Re: WR Marcell Baylor's absence from the #Hokies' updated spring roster yesterday, VT confirmed today he is no longer with the team. @TechSideline has heard it is related to academics.Baylor was a 2023 signee out of Radford who redshirted last fall.— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) February 16, 2024
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Lawson, Keller, McDonald, Woodson, Johnson all got playing time last season. Ballance got in a garbage time rep. Brumfield is the MTSU transfer that Pry is pretty high on.
The lack of name recognition probably comes from how many different LB combinations we tried throughout the season with no one really cementing their spot.
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I know it's a lot to ask for, but it would be nice to have some comfortable wins early so we can get some real game reps for our #2 QB. Whole lot of r-Fr behind Drones.
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I'd love to see him throw the football in an actual game. Right now he has the exact same passing stats as Jaylin Lane (0-1) and five carries for 40 yards. I think lots of people are high on him because of his performance in the spring game last year, but I'm not sold on a 5'11" QB who weighs 190 running the offense we're running with Drones. Especially if he finds himself in a situation where he has to pass and can't just hand it off to Tuten 20 times.
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I would certainly hope we wouldn't go with the exact same run package with Watson as we did with Drones. Drones runs like 3rd and Logan, and Watson running reminds me a lot of more of Hooker/Burmeister. I don't think it would take drastic changes to make the QB more of an outside option as long as Tuten & co don't mind mixing it up inside more often if necessary.
I'm also hopeful the the O-Line will be improved (at least a bit) which should help everything.
Edit: It also looks like Watson played hockey in high school so that's got to add a couple of tuff points, right?
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Especially with them moving Law over to OL. You can see they want to put ppl in the best position to succeed so maybe its more of a willingness to make that move
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For probably the first time ever, both sides of Bristol are represented on the roster. I love that these athletes (Gavin Cross, too) are picking Virginia Tech over Tennessee, which is the default option for many in northeast Tennessee.
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I've only been living in Bristol Tn for a few months now, but grew up around here, and am pleasantly surprised about how many VT fans I run into. I would almost say a 55-45 split tilted towards TN.
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We look deep at safety and shallow at corner. WR and TE might be the deepest in the last decade. If the OL can find 5 P4 starters, we could tire out some scoreboard operators.
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There are only three safeties with any experience there. Then a few bodies that have had some hype. If depth is based on bodies, maybe this is right. But, there is a lot more experience in the cornerback room.
Also, how has nyke Johnson been here for three years already?
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Echoing some of the comments from others about QB depth, I would not hate it if we took in a transfer QB, ala Brown. Not somebody who will compete for the job, but a stop gap with some collegiate experience if Drones were to be out for any period of time. Pry has proven he knows how to evaluate and manage a roster, so I wouldn't be surprised.
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Basically the whip linebacker from Buds days, so the wide side of the field guy. Guessing they changed the name since there are also some nickel responsibilities and it sounds cool to recruits?
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Notice that Cotman has been moved back to Safety and Woodson is listed both at STAR and LB. Would not be surprised if Gabe Williams splits time with Jenkins at STAR and Woodson splits time with Lawson at backer. All about getting the best players on the field as often as possible. Woodson and Williams are the future for this defense, one at Star and one at Will not sure which will be which
Edit: also want another option at Mike, hopefully Aycen Stephens is healthy and makes strides this spring
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Also that's not just Pry jargon, it's a common position that FSU has used, Alabama used under Saban, and a number of other places that I probably have no clue about.
Basically hybrid LB/S position that VT has been using for decades (Kam, Grimm, etc) and like jimbo said, replaces the whip.
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Pry was on the TSL podcast the other day. The roster was the focus of a lot of discussion. Mike was one of the focal points. I think he likes Brumfeld, but also seemed to indicate that Mike may be a position by committee.
The conversation turned to Woodson and his listing at two positions. Pry indicated that Star is a physically demanding position but one that doesn't require the mental maturity that the other positions require. He indicated he thought Woodson was growing in a way that would let him start to dabble in the complexities of the Will position.
He made a comment that made it sound like they really don't want to use Delane at safety. It sounds like they still don't have their depth sorted at safety.
Nickel seems to be an unknown. He mentioned maybe having Stong play nickel and letting others play corner on those downs. He seemed to imply they felt good enough about corner depth to do that.
I don't think the o line is where he wants it to be, but it wasn't a huge focus. It was more broadly addressed when it came up.
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Yeah, that was the feedback he got from the NFL. They expect DBs to be able to play multiple positions in the pros these days. More experience at nickel and all else being the same he should move up in the draft next year.
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He made a comment that made it sound like they really don't want to use Delane at safety. It sounds like they still don't have their depth sorted at safety.
It was more direct than you're making it sound. IIRC, he explicitly said that he doesn't like playing Delane at Safety, but needs to see improvement at corner.
That episode was a good listen. The comments on Canteen were really positive as well.
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Canteen wants to start somewhere. They're all totally ok. They'll miss him and his leadership/contributions to the room. But they're supporting him going forward. No bad blood from any side.
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Comments
Weird, Marcell is still listed on the football roster online https://hokiesports.com/sports/football/roster/marcell-baylor/13269
There have been rumors floating around that he wouldn't be around, but it hasn't been clear what is officially happening.
And there it is
I don't recognize any of the linebacker names. Is that just me?
Lawson, Keller, McDonald, Woodson, Johnson all got playing time last season. Ballance got in a garbage time rep. Brumfield is the MTSU transfer that Pry is pretty high on.
The lack of name recognition probably comes from how many different LB combinations we tried throughout the season with no one really cementing their spot.
Man, that's a whole lot of Virginia on that list. Pry and Co have kept to their word.
I see 2, maybe 3 who will get significant playing time on offense (Jennings/Felton)
I see 5 just on the defensive line
QB1 Kyron Drones
Wait. How many years has it been since we don't have a QB competition going into the Spring?
Fingers crossed he stays healthy.
2015 with Brewer.
was 2022 Grant Wells vs Jason Brown really a battle
Brown sucks, so Pry made the right call there.
yeah don't have the warm and fuzzy should Drones miss time, godforbid.
I know it's a lot to ask for, but it would be nice to have some comfortable wins early so we can get some real game reps for our #2 QB. Whole lot of r-Fr behind Drones.
Yes, agree. I am not -nearly- as high on Pop Watson as others on here, thus my big concern
I'd love to see him throw the football in an actual game. Right now he has the exact same passing stats as Jaylin Lane (0-1) and five carries for 40 yards. I think lots of people are high on him because of his performance in the spring game last year, but I'm not sold on a 5'11" QB who weighs 190 running the offense we're running with Drones. Especially if he finds himself in a situation where he has to pass and can't just hand it off to Tuten 20 times.
I would certainly hope we wouldn't go with the exact same run package with Watson as we did with Drones. Drones runs like 3rd and Logan, and Watson running reminds me a lot of more of Hooker/Burmeister. I don't think it would take drastic changes to make the QB more of an outside option as long as Tuten & co don't mind mixing it up inside more often if necessary.
I'm also hopeful the the O-Line will be improved (at least a bit) which should help everything.
Edit: It also looks like Watson played hockey in high school so that's got to add a couple of tuff points, right?
I really hope the light comes on for Givens this season. I was half expecting to see him under O-Line.
Especially with them moving Law over to OL. You can see they want to put ppl in the best position to succeed so maybe its more of a willingness to make that move
Oh I assumed Law moved to make room as there is a new Law in town 🥁🥁🐍
Shame he is moving only because we won't get to have Law, Laws, and Lawson all on the same side of the ball at once.
But doesn't that mean we always have the Law on our side?
We are not Lawless on either side of the ball...
Bravo! I give you 🧦🧦🧦🧦 out of five.
Awful lot of freshmen and sophs on the offensive line.
I'm still hoping we can get one or two OL transfers after the spring. Maybe from some teams that lost their hc late
For probably the first time ever, both sides of Bristol are represented on the roster. I love that these athletes (Gavin Cross, too) are picking Virginia Tech over Tennessee, which is the default option for many in northeast Tennessee.
I've only been living in Bristol Tn for a few months now, but grew up around here, and am pleasantly surprised about how many VT fans I run into. I would almost say a 55-45 split tilted towards TN.
Didn't used to be that way. Before 1999, it was probably 80/20 at best.
There are Hokies. But all the gear in stores is Tennessee, everything you see is Tennessee. Media coverage is Tennessee.
We look deep at safety and shallow at corner. WR and TE might be the deepest in the last decade. If the OL can find 5 P4 starters, we could tire out some scoreboard operators.
There are only three safeties with any experience there. Then a few bodies that have had some hype. If depth is based on bodies, maybe this is right. But, there is a lot more experience in the cornerback room.
Also, how has nyke Johnson been here for three years already?
Echoing some of the comments from others about QB depth, I would not hate it if we took in a transfer QB, ala Brown. Not somebody who will compete for the job, but a stop gap with some collegiate experience if Drones were to be out for any period of time. Pry has proven he knows how to evaluate and manage a roster, so I wouldn't be surprised.
I'm behind on Pry jargon. What are Stars?
Basically the whip linebacker from Buds days, so the wide side of the field guy. Guessing they changed the name since there are also some nickel responsibilities and it sounds cool to recruits?
And ideally this is a long, athletic player with some versatility. In a perfect world I would think Lawson would be an excellent STAR.
French may correct me on that thought though.
Notice that Cotman has been moved back to Safety and Woodson is listed both at STAR and LB. Would not be surprised if Gabe Williams splits time with Jenkins at STAR and Woodson splits time with Lawson at backer. All about getting the best players on the field as often as possible. Woodson and Williams are the future for this defense, one at Star and one at Will not sure which will be which
Edit: also want another option at Mike, hopefully Aycen Stephens is healthy and makes strides this spring
Also that's not just Pry jargon, it's a common position that FSU has used, Alabama used under Saban, and a number of other places that I probably have no clue about.
Basically hybrid LB/S position that VT has been using for decades (Kam, Grimm, etc) and like jimbo said, replaces the whip.
So, it's a "Marve-ism"
Marve was a GA when Derwin James was playing the position at FSU.
Pry was on the TSL podcast the other day. The roster was the focus of a lot of discussion. Mike was one of the focal points. I think he likes Brumfeld, but also seemed to indicate that Mike may be a position by committee.
The conversation turned to Woodson and his listing at two positions. Pry indicated that Star is a physically demanding position but one that doesn't require the mental maturity that the other positions require. He indicated he thought Woodson was growing in a way that would let him start to dabble in the complexities of the Will position.
He made a comment that made it sound like they really don't want to use Delane at safety. It sounds like they still don't have their depth sorted at safety.
Nickel seems to be an unknown. He mentioned maybe having Stong play nickel and letting others play corner on those downs. He seemed to imply they felt good enough about corner depth to do that.
I don't think the o line is where he wants it to be, but it wasn't a huge focus. It was more broadly addressed when it came up.
I got the impression that giving Strong nickel reps to show his versatility was part of the lure of him coming back.
Yeah, that was the feedback he got from the NFL. They expect DBs to be able to play multiple positions in the pros these days. More experience at nickel and all else being the same he should move up in the draft next year.
It was more direct than you're making it sound. IIRC, he explicitly said that he doesn't like playing Delane at Safety, but needs to see improvement at corner.
That episode was a good listen. The comments on Canteen were really positive as well.
What did he say about Canteen?
Canteen wants to start somewhere. They're all totally ok. They'll miss him and his leadership/contributions to the room. But they're supporting him going forward. No bad blood from any side.
Almost as many lineman as a Fuente running back room
Billions of linemen and running backs.
no 10+ RB's on the roster?!?!?!