247 just dropped 2022 team composite rankings - VT is 52nd in the nation and 9th in the ACC.
Here's where we've stood in the past:
| Year | Team Composit Score (National rank) | Team Composit Score (ACC rank) | Blue chip players on roster |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 52 | 9 | 9 |
| 2021 | 40 | 8 | 14 |
| 2020 | 36 | 7 | 16 |
| 2019 | 29 | 5 | 20 |
| 2018 | 31 | 5 | 14 |
| 2017 | 33 | 5 | 11 |
| 2016 | 36 | 7 | 9 |
| 2015 | 32 | 6 | 12 |
My takeaways:
- The roster isn't necessarily equally as talented as it was at the start of the 2021 season - we've lost 5 bluechip players (though not all of them were contributors) and other teams have clearly gotten more talent.
- We underachieved in 2019 given the talent on the roster (I know it's a theme of the Fuente era, but looking at it now... man)
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Ironically 2016 was easily our best season in the last decade by a pretty comfortable margin and it had the worst number of blue-chips (equal to this year)
And 2019 was the year with the most, but me and you went all the way down to Blacksburg and saw the shitshow that was the Duke game. At least we had a hot tub at the Airbnb I guess.
9 blue chip players.
10 guys currently in the NFL (I think). Several others who made rosters.
1 Sam Rogers
Bud Foster's final legendary action (our defensive revitalization from Notre Dame through Pitt) and a dead cat bounce for the FuCorn offense from the switch to Hooker made things look better than they were... That first month, with a mistake filled loss to BC to open, and the worst home loss in 40ish(?) years to Duke, showed us everything we needed to know about what had become of our program. I don't think Fuente should have coached a day past the Duke game. Bud Foster retirement tour as interim HC followed by the appointment of our new coach (maybe still Pry).
Overall, this really highlights the shape and quality of the roster Fuente inherited, and why his 2016 and 2017 seasons were his clear best. Lots of NFL and/or high level ACC players on that roster on both sides of the ball. I've long said our 2014 and 2015 teams should have probably been in the 9-3 or 8-4 range without terrible injury luck (9 or 10 of our combined 12 losses were by a single score I believe).
Pry is not inheriting anything close to that situation.
I've legit never thought of this possibility... He'd be able to get into the CFB hall of fame had this happened
How so? His 2018 and 2019 rosters were clearly the most talented (at least based on the data shown) - higher national rank, higher ACC rank, more blue chip players - why do you say 16/17 were most talented?
2013 man... we're 11-1 entering the ACCCG if Kyle Fuller stays healthy, and you can't convince me otherwise
My guess is that the 16/17 teams actually brought more talent to the field than those after them where the talent was unrealized/on paper. Lots of blue chippers were signed but didnt really play, but 16/17 had 3*s who wound up draft picks - edmundi, stroman, chuck clark, etc.
E.g. a 3* upperclassman who has developed into an nfl talent is actually more useful to a team on the field than a true freshman 4* who redshirts and then transfers
If we had some receivers 2013 could have been really special.
This is where you have to evaluate how the guys on the roster turned out. 18-19 were ranked higher, but many of those guys boosting that ranking didn't turn out nearly as well as the guys who made it to the 16-17 seasons.
Here's a few of our players on the 2016 roster breakdown:
Pass Catchers:
Isaiah Ford - first ever and two-time 1000yd receiver - 7th round NFL draft pick
Cam Phillips - VT's all-time leading receiver. - UDFA, best player in one of those short-lived leagues.
Bucky Hodges - Came into 2016 with over 1000 yards and 13 TD's already - 6th round NFL draft pick
All three players featured on All-ACC teams
THE DEFENSIVE TACKLE ROOM - wtf!?!?!
Woody Baron - 1st team All ACC
Nigel Williams - All-ACC
Tim Settle - 5th round pick, successful NFL player
Ricky Walker - All-ACC
Defensive Ends:
Vinny Mihota
Trevon Hill
Ken Ekanem
House Gaines
Not really NFL guys (some via injury) but multiple guys who were productive for Fuente
Corners/Nickelwhip/Safety
Adonis Alexander - NFL caliber, off field stuff, taken in NFL supplemental draft
Greg Stroman - NFL players for several years
Mook Reynolds - off field issues
Brandon Facyson - UDFA, NFL starter as recently as last year
Divine Deablo - Draft pick, NFL starting LB
Terrell Edmunds - 1st rd pick NFL starting safety
Chuck Clark - Draft pick, NFL starting safety
Linebacker Room:
Tremaine Edmunds - 1st rd pick, NFL starting ILB
Andrew Motuapuaka - starting Mike LB who finished with over 30 TFL's
The 18-19 teams had a few NFL players at various spots, but not as many great looking and cohesive rooms. Depth was also a bigger concern on the teams after 16/17.
If you are talking about Foster and the CFB HoF, he would still not be eligible. You need 10 years of HC experience, a 0.600 win percentage and a minimum of 100 games coached.
Look if teams can claim mythical national titles then why not us claiming wins
Oh, I didn't know that.
Honestly, these rankings seem about right to me. Cautiously optimistic that we will do slightly better than what is predicted, but probably not by much even if we do.
Just based on talent with VT placed 52nd (with no 5-stars, and just nine 4-stars), if we beat the teams we are ranked higher than we will go 5-7.
Wins include: 59 UVA, 63 Duke, 100 ODU, 146 Liberty, and 217 Wofford.
Losses would include: 13 Miami, 16 UNC, 30 GT?, 35 NCST, 42 BC, 43 WVU, and 45 Pitt.
Not great, Bob...
30 GT appears to be a bit of the paper tiger thing we were becoming in the middle of the Fuente era. Winning some higher rated recruits, many of which had been backed off of by bigger teams and/or were dropping in rankings rather than rising.
Additionally, just glanced at that roster on the talent composite. Their two highest rated players are a Bama and Clemson transfer who never broke through at their positions at either school.
It's not linear. The gap between 10 and 20 is dramatically bigger than the gap from the mid-20s to maybe 60.
One turnover or a missed FG is much more important than being 32nd vs 45th vs 52nd on some subjective list.
Winning sometimes comes down to attitude...if this staff can keep the fire lit under guys, we may win a few games we shouldn't!
The answer really, is 42.