Virginia Tech offered fans and media a chance to watch some free football and I jumped at the opportunity. With less than a month to go until the start of the season, I wanted to see how Tech's playmakers performed and familiarize myself with the younger players on the roster. It was a productive scrimmage, and I walked away knowing more about the team than when I had arrived.
Defensive Players
Desmond Frye played with the first string defense at rover and he had a solid day. He wasn't burned in coverage even when playing single coverage and he looked very comfortable in the box providing run support. He might not have the natural playmaking ability that C.J. Reavis did, but Frye isn't going to be a liability if he continues to hold onto his number one spot. Adonis Alexander also got plenty of reps at rover although he was mostly running with the twos. Adonis didn't look like a freshman when flying forward to attack the ball carrier. He might not win the starting job this year but I will be surprised if he redshirts, he already looks ready to contribute on the field.
In fact, the entire secondary looks ready to go. Torrian Gray has amassed an embarrassment of riches and I seriously doubt any secondary in the country will outplay his this year. Chuck Clark looks right at home at the free safety position. He is one of the best tacklers in the secondary and his new position will free him up to attack rushing plays more aggressively than when he was playing corner or nickel. Clark looked great in both man and zone coverage as well. Kendall Fuller and Brandon Facyson looked like the best corner duo in the country. Facyson is 100% back and looked explosive breaking on the ball.
Greg Stroman got first string reps as the nickel back. He is not as polished as Fuller or Facyson in coverage, but he is a capable defender who has all the athletic tools to be really good. Brewer completed a couple of balls against his coverage (one being an impressive catch and run by Ford) but overall he had a good day. Donovan Riley seems to be the next guy in the secondary right now as he worked with the twos, but he had a pretty good afternoon himself. Riley showed off some quick hands by snagging a deflected pass for an interception and then showed off some playmaking ability by reeling of a big return. Riley might not get the starting nod depending on how the positional battles shake out but he is going to be an important member of that unit moving forward.
On the defensive line, I kept a close eye on true freshman Tim Settle whenever he was in the game. Settle didn't give ground to an offensive lineman on any of the snaps I watched, although I was disappointed in his overall lack of penetration. In a couple of obvious passing situations he seemed to have some good explosiveness, but if Settle is going to get on the field for Foster he needs to find a way to shoot the gap in between the linemen and start disrupting rushing plays in the backfield.
Offensive Players
When I wasn't keeping an eye on defensive players from snap to whistle, I was scouting some of Tech's offensive weapons. One in particular stood out. Isaiah Ford looks like a potential All-ACC wide receiver right now. He ran crisp routes against man coverage and knew what to do once he got the ball. It is critical for the Hokies to have more big plays in 2015 than they had last year, and Ford looks poised to be the guy who takes the next step. If Cam Phillips (who didn't play saturday) is developing at a similar pace, the Hokies will have a very good one-two punch at wide receiver. Depth is an issue though as no other receiver looked like a threat. C.J. Carroll ran some nice routes and has nice hands, although his lack of size and explosiveness makes him a liability in the screen game that Loeffler relies on. Demetri Knowles took over for Cam with the first squad, but failed to make an impact. Someone needs to step up quickly.
Kalvin Cline looks healthy again. He ran a couple of nice vertical routes, including a double move against Ronny Vandyke that would have gone for a touchdown if Brewer had had the time to get the throw off. I've been a big Cline fan ever since he committed, and think he is a bigger matchup problem for defenses than any slot receiver on the current roster.
Sam Rogers looked as solid as ever in pass protection and as a receiver, catching a couple of balls for first downs. Steven Peoples once again impressed me, and he is going to force his way onto the field. If I were Loeffler I would focus more on getting my tight ends and fullbacks involved in the game plan than I would a third receiver. Loeffler has said he wants to find ways to get his starting WR's more rest, but he doesn't need to bring in another WR to do that. For example, he could easily line Bucky wide and keep Malleck and Cline on the line of scrimmage and Rogers in the backfield with a tailback. That is a power formation (three tight ends and a fullback) with a lot of pass catching ability. If the interior of the offensive line can create a push in the run game, this tight end/fullback group is going to be a nightmare to defend.
The Quarterbacks
There is no quarterback controversy in Blacksburg. Brewer looks to be in complete command of the offense, he and the rest of the first team offense seemed to be on the same page once they got to the line of scrimmage. The first string offense went hurry up a couple of times and there weren't many procedural penalties with that group. I was disappointed with the lack of deep completions from the first unit (Brewer missed a wide open Ford for a sure touchdown with a bad overthrow and then got hit before he could find Cline with another one) but considering the small sample size I'm not overly concerned, yet. If Tech wants to beat Ohio State again, similar opportunities have to be seized and not wasted.
Chris Durkin looks dangerous as a mobile quarterback. He is very decisive once he decides to run with it and he has good agility and speed to go with whatever power he can't show off while wearing a yellow jersey. He also has a good enough arm to be a throwing threat, although he did miss an open receiver down the sideline on Saturday for a deep pass and missed another receiver on a screen play. In my opinion, Durkin should be the "Wild Turkey" quarterback so that Tech doesn't have to risk Motley getting injured, and so Tech can get an idea of what he is capable of accomplishing.
Saturday was my first chance to see Dwayne Lawson in person, and I left impressed. His arm strength was obvious right away (he does have some footwork issues to clean up) and his height allowed him to stay in the pocket and see downfield despite pressure. Lawson also looked dangerous on the ground. There were several times when only the fingertips of a defender and Lawson's yellow jersey prevented long gains on the ground. He isn't ready to start as a true freshman, but if redshirts this year and spends it in the gym and in his playbook there is no reason that he couldn't compete for the starting job in the spring. Lawson has the best physical tools of any QB prospect since Logan Thomas, easily.
Overall Impressions
I was fairly happy with how the team looked on Saturday. I don't think this offense is ready yet to beat Ohio State (I have concerns about the lack of an interior run game or a vertical pass game), but they can certainly get there by the end of summer practices. If the offensive line can open up some holes, this will be the best group of running backs in Blacksburg since David Wilson left town. Regardless of what happens on offense, Foster's defense is going to be special. His secondary is going to blanket any receiving group that they face and his defensive line got lots of pressure and penetration even without Dadi or Corey Marshall. There might still be some questions about the linebacker group, but any shortcomings they may have can be hidden by stacking the box and allowing Fuller and Facyson to do their thing in single coverage.
Comments
Lots of red meat to chew on; thank you for the write up.
Chuck Clark belongs in the Fuller/Facyson conversation. He will beast this year.
And CJ Carroll will surprise this year....yes, he's tiny, but the kid gets open and catches the ball. That's all you need in a possession receiver.
I think with Ford and Phillips on the outside and our stable of TEs I'm really interested to see how our conv % is on 3rd down this year. We have the tools to sustain drives and keep our defense fresh, which I have seen as a problem in the past few years, so here is hoping!
Having a highly touted defense is great unless they have been on the field for 30 mins by the 4th quarter.
IMO, the most important stat for this offense will be "Explosive drives", drives in which the average play earned 10 yards or more. Tech needs to start stretching the field vertically in the pass game as well as having their running backs explode for big gains rather than settling for 5 or 6 yard carries.
I think the reason the 3rd down conversion percentages fell at times last year was due more to the offense's inability to keep defenses honest than anything else.
Absolutely. We were ranked 122 out of 128 teams with explosive drives, at a rate of 6.7 percent.
As a reference, the 4 teams that reached the playoffs had explosive rates (rankings) of 24.6%(6th), 25.9%(5th), 17.9%(27th) and 19.2%(20th). (OSU,UO, BAMA, FSU)
In terms of methodical drives (ie. the percentage of each offense's drives that run 10 or more plays), those four teams were ranked 97th, 31st, 64th, 26th. Significantly worse.
If you expand to all of the NY6 teams you get explosive/methodical ranks of: 16/68, 34/84, 14/110, 36/56, 10/6, 29/7, 23/43, 30/106.
So 10 out of the 12 teams that played in the NY6 were more explosive than methodical. The two exceptions were GiT, which is obviously designed to be methodical. And Baylor, which still had a top 10 explosive offense anyway. So the bottom line is if you want to win, you can't not be explosive. Our 2009 and 2010 seasons follow this precisely
Totally agree.
The biggest miss by far IMO in the 2015 recruiting class was not getting a receiver who can stretch the field with speed and/or size. Hopefully early reports about Ford looking more like a downfield threat that defenses will have to respect will turn out to be accurate because the entire offense is desperate for this.
Just watch how much more effective those little WR/bubble screens that drive everyone crazy will be if teams have to respect a downfield threat.
Based on the tape since the spring I'd definitely say Ford is an established deep threat. I can think of multiple occasions he clearly beat his guy deep. The problem is that Brewer/Motley never connected with him. That's going to have to change to take the next step forward
Yeah, it's a QB issue, not a WR issue. Think of all those circus catches Ford made last year on poorly thrown balls. We're lucky we were 4th to last.
If Logan Thomas had been the QB last year, VT would have still lacked a downfield threat (much like it did in 2013), i.e. someone that defense's gameplanned to keep them in front of them.
Brewer's arm strength/accuracy (or lack thereof) had little to do with it.
What tape since spring? A few plays on snapchat?
And the spring game and last weekends scrimmage
Nice write-up, Mason, thanks. It's getting harder and harder for me to not jump right on that Hype Train. What you've reported here is as optimistic of an outlook from a Hokie team as I can remember in the last few years. The tools are there - can they put it all together?
Also, random tidbit - do WR's normally work with a sled? Seems like Coach Burden is a big fan of physicality and I love it:
Ok, I'm stoked.
I can't wait to watch JC or Trey get loose and watch all the downfield blocking.
something something Marcus Davis...
They're suppossed to...GiTs wrs always put in work at the sled...our historically haven't...maybe actually get some outside blocking to free JC and Newsome...
Thanks, Mason! Good info on some new Hokies!
Very nice write up. I'm very high on Peoples and Dooley (didn't crimmage) as key second team contributors. Stroman did a great job covering Hodges... blanketed him well despite the size difference.
There's reason for optimism!
Yeah, Peoples is a football player. He is going to be a fan favorite by the time he leaves Blacksburg
Will someone please tell me what they are seeing/hearing about Tremaine Edmunds!? The dude is 6'4 235lbs as a Freshman and we need a successor (and current depth) once Deon Clarke (who is vastly underrated) moves on next year.
Tremaine is HUGE. Saw him in the South Endzone concourse last season and he towered over me (6'2.5"). 6'4" is conservative.
IF VT runs a no WR set, I will cry with joy.
We could run a no-wide set with four legit passing targets...
And then potentially have the ability to audible into a shotgun spread look with the same personnel. Talk about mismatches.
The no-huddle, no-wideout offense. Keep the same defense on the field to defend the Stanford run-style game, then also defend the Bucky-Malleck-Kline receiving game.
And Trey, JC, Mr. Sam Rogers, and by all accounts Travon & Peoples all have hands.
Well hell, make that FIVE legit passing targets. I was counting the three tight ends plus Sam. Wasn't even thinking about the tailback pass.
With the 3 TE's, plus Sam and lets say JC, you could run anything from a single back jumbo formation, to a four receiver shotgun formation and never change personnel.
Plus, Sam gives you the ability to do some trick FB throw back pass plays like in the Military Bowl.
IMO, you want to keep both Cline and Malleck in close to the line, to disguise who is going to release into a passing route. If you split them wide, you take away that moment of transition when a defender has to realize their assignment.
Depends on defensive personnel...
If defense brings on run-heavy personnel, I would prefer them away from the line of scrimmage regardless of if I'm passing or running. Against run-heavy personnel I might spread them out, take some of those linebackers out of the box and on the perimeter where they aren't used to playing, and make them make those run/pass reads from areas of the field they aren't used to.
Cline vs a linebacker is a mismatch regardless of if that linebacker knows it's a pass play or not.
Leg, sir. You're a step ahead of me. Though I'm worried about a good pass rush against our right tackle without TE support. Just shows the versatility of this offensive personnel. The only players on offense that defenders don't have to worry about being a passing target are the OL. (Assuming no tackle-eligible trickeration inherited from the previous OC.)
Agreed. Doing that against UVa opened up the field for the offense last year. They couldn't crowd the box and there were mismatches to the outside. Played a big role in our ability to score and score again to win in the 4th quarter.
Shoot, Sam was about to throw a TD pass against anOSU last year but no one was open so he just ripped off a big run instead. No big deal.
Brewer caught a TD pass last season, up to 6 now
Nope, he almost caught a touchdown in the Military Bowl from Isaiah Ford but was knocked out of bounds at the 3 yard line. He did score after picking up Marshawn's fumble against GT though.
So this could be the rolling-ball-of-butcher-knives offense we've all been longing and waiting for?
I've been calling for this for years. Everyone wants to run the spread at a fast pace, but could you imagine Stanford's power running game being executed at the speed of Oregon? That'd be legit. And hugely entertaining if nothing else.
Not sure where this ends up in the thread, but I'm going to jump into the frenzy with this tidbit I borrowed from Madden
Boom
I really like the idea of using a 3 TE set with Cline, Bucky, and Malleck. I'd like to see us try to run it down their throats and then throw a screen with all 3 TE's blocking for Ford or Phillips or even Bucky. It's very exciting to have all 3 of these guys.
The neat part too is that Bucky can be slid out into a WR role while we still have Malleck and/or Cline in the interior for run blocking purposes. This will keep teams from being able to sell out to the pass just because Bucky slides out. Malleck and Cline are better blockers anyways so I would love to see this type of a setup.
Any word on Joel Caleb?
Heard he will be ready to take over at wide receiver as soon as Drew Harris gets here to take over at running back.
So what's the latest on Drew Harris? /s
I've been anxious to hear something on him too
Its been a while since we have had so much talent on the offensive side of the ball. QB depth, RB depth, TE DEPTH, OL improvement, Two stud WRs... Now it is all about Executing
Yep, and this is why I've been so excited about recruiting in recent years. Did we get those elite playmakers? Nope, but we completely overhauled the offense, and stocked the cupboards with talented depth. When it all starts to come together and once it clicks, this offense WILL perform at a high level, and it will be that kind of unit that, when paired with the defense that Bud Foster puts out there, will get us back in the Top 15 every year, and will have us contending for ACC titles and playoff berths.
Right now, we're in the calm before the storm. And there's a pretty decent chance that storm hits this year.
To add, once things fall into place and we do start performing, odds are recruiting will continue to improve.
The storm hitting likely depends on injuries this year as we have talent, just not talent depth at some key spots.
This is the key to me. Winning football games. The new staff is recruiting at least as well (and probably better) than the old staff ever did despite being less nationally relevant. If they start winning games and start turning heads around the country, things could turn around even quicker.
Beamer might not have the time to get the program back to a National Title Contender, but he will leave his successor with an opportunity to push it over the finish line. I'm just hoping that Foster is the guy.
Good point about the recruiting; we're getting some offensive talent on the field after quite a dry spell, both in talent and production.
Never mind that Bucky is a converted QB, Teller came from the defense and Sam Rodgers was a walk-on. /s
So we've got a Sam Rogers AND a Sam Rodgers and they're both walk-ons? What are the chances?
Tech doesn't have the elite playmakers that are required to win a national championship, but the staff has done a great job at raising the overall talent level. A couple of years ago, adding an elite playmaker or two probably wouldn't have made too much of a difference because of the overall struggles of the team. Nowadays, if a couple of players emerge from the current roster (and a solid season helps to further improve recruiting) then Tech might be close to competing for a spot in the playoffs.
And there is one true freshman quarterback on the roster who has the potential to be great. If Bucky and Ford and Phillips and Marshawn and Shai and Teller and Gallo and Conte all stick around.... let's just say it's a lot easier to be optimistic about the program now than it was two years ago.
we have a young offense....with the increase in talent I believe that bodes well for us.
Last year (before the season) I pegged either 2015 or 2016 as the break out year for this team. After our win over OSU I thought we came out a year early...and then we plummeted.. :( but I do think we'll see our offense take steps in the right direction this year (and maybe even help get to 9 or 10 wins) and then become a seriously troubling offense for teams to deal with in 2016
My prediction? I think we go 9-4 (8-4 w/ bowl win or 9-3 with bowl loss) this year and 11-1 in the regular season in 2016
So which does VT beat next year? Tenn or @ND? Or both and lose to someone else?
It pains me to say it but I think it will be Tennessee. If you've been following them you'll see they're slowly stockpiling 5 star talent, especially on defense. Tech is going to have to bring their best game. It's not going to be a 37-14 cakewalk like the CFA bowl in 2009.
Plus Notre Dame is losing a good amount of starters in 2016
Good news is ND will be a highly ranked team like they are starting out every year when we beat them regardless of their roster.
I think the biggest thing is that we're recruiting a bunch of actual OLmen to play OL at Tech. We're no longer in the business of just converting whoever doesn't work out at DL to OL and making it work, and we're emphasizing the importance of a good OL by ensuring they're getting good coaching throughout their time here. If we keep recruiting like we did the last 2 years over the next 2, our OL is going to be deep with talent at all the spots, and we should be a lot better at keeping our QBs off their asses. This alone should help out in whatever direction we go post-Beamer, by that the foundation at OL should be set, so we won't have to endure a complete rebuild again like we have the last couple years.
I'll bet we haven't seen the end of OL's converted from some other position.
however the more recent moves seem to be working.. Teller, Redman &
Settleyes Nijman duh !I have been extremely impressed with Redman lately, he's putting in work. Starting to get more comfortable with some OL2's working with OL1's so in season when we need to mix and match its not an issue.
You mean Nijman?
Nijman is doing well too but Redman is also a converted TE and from snapchat seems to be doing decent...
I think he meant instead of Settle
Which presents another possible wrinkle when you line up Redman as the outside tackle on jumbo set knowing that he can block/catch as well.
What a difference a year makes in potential personnel.
he would have to be named eligible before the play though correct?
Yes, Mr. Belichick, he would.
IIRC, Teller played both sides in HS, so it wasn't a drastic shift.
Of course they'll always be there, but the difference between what we had and what we have going forward is that the OL is no longer built upon converts. The backbone and the majority of the guys who will be getting reps at OL will be guys who have been playing their position for years before they even came to VT.
That in and of itself will be big.
DL to OL is a common move across all of college football, and nothing to worry about if it continues. The problem is if you see us not landing recruits projected at OL and just shrugging it off thinking we'll be fine just converting from other positions. (The Newsome Effect)
thank god we have a different Newsome Effect now!!
Any word on how Jaylen Bradshaw is looking? I thought he'd be a good candidate for that 3rd receiver.
sounds like he can't rid the injury bug
Great write up! Thanks a bunch Mason.
My biggest question is how does the O line look?! To me, their the biggest question mark for our offense. A house will never last very long or even stand if it doesn't have a good foundation, which is exactly what the O line is: The Foundation.
Everything I'm hearing from the great coverage as usual from TKP...says the Oline isn't pushing the dLine off...but I wonder, are they running draws and other inside runs that require that in camp? I mean, is the Oline still lacking that push, or are the play calls all pass, screen, and outside runs...
I actually saw quite a bit of movement, especially when when we Ran out of the hurry-up.
Another open scrimmage this Saturday, per AB:
I'm currently in in California for my sister's wedding, which is on Saturday. Think she'd be mad if I went back a day early for the scrimmage? That'd blow over, right?
Also, not to toot my own horn, but didn't I totally call this? AB tweets about the next open scrimmage. Call me the old gypsy woman, cause that's just like I said it would happen.
We got that push on the first drive of the second half against Miami then we fumbled.
I think these boys can get some push
The reason I can't really be too mad at Loeffler for the Miami game is that we had three promising drives cut short by three different tailbacks. How often does that happen? After the third one, I just accepted that that was just not going to be our night.
Sorry to spam - but would really like to hear how our Mike backers (AM) performed. If the RB's were ripping off runs, then I assume we're just THAT awesome, or somehow we weren't as sound in our front seven.