Bitter blog - Hokies camp countdown: Top five most intriguing players

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I'm excited to see what Mihota can do at End. I love the size that he and Dooley bring and allow for 2 complete lines to rotate which is Wiles wants.

"We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior" Stephen M.R. Covey

“When life knocks you down plan to land on your back, because if you can look up, you can get up, if you fall flat on your face it can kill your spirit” David Wilson

I'm excited to see Mihota play with his size in Bud's system. I hope he does VERY well and we attract more true size DEs that stay at DE, and not change to DL/OL.

Lawson nees to redshirt. If he is the future, why burn a year to get a handful of plays Motley can run? I would rather see Hansen on the list.

Sometimes we live no particular way but our own

Likely because 1) he could run them better than Motley could and therefore helps us win games right now, and 2) the coaches see him as the starter in 2016, so they want to get him practice/game reps and get him ready as quickly as possible. I wouldn't be upset if he took a redshirt, but word is that isn't going to happen.

Also he is already 20, and if he is good as we are all hoping we might as well get three years out of him instead of two.

all maroon everything

This is the key reason I think we'll see him play this year. Lawson is 20. I think we'll only have him 3 years. I think Lawson competes with Motley and Durkin on running the Wild Turkey, and if either Lawson or Durkin are as good as Motley, then they should run the Wild Turkey (so we could keep Motley as an experienced backup #2 QB healthy in case Brewer gets banged up). The worst case scenario is what happened last year at UVA, when both Brewer and Motley got injured and they almost had to throw Ford in the game unprepared. Fortunately for us, Brewer is a super tough dude and was able to get back in the game and win it for us. Also, if Lawson gets some reps this year then I think he'd be more prepared to compete with Motley and Durkin next spring, which is win-win for us in 2016.

HH4455

See I don't get that logic because 20 or not, he's yet to go through a NCAA practice so we have absolutely no idea if he's even good enough to make it for a full 4 years on the team. Khein was a 4 star and he didn't last. I don't think it's ever wise to plan on a recruit just staying for two or three years of play time.

I just sit on my couch and b*tch. - HokieChemE2016

The logic is that if he is that good, there is no way he stays on the team for 4 years anyway. So might as well get 3 years of playing/potentially impacting the team instead of 2. That is of course if the coaches believe he can make an impact.

all maroon everything

Yeah I get that, but it just seems even more of a risk to expect that of him than to not.

I just sit on my couch and b*tch. - HokieChemE2016

I get that if he can really help the team that much he will play, like TT did, and we should get him ready to play, but asking him to learn a complex office in a few weeks is not realistic, and even if he is TT good, there are not many MV1's out there who would be drafted high enough to leave early. I really hope he is that good, but odds are he is not the best QB in the league after 2 years of playing. I'd rather have 4 years of starting as a possibility than bet the extra year he will leave early just to have him carry the ball a few times in the hope he gets more yards than Motley would. I have not seen him play, and the coaches have not even seen him take a D1 snap yet, and I will not be on that hype train till I and they have.

Sometimes we live no particular way but our own

Only difference is that I think Brewer is a bit more effective than Glennon was during his junior year

I just sit on my couch and b*tch. - HokieChemE2016

If Brewer gets hurt? Then we may need to play him. If not, all the more reason to redshirt.

Sometimes we live no particular way but our own

Good stuff as usual Andy.

I just don't picture many scenarios that would get Lawson on the field this year. If the offense is improved enough to give Brenden a bunch of quality snaps this year, I think he's going to be hard to beat as starter next year.

I'm excited to see next year's starting QB. Motley has a great chance to shock the world and nail down that spot. If he does, that means he's significantly better than some QB recruits who are "Loeffler" guys, and has embraced and shown mastery of Lefty's system better than recruits who came in as more natural fits to the system. I think Brenden has the tools and the drive to make it a real battle next spring, despite all the hype for the new guys.

If Lawson or Durkin wins the starting position, I suspect we'll see a budding superstar grow throughout the season.

I'm not 100% convinced of Motley's ability to stay out of the training room, for one. He impressed the crap outta me last year when he started slinging the ball all over the field like a real live quarterback, but I'm not sure he's the QB of the future for us. The arm and athleticism are there, the drive... maybe, maybe not. He responded pretty well the last time playing time was hung out in front of him, maybe he'll do it again.

Slingin the ball all over the field? He had 3 pass attempts

Spring/fall of 2013 and the spring of 2014 to be more specific.

Motley is a redshirt junior, so qb of the future is not really in the cards either.

Leonard. Duh.

I thought Lawson was a tight end?

*ducks*

Exit stage right.

We put the K in Kwality

*is waiting at stage right with baseball bat in hand*

The best part about this is being reminded how much talent (and young talent) is on this team: Nijman, Settle, Lawson, McMillian, McLaughlin, Shai, Marshawn, Ford, Phillips, Hodges, Malleck, Fuller, Facyson, Teller, Nigel, Marshall, Maddy, Dadi... plus whoever else I'm forgetting. Is it game time yet!

Hokie fan | W&M grad

We are extremely young. Heights/weights were updated yesterday on Hokiesports so I was flipping through those. Not many seniors on this team. DLine, JCC, Riley, Fuller will leave early. Brewer.

did Jerome Wright shrink from 6'1" 220ish to 5'11" 220ish?

Conte and Teller are also both listed at 6'5" after being listed 6'6" in the past.

Wiley, Brown, Russell, Drakeford, Gray, Banks, Prioleau, Charleton, Midget, Bird, McCadam, Pile, Hall, Green, Fuller, Williams, Hamilton, Rouse, Flowers, Harris, Chancellor, Carmichael, Hosley, Fuller, Exum, Jarrett

No, the staff member doing the measuring grew an inch.....RELATIVITY

Also Darius Redman is already up to 291.. getting that OL size quick. Hope it's "good" weight.

Nijman at 278 is still a bit light for OT.

Wiley, Brown, Russell, Drakeford, Gray, Banks, Prioleau, Charleton, Midget, Bird, McCadam, Pile, Hall, Green, Fuller, Williams, Hamilton, Rouse, Flowers, Harris, Chancellor, Carmichael, Hosley, Fuller, Exum, Jarrett

278 is a bit light but he also hasn't entered fall practice of his true freshman year yet.... He has 278 lbs of solid, good weight. He will likely be in the 290s of good weight by next fall with his frame.

"I'm too drunk to taste this chicken" - Colonel Sanders via Ricky Bobby

I'm ready to see what happens with a healthy Brewer all year long.

"When I was growing up, Virginia Tech was a school that was kicking ass and taking names, and it's time we get back to that" - James Franklin

well you better hope Searles has figured out how to get his line to adjust to blitzes....French's columns addressing how our line was abused, particularly by Wake, have me pretty worried about it...

Onward and upward

I sure do hope Searles read that same article French wrote (especially the part about the WF guy quoting how all he did was what his coach told him to do based on what we did and it worked the entire game for them)....I mean, Sheeeeeesh!!

HH4455

I would think having an OL that doesn't allow him to get knocked into next week early on is a very good way to keep him healthy for 12 weeks

"When I was growing up, Virginia Tech was a school that was kicking ass and taking names, and it's time we get back to that" - James Franklin

Turnovers. Don't do them.

If he does that, we'll be fine.

Actually, from a really good TSL Pass article today, Brewer's INT/ATT ratio over the last 8 games of the year was 0.020. That's better than the career mark for any Tech QB since 1999. For a comparison, TT had a 0.023 with a much better running game, fewer passing attempts, and better scrambling ability. Not half bad.

My favorite quote from Chris Coleman:

Over the last eight games of 2014, Michael Brewer was the best quarterback Virginia Tech has had at protecting the football since at least 1999. Go ahead and let that sentence sink in.

I think Brewer will be just fine.

Year by year or for their career? A lot of VT QB's struggled early on in their career only to be much better as juniors/seniors. That was especially true for Bryan Randall, who had a terrible 2002 season. Mike Vick never had the chance to develop like that.

Yes, it was career, but I think the last 8 of his first 12 games as a Hokie can still be considered early in Brewer's career too. It's worth noting that his season INT/ATT ratio was 0.033, a tick below Glennon and a tick above Vick.

Yeah, that was part of my point. People forget how much Randall struggled in 2002 before having a breakout performance in 2003 following a great spring. I think that trend bodes well for Brewer this year.

I've seen nothing to indicate that won't be the case. Brewer looked good during the spring.

Talk about cherry picking stats. I agree that Brewer greatly improved on protecting the ball as the season progressed, but comparing 8 games to everyone else's career is just a bit dishonest.

It still is pretty telling when one of the main storylines coming into the season is that Brewer needs to protect the football (seriously, what's the over-under on the number of times those exact words have been typed/said since December?), when he already did do exactly that over the last 3/4 of the season. And no, comparing his first year to everyone else's career isn't going to be 100% apples-to-apples, but it's a good reference point. And besides, just about everyone on the list would have improved throughout their careers, so we're comparing what will likely be Brewer's worst year with an average that includes those guys' best and worst seasons. So is Brewer really at that big of an advantage? I'd say no. Again, those other guys are on there just as a reference. The quote from Chris Coleman is really just a bit of hyperbole to draw attention to the fact that maybe Brewer isn't as terrible as he was made out to be last year.