Franklin's First Wave: Offensive Line

The ink is dry, and James Franklin's first class of Hokies has dazzled college football pundits and Hokies fans alike. The top priority for Franklin this cycle appears to be the trenches, where he secured commitments from seven offensive linemen, with all but guard Benjamin Eziuka listed as 6-5 or taller. With that many fresh faces, we can also expect to see some attrition. The prize recruit for Matt Moore's class, Adrian Hamilton, an outstanding guard from DeMatha, flipped to Michigan, and we should expect some of the incumbent offensive linemen to move on as the scheme likely shifts from outside zone to more of a power look.

The Technician

While Tech's future run game may be built around massive punishing drive blockers, improving the pass protection is absolutely critical to future success. As it stands, Virginia Tech concedes 2.42 sacks per game, T-104th worst nationally. Franklin's first catch was DePaul Catholic (Wayne, NJ) left tackle Marlen Bright. Measuring in at only 280 pounds on a 6-6 frame, he has quick feet and is very balanced with a low center of gravity in pass protection.

On the above pass protection drop, a weakside linebacker came late on a blitz. Adjusting to the blitz, Bright slid laterally with a kick step while not turning his pads too much facing the sideline, which would give the linebacker leverage to turn the corner. Despite a very wide base, he did an outstanding job of anchoring, meaning creating a low center of gravity with enough forward lean to prevent the defender from bull rushing him. And despite his slightly forward pad lean, his weight was still solidly over his toes, preventing the defender from using a push-pull technique. Bright was fluid and looks very comfortable.

From the run game perspective, he is a bit more of a diamond in the rough. He moves very fluidly, often redirecting in a different direction on inside zone schemes as the defense warranted. However, he is more of a positional blocker than a road grader. This aids him on outside zones, like on this short yardage play where he (#74) reached the boundary edge.

On inside zones, especially when he had an opportunity to really bulldoze folks into the ground, his initial steps felt uncertain and a bit tentative. On this inside zone play, I did like his athleticism to chip the defensive tackle inside and then redirect back to the linebacker.

I am not sure if they are still used, but in my day offensive line coaches used rope drills to teach this kind of redirection to climb to second-level defenders. His ability to get to the angle for the combination block and then redirect to the linebacker is tantalizing, but I would like to see a flatter and more assertive initial right step and hard contact instead of the tentative push. Bright was a little slow to get his feet moving again after he changed his momentum back to the outside. Other plays demonstrated he has the finish when he was aggressive, but there were enough plays when he looked a little tentative delivering a backside scoop or a combo where he will need some refinement.

Mobile Menace

Benjamin Eziuka | Virginia Tech Athletics

Penn State's playoff run in 2024 featured big but mobile guards who could pull effectively and backside scoop a burly nose tackle. With the loss of Hamilton (who I really liked, but was a bit undersized), the top guard prospect to challenge early for playing time is Detroit Catholic Central's Benjamin Eziuka.

Listed at 6-3, 320, Eziuka could project as a mobile pulling guard or potentially a center, a position this season that the Hokies had very little depth behind Kyle Altuner. Eziuka was utilized heavily as a pulling guard, and while his body type is very similar to former Hokies guard Kaden Moore, Eziuka does a much better job of maintaining his feet at contact and finding second-level defenders.

Eziuka does a great job on his pull of giving a little bit of depth so he didn't collide with the front-side downblocks, then he re-directed downhill to the linebacker. Watch his feet closely. There wasn't a plant— Eziuka runs right through the defender and drives him out of the picture. I would like to see him have a little bit lower pad level, but he sacrifices a bit of that to get depth on his pull.

Here again, Eziuka made a bucket step and turned to the sidelines on his pull before some of the other linemen took a step towards the defense. He got great depth and then turned up sharply. When he made contact with the linebacker, he never broke stride. Keeping your feet moving allows you as a blocker to get up and under the defender's pads when they try to create enough space to shed a block. Eziuka doesn't give them room to breathe.

The biggest bad habit that Eziuka has to break is inconsistent hand placement on down blocks and inside scoops. It wasn't an every snap thing, but there were plays in his film where he blocks with his forearms while keeping his hands near his chest, as demonstrated on this short yardage run.

His hand placement was much better on zone plays where he reached the defender, but there were several highlights where those arms are tucked too tightly to control an ACC defensive tackle.

Long Term Investments

Thomas Wilder, Roseby Lubintus, Maddox Cochrane, Buddy Wegdam | Virginia Tech Athletics

The recruiting services ratings don't always equate to performance, and while the rest of the offensive line class is loaded with massive blockers, they are far from finished products. Thomas Wilder, a 6-6 295 pound left tackle from Green Run in the 757, improved significantly in his senior year. Admittedly, I thought he was very stiff as a junior, and wasn't particularly excited when Matt Moore got his commitment over the summer. With the coaching change, Wilder decommitted, but Franklin got him back into the fold.

Watching some footage of Wilder from his senior season, he looks much smoother with his footwork, particularly his pass drops. His center of gravity was a bit lower and his footwork leaves him with better balance. I really like how he (#70, LT) gets under a rusher's pads despite his height and gets full extension.

That said, Wilder still needs to have a better low center of gravity to anchor up against bull rushers. He stands up very tall and doesn't have great bend when he steps back into his pass set. He looks like he could use some heavy lower body development that will aid his development. He has more length and is a bit quicker feet than Bright, but he has to develop his lower body strength to finish blocks and anchor against good pass rushers.

Another highly rated commitment is 6-5, 330 pound guard Roseby "Purgatory" Lubintus. I have some mixed feelings about the Timber Creek Regional (Elizabeth, NJ) product. His first step straight forward is quick, and when he makes contact you see defenders move backwards.

But his highlights don't really display him moving laterally or pass protecting. In his run blocking scheme, he basically fired out and once he made contact, he stopped on a lot of blocks where he could absolutely swallow the defender up with his size. He will need a lot of work to make an impact early in his career in Blacksburg.

Two other offensive tackle prospects came from Virginia's private school system, Maddox Cochrane from Benedictine in Richmond and Woodberry Forest's Buddy Wegdam. I couldn't find tape of the 6-5, 275 Wegdam, but I did find a full game film of Cochrane's Benedictine team taking on fellow Hokies signee Davion Brown and Trinity. Tech listed Cochrane at 6-6, 280, and looks exactly like you want your left or right tackle to look. He does an outstanding job of using a quick first step to get body position on defenders.

But once Cochrane (#70) gets into good position, his leg drive evaporates. He rarely moves defenders off the line of scrimmage, and seems much more comfortable in a sprint draw type of scheme where he can just shield a defender away from the ball.

The Sleeper Pick

Tyrell Simpson | Virginia Tech Athletics

For me, the most intriguing prospect in this group was originally a Matt Moore recruit. Guard prospect Tyrell Simpson played a lower level of competition in eastern North Carolina (North Brunswick HS), and he is very raw. But he is also massive (6-8, 365) with outstanding feet and a first step you can't teach. He did not post any senior season highlights on Hudl, and his junior highlights showcase a mammoth guard who has a lot of raw ability, but needs to be coached up.

On this inverted veer above, Simpson washes out the playside defensive tackle. Despite having an awkward stance, he fires off the ball, gets into the body of the defensive tackle quickly, and maintains his foot drive to open up a big hole. He secured a pancake block, even though his fundamentals were all off.

Foremost, his initial step was with his right foot, which presents a very challenging blocking angle if the defensive tackle was trying to penetrate. On a down block, you have a rule where you need to step with your inside foot first to prevent penetration and then power through with your outside foot on your second step. This prevents the defensive tackle from getting into the backfield initially, and then you work your body and butt around to the outside once you have secured the gap. But despite the rawness, he has a lot of the same qualities I saw in a very raw Christian Darrisaw. You can't teach his light feet and ability to finish blocks without using much technique.