Kendricks
DE
1. Tyjuan Garbutt
2. Eli Adams
OLB
1. Alan Tisdale
2. Dean Ferguson
MLB
1. Keshon Artis
2.
OLB
1. Dax Hollifield
2.
CB
1. Jermaine Waller
2. Brion Murray
FS
1. Keonta Jenkins
2. Devin Taylor
SS
1. Chamarri Conner
2. Tyree Rodgers/JR Walker
CB
1. Dorian Strong
2. Armani Chatman
Initial Thoughts
- I think the secondary has the potential to be really good
- Front 7 scares me
- Idk who is going to score on offense
Comments
Looks like we have some early playing time to sell to recruits by February....Fuente needs to close
FTFY
Say what you want about the Night King, but this guy was one hell of a recruiter.
He was a bit cold to the public though. Kept things pretty closed off to the outside world.
He would have won it all too if someone didn't miss a block on a blitzing Arya.
I think Dax will move back to the MLB. I'm worried about our DTs. Pollard is good/playmaker but worried we will have 2018-esque run stopping ability against big OLs. Fuga needs to step up big and eat up blocks. Hoping it's not groundhog day.
James Mitchell will likely go pro
So TEs will be Gallo / Deluliis
Let's project W/Ls with that depth chart
ACC Opponent - L (no idea but I'm going to assume it will be Clemson because why not. If its FSU, give us the W)
Middle Tennessee - W
at West Virginia - L
Richmond- W
Notre Dame - L
Duke - W
North Carolina- L
Pitt- L
Syracuse - W
Georgia Tech- W
Miami - L
Boston College - W
Virginia - W
6-6 sounds right with maybe a 7-5 ceiling and a 4-8 floor
I don't think GT and BC are guaranteed wins next year.
I thought the same thing. Hence the 4-8 floor.
There was a time when you would have been down-voted into oblivion for this.
You have a 7-6 record if you're including the first "ACC opponent."
You're absolutely right. Math is hard. Not sure why hokiesports is showing it that way
This is optimistic...
I prefer to frame it this way:
Middle Tennessee - 90% chance of win
at West Virginia - 50% chance of win
Richmond- 95% chance of win
Notre Dame - 5% chance of win
Duke - 75% chance of win
North Carolina- 25% chance of win
Pitt- 25% chance of win
Syracuse - 75% chance of win
Georgia Tech- 50% chance of win
Miami - 25% chance of win
Boston College - 50% chance of win
Virginia - 50% chance of win
If you agree with my no-research-estimations, we're looking at 6.15 expected wins (I ignored the other ACC game)
I really think we have a better shot at Pitt and Miami. I am assuming Pitt is at home which makes that game completely different because VT plays like shit in Pittsburgh for some reason.
The fact that you have Middle Tennessee at 90% shows me that you haven't been watching for the past few years. Or you are willfully ignorant, and in that case I dont blame you.
The fact that you thing 90% is too optimistic tells me that you have watched any middle Tennessee state. They're bad.
I could see us beating ND and/or UNC and losing Richmond because that is the kind of unpredictable up and down purgatory we are in
The big question is how bad of a record is bad enough to move on from Fuente
If I couldn't make an educated guess at our depth chart for 2021 (and I couldn't without seeing this post), and if I didn't know our schedule (and I wouldn't without seeing this post), I would say this is spot on.
Sadly, I'd probably say 5-7 is slightly more likely than 6-6.
James Mitchell will probably go pro.
Caleb Smith ahead of Robinson at WR?
You forgot Belmar at DE - I think there's a good chance he comes back.
Apparently there's also a good chance Hewitt and Ashby come back. I really hope they do, especially Ashby - he's a much better player than he showed in 2020, and personally I'd love to see him get back to his old form before he calls it a career.
Holy smokes we could use both those guys - forgot they get that extra year. That would be huge.
Raise your hand if you see us kicking the tires on Charlie Brewer to round out our waning QB room via the Transfer Portal.
Is Ohio State back on our schedule?
I said I hope we were pursuing him the day he entered the portal - now with Hooker gone, sure seems like a good idea to pursue him.
This may be a worthless exercise until the portal does its thing (both ways).
Dammit I had so many dad jokes about hookers left
Like "How much did Hooker get paid to leave?"
Quincy
Patterson
Returns
Surprise
...
...
Super Bowl
Is this another Tony Elliott mystery post?
QP is definitely not coming back.
Not sure if Chatman is going to be here next year...He tweeted today it's a joke. Maybe not as good as Cam Phillips fake announcement which was a lot more obvious once you read it but Chatman got me. [He fucking boomed me] x 4.
I keep waiting for the official announcement on this one.
Pretty sure its a joke
I prefer to think that he is waving bye to the players leaving.
Chatman tweeted again today that he was just trolling
I like the confidence
I mean, had we beaten UVA last year, we would have won it.
Two scores this year and we're tied for 1st.
We've been painfully, agonizingly close these last two years.
I love that this is where we are as a program now: Players messing with fans on twitter about leaving, because that's the overarching theme of the program these days. Hahaha! Hilarious!
From 1994 to 2017 I probably missed a total of 5 VT games, watching either on TV or listening on the radio. This year, I maybe watched 100 snaps all season, and more than half of those were the UVA game.
Next year, I doubt I'll hit that number. It's not THAT we suck that bothers me so much. It's HOW we suck that is intolerable for me.
What happened to Belmar and Garbutt this year?
Garrett was not with the team for the first few games, dont know or remember the reason but it was announced pre season he was taking time off, so he played half the season.
Garbutt had a family issue he was dealing with, but remained on the team. Link
I thought preseason he'd be our best de. Is he planning on returning? He'd be a slight upgrade from reed. Though do we know reeds plans? Can't he play again?
Experience is powerful. If some of these guys will stay for another year it could be a big difference maker. Looking at you Ashby and Hewitt
I was gonna add TJ Jackson but he's transferring now
Keshawn KIng? Or is he still in the witness protection plan?
Hope not. He was a highly touted recruit in our 2019 class... of course so was Nester and Hudson...
He fumbled in 2019; therefore, out indefinitely. /s
I came here to post the same. Keshawn King and Holston. Also have Tahj Gary who should be fully heeled.
Blackshear should focus on slot.
Gary transfers to UNC confirmed? J.K.
Please yes.
Freudian slip there. I do not have sauce/s
Walker Culver medically retired
https://techlunchpail.com/blog/virginia-tech-walker-culver-medically-ret...
i think it is way to early to go through this exercise. If some of the better players (Hooker, Hudson, Nester) are transferring who knows. Having said that, I think you mean Dax at Inside Linebacker. No way we get both Dax and Tisdale at OLB. We basically play with 5 DBs. Conner will stay at his spot and Jenkins will be the Rover (Jenkins has the size for it). Free safety will depend on the competition, its gotta be someone that can also cover. JR Walker and Nyque Hawkins have to move up in the depth chart to #1 at some point.
Tavyon Robinson (Please don't transfer) is better than Kaleb Smith although there is room for Smith to play a solid role in this team.
Probably is too early. But I think it will be interesting to keep this thread going and watch it inevitably evolve as the portal comes in to play more and more. Just my 2.
Oh boy. We're going to be baaad in 2021. Might be lucky to win 5 games
I dont think there's much point to hurting ourselves like this until at least mid-January.
Connor has gotta be nickel right? Probably gonna be:
CB: Strong
CB: Waller
FS: Jenkins
SS: Taylor
Nickel: Connor
Mitchell is gone and you need another WR spot which is probably Payoute and Tayvion over Kaleb Smith. Also Knox Kadum over Bullock at QB for sure.
Either way we definitely need to add a game changing QB and 1-2 OL from the transfer portal. *If* we get that and the receivers and LB's take a step forward we can be pretty damn good but yeah it's not looking pretty right now.
Taylor was a r-SR this season, so while he is eligible for a bonus season, I have not seen anything about him returning for that bonus season. Do we assume that everyone not declaring for the Draft or entering the Portal is coming back?
(Cannon and T. Smith other other hand had public Instagram conversation about coming back together)
Conner looks like our best tackler by far, I would really like a way to keep him on the field. Could he play one of the safety spots?
I could see him moving to SS if no one steps up to fill Deablo's shoes.
So hard to make any projections until we get a much better picture of the portal situation AND which players decide to come back and utilize the extra year.
My less specific prediction is that we manage to put together a decent XI on each side of the ball but with depth issues at certain position groups. OL right now is the biggest concern for a strong starting 5, but a couple transfers or JUCO's could turn that around.
Any way it shakes out I'm sure we will be in for an off-season full of speculation.
Dzansi, L. Smith. Hoffman, Hanson, Tenuta would be my guess. Losing Darrisaw, Nester, Hudson, and Jackson sucks and also Culver and Pritchard having to retire hurts. I wander is T. Smith, Cannon, and Hoyt will stay or not because we could sure use them! I am impressed with Vice and his ability to scout guys and get the most out of them.
Didn't Hanson leave last year or am I thinking of someone else....
Pritchard left due to medical reasons. Hanson, Pritchard, Nester, and Hudson were all in the same class.
2021 Hokies football team
More like:
That was a funny movie.
The other men in my family are very large.
I really want to see what Payoute can do and I wonder what will happen with King since he didn't play at all this year
So much this, but I wonder if we have the playbook and the QB to stretch the field with Payoute.
Almost as important as depth, who will the cultural leaders be next year? Dax, Conner, Waller on defense mke sense, but who on offense?
Hoffman, hopefully Tre Turner, and maybe Holston? All three just guesses.
Without much insight into locker room dynamics it is difficult to know who has taken up, or is poised to take up, leadership positions on the team.
Connor, Dax, Hewitt on Defense (assuming he comes back)
We haven't developed QBs or RBs particularly well under Fuente's leadership. I'm not sure how to project either of those two positions.
Frankly we haven't developed WR's well either, Tre has been okay but has really never become a consistent weapon for the kind of talent he flashes, and outside of him it's just been a revolving door despite being easily our most heavily recruited position. TE and OL have been the only parts of the offense to develop well under Fuente.
I love Tre but he would be better suited as a solid number 2 receiver versus being a primary weapon. We need somebody to take the pressure off.
I think King with access to a non Covid weight room and meal plan has a chance to be really good.
I think Holston, Gary and King have a chance to be very good. We'll see. Fuente hasn't developed a RB that he's recruited out of high school.
depth is going to be an issue- how many portal players can we take? Looks like we may need a dozen to field a team. Let's face it, freshman are few and far between that can come in and take the beating of a division 1 schedule.
"To be honest I haven't even taken a look at the schedule for next season" -CJF
I will revisit this once the transfers hash themselves out. As of right now, OL will be:
LT: Tenuta, ???
LG: Smith, Hanson, Moore
C: Hoffman ???
RG: Dzansi, (Cannon), Hanson
RT: (T. Smith), Clements/Transfer
If you think that looks shaky, there are question marks everywere else too. I have heard good things about Clements, but guard depth is scary.
Should we be pursuing young brewer or not in your opinion?
I haven't watched Baylor. But, as someone who constantly worries about potential effects of CTE (I had three diagnosed concussions), I would rather see him leave football and be healthy.
^this
I'd rather not be competitive in football than have a former player not be able to recognize his kids when they graduate high school.
Not to mention if he came to VT he'd have to carry a huge load in the running game.
I would be shocked if we didn't pursue 1-2 transfer OL at least.
This may have been asked previously, but how many players can we realistically take from the portal? Is it the same as the number of our players that have left this cycle? We are going to need some beef to make it through next year.
It goes against your incoming class. You can only take in x number of players - something Herm Edwards said in an interview on why so many kids are left out of the transfer portal - he said kids don't know transfers go against incoming class so spots are limited and the market is much smaller than they think
Didn't see Charlie Brewer on the QB depth chart ๐ค
We should give the keys to TB.
I've been a noted Fuente hater but I will at least give him a chance to pull in a talented QB from the portal considering there are actually A LOT out there this year.
That said, if he can't do that, I would definitely be in favor of giving Bullock a shot over Burmeister. In my eyes we are a sub-.500 team with nothing to lose next year and I would rather see if we randomly have something special in Bullock than roll Burmeister out there unquestioned next season. However since Fuente is a complete coward I would expect him to ride known quantity Burmeister until he's forced not to.
I say we give Knox a fair shot, as well. Don't overlook guys that have done their time moving up the depth chart in the system.
It was in limited action, but Knox looked steady against Clemson.
You roll with your best option, period. Burmeister has shown some flashes of good play. I would rather try to get him some better receiving threats and see how it goes.
QB: Burmeister*/Transfer, Kadum
RB: Transfer, Holston*/Blackshear*
WR: Turner*, KSmith
WR: Robinson, Blackshear*/Wright
WR: Payoute, Hodge
TE: Gallo, DeIllius
LT: Tenuta, Clements
LG: LSmith, Moore
C: Hoffman*, Hoyt*
RG: Cannon, Hanson
RT: Transfer/Dsanzi, TSmith
DE: Transfer, Garbutt/Griffin
DT: Transfer/Pollard, Kendricks
DT: Transfer/Hewitt*, Crawford*/Fuga
DE: Barno, Belmar*/Wooten
Mike: Ashby*/Transfer, Ferguson
Backer: Tisdale, Dax
Whip: Conner, Walker
FS: People's/Jenkins, Walker
SS: Transfer/Taylor, Thompson
CB: Waller, Chatman
CB: Strong, Murray
*Status unknown, transfer or not returning senior risk.
Expect a lot of transfers, in and out
QB: Burmeister, Kadum, Bullock
RB: Holston, King, Lee/Gary
WR1: Turner, Wright, Saunders
WR2: Payoute, Smith, Sims
WR3: Robinson, Blackshear, Jones
TE: Mitchell, Gallo, DeIuliis/Pene
LT: Tenuta, Smith
LG: Cannon, Culver, Goodner
C: Hoffman, Moore
RG: Jordan, Clements, Miletic
RT: Dzansi, Hanson
DE: Barno, Garbutt, Bryant, Adams
DT: Kendricks, Fuga, Mamudi
DT: Crawford, Pollard, Bailey
DE: Belmar, Wooten, Beadles, DeBose
LB: Artis, Tisdale, Etute
LB: Hollifield, Ferguson, Johnson
DB: Strong, Rudolph, Harvey
DB: Murray, Hawkins, Johnson
DB: Conner, Peoples, Stroman
DB: Chatman, Walker, Hoyle
DB: Waller, Thompson, McDonald
Note: Depth just indicates who I think will be the next position group off the bench, not necessarily in the right places.
I see you didn't split out the DBs into position groups. Are you predicting some position changes?
I went through on Hokiesports and they don't differentiate between corners and safeties.
The weekly game notes are always more descriptive than the website's roster.
Keontae jenkins will be on there at one of the safeties.
Admittedly, I glossed over his name when reading through the Hokiesports roster.
Keontae Jenkins- what happened to him ? Injury? He was a reliable safety there for a short while.
True Freshman and they always wanted to place Deablo at Rover. Plus emergence of Devin Taylor who can cover and play free safety.
Devin Taylor emerged like a caterpillar to a butterfly.
Well, he tackles like a butterfly.
COVID contact tracing then just got behind as a true freshmen.
Take Austin Cannon off the Guard list
You can add Jordan to O line. Hoffman likely to move to guard
Tenuta - L. Smith - Jordan - Hoffman - Dsanzi
Agreed. Clements could make a run at a tackle spot though. Has a bit of Darrisaw in him.
So Taylor won't be back.
We just picked up a grad transfer from vandy, had 23 starts at safety.
AB says he is just a senior didnt play this season.
Sorry, by grad transfer I mean "has a college degree" not "has one year left"
Does that mean he's playing in it? Just a selection and no word from him yet right?
There are no senior bowls to play in this year. They are holding virtual events like speaking with NFL scouts and team people.
They're playing the Senior Bowl.
Chandler Morris pls
He entered the portal? We were in on him originally right? I'd be all for that!
He visited for our duke? game last year. What was conveyed to me was that he enjoyed the visit. For some strange reason they took all the all the recruits out of the stadium at half time. Took them and fed them some where. Watched the rest of the game on TVs. That seemed weird to me.
if it was 2019 Duke they probably did that because the competitive phase of the game was over by the half