Could be anybody, for me it's Ken Ekanem. I just think that if he can stay healthy he has a chance to be an All-ACC player one day. I've been eager to see him play since he signed back in 2012. He's just always had the "it" factor to me, and I'm hoping that he will show it this year. Enough about mine, which player are YOU most excited to watch this year?
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Any of the freshmen.
Augie Conte.
Deon Clarke.
Marshawn, Ricky, Shai, Ford
Sorry to say there is almost no chance of us seeing Ford this year. All signs point to him having a redshirt season.
I'm pretty confident Isaiah will play.
He may have been thinking Andrew Ford
I know. I was just being a dick.
Think he may mean the receiver Ford that has been getting rave reviews.
All the TEs.
Yeah, I'm pretty amped about Michael Brewer as well.
Fuller.
Josh Stanford on offense, RVD on D.
I second this comment!
I also want to add Malleck to this list. I know the topic implied to pick one, but I can't. haha. I want to see what Lefty had planned for Malleck last season, and I want to see it win us games.
Facyson
Fans of Facyson!
def. Gotta be Brewer.
Bucky Hodges. Hands down. When's the last time we've had someone this big, fast, and athletic? This guy's 6'6" 245 and is one of the fastest guys on the team. I think he'll be the playmaker that we've been missing.
I thought he was at 9'5" by this point
Uhh, we had a guy who was big, fast and athletic playing QB for the past three seasons
Who ever is QB1
Brewer, by a landslide, our season depends on it.
I'm intrigued by the H back spot. Whether Durkin or Hodges fills that void, it'll be an exciting plug to the offense. The threat of either player creating mismatches in the secondary, the potential to have a power runner in the slot, or even the "wildest" of chances that they could throw...simply tantalizing. I can't remember a year where we've had so many weapons on offense!
Bucky and Brewer. Bucks and Brews
DADI!!!
Isaiah Ford & Cam Phillips.
Shai, Bucky, Marshawn and Corey Marshall.
The O-line I fully believe we are improved there by leaps and bounds, if you can run the ball it makes it easier on the QB regardless of who it is (Brewer)
Brewer- new QB, easy answer
Bucky- how could you not want to see a 6' 14" TE???
Wyatt Teller- family friend and will be an absolute beast
+1 on Teller. Kid looks like an animal. I'm really pulling for him and his weight room counterpart Augie Conti.
The dude is an animal. Like me, he hates losing than he like winning. Will do anything and everything in his power to make sure he wins all the battle on the field.
I'm looking forward most to seeing if Facyson can improve on his stellar 2013 campaign. And all this buzz on Shai Mckenzie has me very intrigued to see what he can do in the backfield.
May sound silly but whoever wins the kicking job. With our historical offensive struggles we could usually depend on the kicker but that has not really been the case the last few years. It would be nice if one of these freshmen would SEIZE the job and do it consistently well for 4 years...
I can't pick just one. With so many unknowns, it will be a very interesting season.
On Defense (in no particular order):
1. Ken Ekanem - can he return from injury to live up to the promise he showed in HS? Great athlete, so I hope so.
2. Corey Marshall - can he be a leader on D after getting himself squared away off the field?
3. Dadi Nicholas - can he be an every-down DE for us, consistently playing with the same motor?
4. Kendall Fuller and Brandon Facyson - can they really intercept every ball thrown at them?
On Offense (again, no order):
1. Bucky Hodges - will he be able to grow an inch if he's just shy of a first down? Seriously though, he could be a beast just based on sheer athleticism.
2. Josh Stanford - huge upside to this guy, and he started to really mature during the last half of 2013. I think he will be the leader in the WR corps and will have a great season.
3. Michael Brewer - duh.
4. Shai McKenzie and Marshawn Williams - which of these guys will see significant playing time? I don't know that both will, but whichever one steps on to the field could be a major impact player. I'm hoping for good things for a fully healed Trey Edmunds, as well, and he's clearly the #1 RB for us.
Good list. win or lose, there will be a lot to watch this season.
Brewer and Shai
Absolutely Michael Brewer. His skill set and training (via Chad Morris & Kingsbury) seems different from what we've had at QB in a LONG time. It will be interesting to see what Loeffler does with him, and how his presence spreads out our offensive capabilities.
Brewer and Juice on O.
Maddy and Dadi on D.
And, of course, the entire DBlock
All the young talents waiting to make a name for themselves while playing as a team .
Offensive newcomer: Brewer
Offensive veteran: Stanford
Defensive newcomer: Ekannibal
Defensive veteran: RVD
Brewer, easily.
Behind him? Shai and Marshawn. Have a really good feeling about our future with these RBs in the fold.
I'm gonna be the lone guy who goes out on a limb and says JC Coleman. I want to see if he is progressing at all to be a Div I RB. Or will he just fall back into the shadows like he has the past two seasons. Shane keeps raving about him and refuses to let him be jumped on the depth chart. Is that because of experience or is he actually improving? That's what I'm looking for.
Seems like the kid keeps working hard to improve himself every year. I would love to see him finally turn that corner and prove to be a solid RB.
Wouldn't we all love to see that. And for his sake I hope he does
I sure hope so, he surely deserves it and is a great ambassador for VT and all he does is work his butt off to get better. Even if he doesn't ever break out (and I REALLY hope he does) I will be proud to call JC a Hokie.
All the receivers. Carlis, Demitri, Stanford, Willie, Newsome, Ford, Phillips. I think this group could really do some damage this year
the first team DLine. I am excited to see them every game, preferably every play. Because I hope we don't need to see too much of their backups (Nigel, excepted.)
The Thorpe winner
Rogers
#punterswag
new QB
Edmunds and the new RB
Dadi
McLaughlin
F&F
#alltheTEs
FINALLY!!! Someone names ROGERS!
Not seeing a lot of love for Big Lu. This guy will probably be the best player on the entire team this season, him or Fuller. Love watching him rip through the opposing O-line.
Yes, but we already know he will be a beast. We don't know what we are getting with a lot of the other young players.
Shame on all of you...
SAM ROGERS.
I don't think anyone can actually look directly at Sam Rogers.
That shit freaked me out when I was little.....Kinda funny watching it now!
YOU DARE SPEAK HIS NAME?
You will note he is #1 on my list.
Apologies Egbert, I rescind the shame that I have put on you. I totally missed that in your post and now I must deal with the wrath of Sam. God help me.
Gonna be a little different and say Loeffler...and what he churns out on the field.
Still working on QB and RB, but he will be affecting all of them with the calling and playbook.
Freshmen RBs and Dadi
Shai and #JuiceMode
1. #allthetightends
2. Luther. After every sack, I want the crowd to yell in unison, "Atta boy, Luther!"
3. Dadi....and shots of the crowd with "Who's your Dadi?" shirts.
In addition to the Dadi shirts, the whole stadium should start chanting "Who's your Dadi?" (clap...clap...clap clap clap) after he gets a sack.
The one in the Hokies jersey.
I look forward to the kickers! I mean is this the year we finally find a kicker that can hit fg's from 30 and in with a 75% success rate? I mean come on with all the kickers these days we should be able to find 1
Also Trey, with they way he was starting to play before his injury I want to see if he will pick up where he left off and continue to get better
I'm not a proponent of individual hype because it's too easy to expectations to spiral out of control (see DJ Coles last year, and I unfortunately predict a similar outcome for Ryan Malleck this year).
I want to see the offense to look like a coherent unit that can move the ball regularly, running the ball and eating the clock at the least. While it's ideal to finish drives with a TD (and I want to see improvement at that inside the red zone), we also need to be able to finish drives with a FG when we get inside normal range. Last year we were abysmal at that and the lost points from FGs will add up and come back to bite you at the end of a game.
On Offense: #AllTheTightEnds
On Defense: RVD. I want to see what the true embodiment of the modern whip finally looks like on the field.
How did I not know that we had a player by the name of Remington Hinshaw?! What a badass name!
http://www.hokiesports.com/football/players/hinshaw_remington.html
Yup, I saw him play at Richmond quite a few times. Was a solid kicker for them.
trey edmonds is no where to be seen on this thread????? im excited about the studs behind him at RB but really love the way he ran the football towards the end of the year im excited to see him get back to that. i think his consistance is the KEY to our season and how good we will be. other people may get some plays here and there but if he isnt the work load we need and the ground and pound then i dont think we will be very successful.
The other teams qb. In 2013, I was excited to see AJ Mccarron picked off by Kyle Fuller, essentially sending Fuller into the first round. I was excited to see Vad Lee fumbling the ball before he had both hands on it. Tom Savage getting sacked 8 times, then saying he has the "best line in the country."
Which player am I most excited to see? Braxton Miller. I'm pretty sure the Hokie D and Bud Foster agree.
interesting take..i like it
Isaiah Ford and Bucky. From what I'm hearing, Ford might be the best receiver on the roster right now.
Call me boring, but I'm mostly interested in watching how the o-line performs. I'm with everybody on Shai, Juice, Brewer, the Receivers, etc., but if we don't have the HOGMOLLIES to block for Brewer/Shai/Juice/T-eddy/JCC then we're no better than we have been the last couple of seasons. Both the offensive and defensive lines are, in my opinion, the root to all success for football teams. The o-line gives the QB time to throw/improvise which gives the WRs time to run routes and get open, and obviously they open holes for the RB to run through. When the D-line collapses the pocket and gets pressure on the QB/RBs it results in a feast for LBs and DBs.
So, with all that said, if we want to see any of our skilled position guys thrive then we've got to improve up front on offense. I'm a huge fan of Coach Searels, and I believe in our guys (particularly Teller, Conte, McLaughlin) but I've gotta see some in-game play before I believe too much.
GO HOKIES.
Ain't it great to be excited for offensive players besides QB and RB. Tell me, boys, when was the last time you giggled about a TE?