Virginia Tech running back Tahj Gary in the transfer portal, first time the Hokies have less than 10 scholarship running backs in two-plus years, that drops team to 92 projected scholarship players— michaelniziolek (@michaelniziolek) February 3, 2022
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
1 in the portal, probably 4 more to expect IMO
Yeah he was probably one of the better ones that will be leaving. A bit surprised but not too surprised.
Edit, I'd say about 3 total depending on if Holston stays. Right now we have 8 on the roster including Bryce Duke the true freshman. If 4 more guys were to transfer we'd have 3 backs that weren't true freshmen.
Probably 4 more....
1) #36 Jalen Hampton (rising SO)
2) #28 Chance Black (rising SO)
3) #27 Kenji Christian (rising SO)
4) #26 Jordan Brunson (rising SO)
5) #24 Malachi Thomas (rising SO)
6) #23 Keshawn King (rising JR)
7) #8 Marco Lee (rising SR)
8) #0 Jalen Holston (rising SR)
9) #32 Tahj Gary (rising SO)10) #5 Raheem Blackshear (rising SR)So this must be counting Bryce Duke (entering FR) also.
So we have 1 rising JR, and too many SOs. Some of those guys will be r-FR next year to balance the class: Hampton, Brunson and Cristian? Or maybe a position change for one of them?
Otherwise, Lee will probably transfer / leave football. He didn't get much playing time at all. Holston... he played, but are they gonna want him back? Will he want to come back?
After those 2, I think there's better than even odds King transfers. If not, and instead we lose 2 of the SOs , any name that goes is going to hurt a little. I know I had some hype for every one of the FR RB class when they were signed.
I wouldn't be surprised if King was moved to receiver depending on how the staff evaluates his hands. If he continues to have trouble putting on weight to be RB size, but his athleticism and size are good at WR.
he's a good receiver out of the backfield, but as a WR, he's going to have a defender matched up with him at/near the LOS... can he run crisp enough routes to get open?
Well accordingly to Tre that wasn't a point of emphasis by the old coaching staff so imma say nah bro.
There's 2 questions here for the staff 1) do you believe you can teach him how to run good routes? 2) can you scheme him open?
I think it's worth asking those questions if he's going to continue to have a WR body and it's a position where we leave depth.
I feel like he has a better chance of just staying a RB who doesn't get many carries but functions as our return specialist. I think he could fill in the role that Blackshear left though. I'd love to see him become more of a pass-catching RB.
Weren't King and Gary the same class? I didn't think he did, but did he play too many games to not redshirt his first year?
I think Black will be a slot receiver. Given the RB's Rudolph and Bowen are accustomed to I don't think they'll have much difficulty sifting thru the group to figure out who can be successful in their scheme.
edit: I should add Holt to that list of coaches as well
Hampton, Brunson, and one of Lee or Holston would gets us to 6 with Duke coming in the summer. I'll trust this staff to weed out during winter workouts and spring practice who the best 5 are and to have conversations with the other 3 that it's best for them to move on.
Duke was a January enrollee
There's basically 4 options to transfer. Holston doesn't count since he's likely done anyway and seriously doubt any of the r-Freshmen leave, and Thomas sure ain't leaving. I'd be willing to bet at least one of the remaining 4 ain't leaving either.
Good luck to him wherever he ends up. Hopefully we can rebalance that room this offseason without losing too much talent
I always liked his HS film. Who the hell knows if this is a huge loss or not as Fuente never seemed to have any rhyme or reason for who he played, when he played them and how much.
I wish the kid all the best and hope he finds success!
Thomas, King, Black, and Christian are 4 I'd like to keep. Number 5 is anyones guess. Gary seemed like he had a lot of promise.
Bryce Duke is incoming as the fifth
In addition to Bryce Duke I'd like to keep Marco Lee as well. Always felt he was a different build than the rest of our backs and never saw him get a true chance.
Hate to see Tahj move on before he ever really got much chance with VT, but thus is the new world of attrition in the Portal era. Best of luck to Mr. Gary at the next stop, and maybe even an upgrade over his NIL- Hardee's coupons.
I was really glad when Fu & Co decided to honor their offer to Gary even though he broke his femur. That's a tough injury to come back from and it's a bummer he never got much run here, but seems like it's in his best interests if he wants to play. As a class of 2019 signee it's possible he's due to graduate after three years on campus and its even weirder to think he just only completed his r-Fr season due to the covid year.
But... but... How do we win?
Time...of...POSSESSION!
People are finally starting to get it!
Unironically will probably be a key stat with Pry's strategy
Fuente didn't develop a single running back as a coach at VT. Not one. His best back was developed by the worst program in the P5, which tells you all you need to know. To put a cherry on top, he didn't recruit the position well, either. Had he done that, the QB wouldn't have always been the leading or second leading rusher on the team. I'm 100% certain we will do better in this area moving forward.
Even more damming is that this statement is true for all the skill positions.
All the QBs got worse from one year to the next and from the beginning of the season to the end.
While the offense was effective with Ford and Cam at WR, those guys were developed before his arrival. Tre Turner and Mitchell have NFL-level raw talent. Unfortunately, our receivers showed little development during their tenure here also.
Hooker improved and showed signs of being a capable leader and game manager; however he was told he wasn't good enough. We know how that turned out
But I would argue that Hooker got worse as the Year progressed.
Hooker couldn't even snap the ball at the correct time by the end of his time. I still struggle to comprehend just how incompetent the previous staff was.
I dislike the previous staff as much as anyone, but that's not what was said. They told him it would be an open competition again next season like it seemingly was every year for Fuente, Hooker didn't like that and decided to enter the transfer portal again.
Hooker went into the portal 2 days after the last game of the 2020 season. Was he really told it'd be an open competition or was he frustrated by his treatment when it was clear to anyone with 2 eyes and a brain that he was the best QB on the roster?
Yup
Also if I had to guess, he was probably told that if he didn't get back in that Clemson game then he wasn't playing the rest of the season
Understand that's a guess, and obviously not many people would know what HH was told during or shortly after the game; however, I do know that I've never been more disappointed in a HC representing VT then watching CJF at the post game press conference. CJF showed ZERO compassion for his #1 QB, which was horrible. I wished HH had stayed, but wish him well. Very glad CJF is gone, and very pleased that VT is moving on with CBP.
Dude loved to throw everyone he could under the bus to avoid dealing with actual problems.
That's one thing that didn't rely on rumors or speculation that I am very surprised people didn't pick up on early.
You say this now but I felt like I was fighting against the mainstream opinion of this website when I said it at the time.
there were definitely people that truly believed Burmeister was a better option than Hooker, even through the first half of 2021
There's a lot of different things at play here. Looking at the way Hooker is playing for UT, it's clear he's better than what we thought and really than what he ever showed here. I think there was a lot of negative perception about the way he performed during the Clemson debacle, which was pretty bad. Our previous staff sucked at a lot of things, but I think this is one of those cases where a guy left for another organization and it worked out in his best interest. I'm sure the old staff had a major hand in his performance here, but I never saw Hooker play like he did last year at any time while wearing O&M.
You're right that he's played better at Tennessee than he did here, but he clearly showed unquestioned QB1 talent and stats at VT. I chalk any underperforming up to the guys coaching him and calling his plays. He didn't just magically get so much better in six months.
We could do read receipts. I had been off TKP in the spring and most of the summer, I got back on before the season and read a thread where everyone was talking about how BB3 was an upgrade over Hooker. I thought I had entered some sort of bizarro world.
Hence the clarification -anyone with 2 eyes and a brain-
Those thinking BB was the better option than HH clearly did not have 2 eyes and a brain
To be fair to BB though, of the QBs that we had on our roster prior to this past season, none of them were going to be successful under the leadership of Cornelsen and Fuente.
If Hooker stuck around and got the starting spot, he probably would have had a very similar season to BB. I'm happy for Hendon that he got the chance to showcase his ability, unlike so many others whose future's were impacted by the previous regime.
Bingo.
Yeah I was about to say... there were a lot of Burmeister believers heading into this past season. I was very consistent all offseason that Hooker was a significantly better QB to Burmeister, and that there was no reason, on any level, to expect Burmeister to be better than him somehow this year. Obviously that came true, but there's very little satisfaction in being right about something like that.
While I agree with ashore that it should have been obvious that Hooker was our best option, there were a lot of people who chose to believe Burmeister was better for, to this day, reasons I cannot fathom. He was the definition of "serviceable" against UVA, and that game was talked up as if he had put on some gamebreaking performance.
I know I'm a bit of a broken record here, but it's not just a VT/Fuente thing... Hooker went to Tennessee, rode the bench, and only got a shot because the starter got injured. Could be a coincidence that two coaching staffs overlooked his talent, but it's possible there's something we're not seeing/not privy too.
But I agree that - based on what I saw every Saturday - Hooker was clearly more consistent and had a higher ceiling than Burnmeister (and Joe Milton FWIW).
There's definitely rumors that he wasn't a great practice player, whatever that means, perhaps he was just inconsistent in practice reps and was one of those guys who turns up better in a real game. I knew some guys like that in high school, but this is speculation of course.
However, my basis was always on Saturdays. Between 2019 and 2020 there was plenty of real game film on each QB, and Hooker was better in every way, as a passer, as a runner, etc. That said, Hooker was even better this season than I would have predicted for Tennessee. That's an interesting offense he is in, as Heupel is a Briles tree guy. For all the talk he's made about having more freedom in that offense, which I believe, there are also lots of passing plays where only 1 or 2 guys are running real routes, and the the other guys are (by design) half-assing dummy routes.
Heupul is a Briles guy? I would have thought he was a Hal Mumme tree guy with being at Oklahoma and them having Leach as OC, or Haden Fry tree via chuck long, or Jay Norvell.
How does he link with Briles?
It's a lot of indirect connections from multiple places, but he runs the veer-and-shoot style offense.
I realize using the term tree usually means I am talking about direct descendant coordinators under a certain coach. I meant his offense is built off of the Briles offensive scheme chassis. It's probably worded poorly on my end.
Yep! And even early in the season some people held on to saying that Burmeister was a better runner than Hooker, as crazy as that sounds
I do think Burmeister was a faster runner than HH. That's about it though. Chris and I both, before the season started as well as early in the year, were constantly trying to tell people that HH was the better passer and had better run game mechanics. It seemed very few would listen. I got tired of making the argument over and over (and I'm sure Chris did too) and I'm certain people got tired of hearing it. HH was the better QB overall and that much was clear by the end of 2020. People claiming otherwise were, IMO, just doing mental gymnastics to hype themselves up because the reality was that we had BB and not HH.
HH was the better QB at VT and with different (read: better) coaching he put himself in a completely different echelon from BB. Could BB be a better QB in another system than he was at VT? Almost certainly. But comparing apples to apples, he wasn't as productive at VT as HH was.
I'm still holding out hope that Bullock is actually a really undervalued athlete who could be a good QB for us. The fact the previous coaches wouldn't play him means nothing to me. They clearly wouldn't know a good QB if one hit them in the face. Add in the transfers we have, and I think with decent coaching our offense could be serviceable by the middle of next season. We'll see, though.
I think HH is better and we win more games with him, but idk if I think he is a better runner than BB. Hookers running style is going to get him hurt.
how many times has BB gotten hurt vs HH though? I don't buy this "Hooker's 'running style' is going to get him hurt" narrative at all. Burmeister's "running style" actually got him hurt. Multiple times.
Y'all know we have a new coaching staff and neither of these guys are on the team anymore right?
we don't live in a silo. It's okay to continue discussions that aren't directly related to exclusive content based on who the current coach is. I don't understand why you feel the need to police this.
Dood, move tf on. You will feel better
how do you know what will make me feel better? You and stineydraw both need to stay TF in your own lanes tbh
I'm genuinely not trying to be a smartass, but doesn't everyone sort of share the same lane on here?
Not sure why folks are calling out StineyDraw for pointing out we have a new staff. I didn't read anything in his post about directing people to stop expressing their opinions - actually thought it was sort of funny.
Anyway, carry on everyone.
Also not trying to be a smartass, but I see where ME is coming from, particularly when being policed by an account with a handle that inherently names and criticizes a guy who hasn't been on staff since 2015 (aka 3 coordinators ago)
A. I love Stiney. My username is not a criticism.
B. I'm still failing to see how i'm policing the board. I have zero control over what someone posts. Pointing out the irony of a conversation is far from policing it.
C. I love how i'm getting told i'm policing and gatekeeping when i'm the one that got told to stay in my lane.
You really came in to make commentary on the conservation itself that we were having and are now going to play the victim?
Haha I am not a victim
stineydraw and I have a long history of disagreements...this felt like an intentionally contrarian quip directed at me given that history
then Max Power came out of nowhere to give me unsolicited personal advice, which, though not technically against the CGs probably should be. It's super arrogant and even more annoying. What was the point of him saying that? I'm wasn't in any way upset about anything and I was just simply having a debate about whether BB was a better runner than HH and he comes out of nowhere to tell me I should stop because it'll make me feel better? Like, WTF?
Everyone here should move along tbh
via GIPHY
Amen. JFC let us talk.
Sports discussion in general is all mostly pointless. Not sure why you feel the need gatekeep what people are allowed to talk about. It's a VT football forum and we're talking about VT football.
I simply asked a question. If I was gatekeeping, I'd point out that this is a thread to discuss Tahj Gary entering the transfer portal and this has nothing to do with him.
I mean I guess but
1. It's the offseason.
2. Discussions on this website frequently quickly devolve into a debate on whether mayo is an appropriate condiment.
Only on steak subs, and the occasional ham sandwich
I feel compelled to say that mayo is best for turkey sandwiches. Brown mustard is the best condiment for pork sandwiches. You're entitled to your (wrong) opinion of course.
I'll allow turkey sandwiches, eating a Hokie Club after a long day at West End Market always hit the spot.
Ew mayo on steak? I should nuke you for that alone
Mayo and horseradish sauce on my roast beef sandwiches every time. And yes, mayo on my steak and cheese subs. Brown mustard or mayo for ham sammys.
If I'm ordering a Philly steak sub from anywhere, it's coming with mayo, otherwise its dry and not easy to get down.
hopefully that "anywhere" does not include Philly or Jersey
I have yet to eat a Philly cheese steak sandwich in Philly or NJ. Still a bucket list item
Hopefully the Philly cheesesteak I had in Philly was not representative, because it may have been the worst I've ever eaten.
Cheesy peanut brittle anyone? /s
FTFY...
I hate to break into one of the greatest threads of all time, but could someone explain to me how Tahj has been in the portal for a week and is still not listed on 247?
https://247sports.com/Season/2022-Football/TransferPortal/?institutionke...
I have no idea. All I know is, this is already the longest off-season ever, we have almost 7 months until games, and we've already had cheesy peanut brittle come up as a topic of conversation. I shudder to think what may end up on the table for discourse by early August...
247 is waaaay behind and rating him is probably pretty low on their priorities
Ok cool
It seemed like BB was faster and able to make more plays with that, but HH was bulkier and could take more of a licking. I don't think it's more complicated than that.
^^^ Exactly what I was talking about
What? HH isn't as fast but is easily the better runner. Now that he is away from Corny he probably isn't doing nearly as many power runs. Hendon is really shifty and could make people miss. BB just has straight line speed and he runs scared.
Letchtenberg was turning that trend around IMO (see Herbert, Blackshear, Thomas), but he was saddled with a lot of extra players in that room that were not really division-champ level much less ACC-champ level.
I hope Kenji sticks around and sees the field. I had high hopes for him coming in.
His high school film was really good.. We had some fall social media videos of him catching out of the backfield (wow!)... And he as the size and frame to be a legitimate P-5 RB. I hope so as well!
Sad to see the Bull go, but with the femur, I always wondered if he would break in.
I still see Black as the new Blackshear, so think he could stay. Love to see King and Kenji doing work.
I feel for Holsten, but not sure there will be much for him. I could see him transferring, though not sure if he is in a grad degree or not.
RE: Holston
Maybe I'm going to have to add him to the list of "Running Backs Who Should Have Been A Linebacker", a list containing, as of this writing:
Trey Edmunds
I don't feel bad for him at all. He was a 3* that wanted to big time us. VT took care of him despite his injury.
good for him
That should be a great spot for him to showcase his abilities. Good Luck Tahj!