Following some other Hokie sites, it looks like a few position changes have already taken place or are rumored to be in the works:
- Drager to TE (already confirmed, TKP was the one to break this to begin with)
- James Hopper from back-up rover to tailback (he played it in high school and we need the depth, maybe means a red-shirt for Holmes?
- Isiah Hamlette from DE to DT (need to improve depth, though I think Harley will be able to come in and contribute)
Position changes that would be AWESOME but probably won't happen:
- Lanier to TE, leading to Via starting at LT (dude's already a redshirt junior, should be ready to play)
- Dechristopher to guard (big and slow, won't get beat by the speed rushers)
No way I think that Coach Beamer makes the moves to lose his starting tackles from last year, even though I think this would be a general upgrade.
What do you all think?
Comments
Wow
Now seeing that JR Collins will possibly be moved to tackle...not sure about this move since it would be a redshirt freshmen (Mcray or Perez-Means) starting at his spot
I saw McCray a little bit last spring and he looked pretty beastly. I am kind of surprised they are moving Collins...
Now that Drager has moved backed to TE there's not a chance in hell that Lanier gets bumped over which gives me the sads.
Does anyone know about how effective Hopper was at RB in HS?
The big problem with not moving Lanier is that the Hokies power run game does not work without two run-blocking tight ends. You saw the Hokies abandon a lot of red-zone running (though I was absolutely in favor of more passing) because Andre Smith was the only reliable TE last year.
My concern for next year is lining up and running David Wilson into a brick wall 20 times a game with inside zone runs. We just can't do that. Josh Oglesby just posted some record-position strength numbers for the offseason. He needs to be the powerback. I am really hoping the coaches run stretch and sweep plays with DW and don't make me an inside-only runner.
DW really needs to play that slot-Percy Harvin role next year too, the player that opposing defenses always have to be aware of. Let's hope we see a lot of David Wilson straight-line speed and LT's cannon arm resulting in touchdown passes.
Hope we utilize DW like that
It's funny that when he was being recruited to Florida it was rumored one of the pitches they used was that he would be used like Percy Harvin type role. I hope the RB depth issue doesn't become a problem, saw a rumor of DJ Coles possibly playing some RB in the spring but figure that was just hearsay.
Would be pretty ballsy to move both starting tackles from last year but sometimes it takes those type of moves to produce the best results but I guess the move of Lanier to TE and DeChristopher to G would all depend on how good Via/Becton/Painter play. Would love to see if Stinespring is the coach that can put on the light for Painter.
We definitely need that second blocking tight end. I know BeerControl has preached how important it is to have him against the 3-4 because of how we like to attack it. My hunch is that the coaches know they have a stud in Drager and can coach one of the other tight ends up without moving Lanier over.
Josh O is definitely a beast, I remember him dominating Duke inside two years ago when Ryan Williams couldn't get anything going, but I'm not going to sleep on DW being able to punch it in from 3 yards out, he's a strong kid too. I have a feeling that DW is going to be on the field as much as humanly possible this season. I think he'll see a lot of time in the slot if we're serious about developing a legit screen, short passing attack. Even if he's not getting the ball, he needs to be on the field to serve as a decoy.
Speaking of decoys
Why didn't anyone put TT, RW, DW, DE all on the field at the same time last year? Can you imagine trying to defend that?
That's the age old question right?
I think at the beginning of every season we want and expect to see as much skill and speed on the field at once as possible. I'm very guilty of this. The Wild Turkey gave us a taste, and this year I thought we'd see a lot more of the 100 Proof Backfield. My thinking now is it foolish to obsess over this at all? I think it has a lot to do the fact we haven't been getting these dominate offensive players for very long and we want to flaunt it. Of my friends that went to SEC schools like Florida or Georgia, who have similar talent and speed (albeit more depth) I don't think I've heard this type of argument before.
The biggest reason why we can't do this is because of how few drives we sustain. A wrinkle is just that, you need to get your base offense going before you can use special packages. If you aren't getting first downs you are limiting touches and creativity.
We need to get better executing our base package and then develop a couple of limited secondary packages/schemes. Particularly something inside the red zone to goal that will shake things up.
I wasn't thinking of it as a wrinkle
I mean we should have put all our best players on the field to give us the greatest chances.