Jacksonville, North Carolina DE Jimmie Taylor verbally committed to Virginia Tech on Sunday. Rivals first reported the news, and The Key Play confirmed Taylor's commitment.
"We have a good relationship," Taylor previously told HokieHaven.com [about his relationship with defensive line coach Charley Wiles]. "Anytime we talk, we talk about their projects, how they're building up and what their plans are for the future. He said he sees me as a hand in the dirt player, playing all three downs, instead of me playing a couple of downs. He wants me for all three downs."
Taylor is rated as a 3-star prospect by Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN. ESPN's underclassman evaluation of Taylor reads like Tech may have found its latest diamond in the rough.
STRENGTHS: Taylor displays good height and a frame that is lean but plenty of room to fill out and add more bulk. Displays a solid first step for his length and is quick to work off of blocks and locate runner, keeping head up and reacting to what he sees. ... AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT: Will need to add size to his frame to increase his ability to anchor and hold ground. Developing an arsenal of pass rush moves will improve his consistency as a pass rusher. ... BOTTOM LINE: Taylor has good upside and with his physical ability, he could develop into a solid college level defensive lineman.
The 6-3, 220 pound Taylor visited Blacksburg for the Frank Beamer BBQ and committed to Tech over scholarship offers from North Carolina State, Michigan, Tennessee and Duke among other schools.
Comments
Welcome to the Hokies, Jimmie!
Welcome. May your game be considered offensive to opposing offenses.
Always good to see a d line recruit. Waiting on the experts(French) take. Also saw he had a few "top" offers so hopefully that appeases the pitchfork recruiting crowd.
Consider me APPEASED!!
Setting down my pitchfork.
What about those holding torches, can we still have those?
Beating out Harbaugh's Michigan for any recruit is a very big get. The whole star thing has been over-debated but that offer list tells me I want him on my team. I've had several fans of other teams talk about how VT's overall class ranking isn't that great, but that's based solely on the number of 4/5*'s and on top of that doesn't take into account different class sizes.
Also, with Deablo on board this gives us two of the top guys in the state of North Carolina in this class. And Mook last year as well. I like that we have been able to reach out in the midst of the VA poaching going on. (I'd love to win with a team of all VA boys but this has been important especially considering the downturn in wins)
Explosive off the snap, shoots the gaps well and plays fast. Very skinny and raw, plus it looks like the competition isn't great, hence the 3* rating.
Reminds me of Dadi coming out of high school, though obviously there's no guarantee that he'll turn out that way. A high upside guy who fits the system very, very well. Seems like there are a lot of those in this class. Good pickup.
+1 to get you to 1337
If you turn your calculator upside down, "1337" looks like "LEEl". It should be spelled "Leal", but that's ok, I see that you made the effort.
Hurry everyone, I need 80,085 turkey legs stat!
It's nerd speak for leet meaning elite, but I like what you did there.
I could care less about star ratings and national perception. If this is true, then I am very happy with this class.
You could or you couldn't?
With Coach Wiles' history of coaching up guys that fit what he's looking for, this verbal pleases me greatly. Torch has been doused.
impressive offer list
suck it michigan
If he has the desire and heart, then he Is meant to be a Hokie! Welcome Jimmie!
As always, I welcome all linemen! Good decision, Jimmie!
Welcome, Jimmie! Get ready to terrorize some quarterbacks.
Welcome aboard, Jimmie!
love how we're "raiding" the state of NC to get their best players! welcome to the Hokie family, Jimmie!
I like it, good pick up. Welcome to the Hokies!
DE is a position of need with the Juniors and seniors DL. Great addition to the 2016 class. Keep 'em coming!
Don't think that DE was a major need for this class after lass year especially. Developing the last 2 classes of DL and determining where they fit best is obviously really important but you can never have a gluttony of linemen though.
Leg for broadening my vocabulary.
A pack of lions.
A murder of crows.
A gluttony of linemen.
ha only 12...yep, got to get fit for the upcoming season. smart. he'll be switching over to pancakes once the season truly starts.
Tacos, you say?
TMML
major position of need. we lose dadi this year, possibility of ken leaving early (low % IMO), top backup seth dooley has played almost no significant snaps although he's been hyped up again this offseason (recall last year he was ahead of ken ekanem in some people's eyes), vinny mihota moved over from DT and most think he moves back there if we have sufficient depth, trevon hill our top DE recruit last year is out after ACL surgery, houshon gaines could be a factor there but is a true freshmen and darrius fullwood may start there, but most assume he'll be a smaller hybrid DT as well. Not a lot to work with.
This is what it will be like for opposing offenses.
I think that is what our offense will see while watching our defense play.
The rest of us will be like
I am 99% sure that's a Jerry Springer audience shot... I can't stop watching this, each time I find another funny reaction face that I hadn't noticed at first.
The semi-bald guy looks familiar, I have too many weird relatives. :-)
Welcome to Sacksburg Jimmie!
He's got the eyes.
We really had Starter uniforms back then