With Buzzketball's surge on the hardwood, it was easy to overlook the Hokies kicking off the Justin Fuente era on the field March 22 with the start of spring football. The urgency hit me when I read Bud Foster's extensive thoughts on Adonis Alexander's physical talent to be an elite corner.
"He's a dynamic athlete," Foster told the Roanoke Times. "Now, all of a sudden if you can put a stud, lockdown corner at least to one side of the field, that's always been one of our strengths is having that kind of guy. Whether it's been a DeAngelo Hall or Brandon Flowers or Jimmy Williams, the Fuller brothers. I think Adonis can be in that mix, but he's got a long way to go."
Perhaps more surprising was Foster's comment that Terrell Edmunds will move to rover.
"Chuck Clark will start at safety. Backing him up will be Mook Reynolds, but Mook will also be working at nickel," said Foster at Tech's spring practice press conference. "We've moved Terrell Edmunds to rover. He could play corner as well, but he's gonna play safety...Right now, our field corner is gonna be Greg Stroman...And then Adonis Alexander will be at our boundary corner...We're a little thin on the back end there particularly at corner, but that's OK. I think Greg and Adonis need as much work as they can get. Guys are extremely talented but really haven't played a lot of corner. It's gonna be a big spring for those guys."
Edmunds was incredibly dependable replacing Kendall Fuller as the boundary corner, especially late in the season. In the Independence Bowl, Edmunds played superior outside and inside leverage techniques and Tulsa stayed away from him after several beautiful pass breakups. He was physical in coverage and dependable enough that Foster put him on an island without safety help time and time again.
I have been outspoken that Adonis Alexander's greatest upside is at corner. Alexander made two highlight plays against Virginia despite technique flaws. He is raw, yet has the most NFL potential of any corner on the roster.
Alexander also presents a good problem to have, he has the range and tackling ability to make an impact at free safety too. All in all, Edmunds was probably the more consistent player at corner in 2015. However, Edmunds hesitancy in run support during spring practice was one of the reasons Alexander got an opportunity to play almost right away at rover. Physicality wasn't Edmunds issue, but timing and instinct were. It is surprising that Foster would revert back to the old formula.
Safeties in Foster's defense are critical because of their responsibility to relay coverage calls from sideline to sideline. There is no minimizing the importance of that communication, or covering up problems the Hokies have exhibited in zone coverages and alley fits when inexperienced players man the back-end. That said, nothing covers up flaws in safety play quite like having a couple of lockdown corners.
Despite the gaping hole that would open up at safety, Alexander and Edmunds both can have the greatest impact on the game at corner. The importance of having corners that can play on an island is heightened given Brandon Facyson's injury history, Mook Reynolds' typecasting as a safety/nickel, and Greg Stroman's difficulty handling physical outside receivers in coverage.
Moving players around does have some consequences. Foster has slowly been transitioning to secondary players where all five guys are essentially corners and can play man coverage. That transition has seen mixed results as far as coverage, and reduced quality of play in terms of secondary run support. Part of that may be attributed to a five corner philosophy; however the roulette in the secondary the last couple of springs seemed to catch up with the Hokies when injuries forced Foster to use inexperienced players.
Chuck Clark is a textbook example. Clark had a stellar 2014 campaign at the nickel/whip spot. Everyone expected he would transition to safety in 2015. Because of injuries, he ended up practicing exclusively at boundary corner during spring ball. Clark had a terrific spring and a great Ohio State game in which he kept the Hokie defense in the game while several of his teammates were dominated up front. When Foster moved Clark back to a traditional two-deep look starting against Furman, it sure seemed like he was not nearly as comfortable. Clark struggled with alley play and often looked hesitant early in the season. By the time the Hokies played Tulsa, Clark was caught out of position several times, one of which directly resulted in a Tulsa touchdown reception. More importantly, Clark didn't take a snap that I can recall at boundary corner all season. Spring ball ended up being a bit of a waste.
Ultimately, you want to see guys spending the spring getting as much experience as they can at the position they will most likely play. Edmunds was a great corner at the end of last season and should return to the boundary. Alexander showed tremendous ability to be a Jimmy Williams type of shutdown guy who has the range to also play to the field side. With Facyson's health in question, Alexander should be at corner, yet he can get some work at free safety because it is clear he can play that spot if the need is dire. Facyson is a great Hokie, and he is still the first guy to get me out of my seat at a scrimmage since I started writing about Hokies' football, but to count on him being healthy without a contingency plan seems misguided.
So what if the Hokies don't have an experienced player at safety in the spring? To me, it presents a tremendous opportunity to get experience for one of the true safeties and make them comfortable in case one is needed next year. I hope Chuck Clark will get another look at rover where he can play close to the line of scrimmage. Jahque Alleyne, who has enough natural talent and athleticism that he didn't get a redshirt despite a late enrollment could be thrown to the wolves at free safety to see if the range evident in his high school film can add value immediately to the secondary. Mook Reynolds played some safety against Tulsa due to injuries and didn't look out of place when pressed into duty. Perhaps there's an opportunity there if Foster considers him for a role outside of Tech's nickel, especially given that Stroman doesn't seem well suited to safety. Other kids like DuWayne Johnson and a returning Shawn Payne get an opportunity. Perhaps one of them will surprise the coaches and Hokie Nation alike this spring.
Comments
French in your opinion who should be the starting 4 (or 5)?
Yeah, I was trying to sort that out. I think he was saying:
BCB: Edmunds2
FCB: Facyson
FS: Alexander
Rov: Clark
Nickel: Mook
with the backup plan being:
BCB: Edmunds2
FCB: Alexander
FS: Allenye
Rov: Clark
Nickel: Mook
I think it is a good idea to avoid switching players between corner and safety as a plan B. I would prefer that to be plan C.
BCB Edmunds 2
FCB Alexander
Nickel Reynolds
Rov Clark
FS Alleyne (for spring ball- consider Facyson in the fall given how Bud used the FS this past year like a 3rd corner. He doesn't lose anything either way because he is missing most of the spring)
Great write-up French. It is now time to switch to Football mode for the rest of the year.
I still get a kick out of watching that chick's reaction in that clip. I was looking at her reaction the first few times before I actually watched what Edmunds did. Classic LOLUVA, so close....but yet so far.
FWIW that's Alexander with the pass breakup
and that's how much I focused on the reaction and not the actual play.....
I had to log in just to upvote you. I had never noticed that before but you are right it is fantastic.
Even though Gray has moved on, we still have Foster. The one thing I've learned since '95, Bud always has his secondary ready to compete with anyone. We may not know exactly who is playing where and we may have lost NFL talent, which is our typical spring, but I do know that I can trust Bud Foster.
The secondary is the least of my concerns for our defense and I'm looking forward to what this unit can do next season.
*If our secondary sucks next year....I'm putting all the blame on Scott and Mitchell. /s
The one nice thing this year is that the backfield's NFL talent was a non-factor last year. We're unlikely to miss Fuller on the field because he wasn't there for most of last year. Instead we can reap the rewards of this year's backfield having played snaps in his place.
Context, my friend.
Gray leaving kind of turned the whole "keep the defensive staff intact" plan on its ear.
Awesome writeup. So glad that there's actual football to talk about again, now that Buzzketball is on break.
French, editing typo as a heads up:
1) I thought Shawn Payne quit the team? Did he come back?
2) When is Adonis Williamson coming to Blacksburg?
1. Came back as a walk-on.
2. After he finishes at JUCO, which IIRC is next year. He is a recruitable athlete at that point, though, so it's no guarantee that he still ends up at VT.
Hate to look too far ahead, but couldn't help but think that Devon Hunter would be an amazing fit in the back end.
Something, something, archer.gif.
Chuck Clark carried the Lunch Pail for the first day of spring practice. Let's see if he continues to develop as a leader for the defense.
http://virginiatech.247sports.com/Bolt/The-lunch-pail-has-a-new-carrier-...
One of the many struggles in the program recently is seniors who have
digressedregressed. Dadi, Maddy and Clarke last year, but many others including LT3.This year, looking for Clark, Rogers, Conte, McGlock, Ekanem to all lean into the tape.
I really was amazing the difference losing DW4 made on LT3.
And not just DW4, but Boykin and Coale the same year. Losing a star RB and record-setting WR in the same year, with poor recruiting behind them, left that offense in shambles.
I don't buy Maddy digressed (or regressed even). His numbers don't match his production in 2013 (a stellar season), but his 2015 campaign came on the heels of his torn meniscus/knee injury. Given Tech's recent subpar results for rehabilitating injuries, Maddy exceeded my expectations for him I had before the season. I think the eye test is most telling, but both the ACC's coaches and media voted him All-ACC (second and first team, respectively).
Edit: Not to pile on, but this just came across my timeline and is related.
I hope Ben Hilgart's new strength and conditioning program will improve this.
#ImproveAtImproving
EDIT: This was meant as a joke.
Yeah, I begrudgingly included Maddy. The perception of any
digressionregression was more about the overall regressiondigressionof the DL last year. Maddy was good. His counting numbers were down (2.5 sacks in 15, 6.5 in 13; 3 QBH in 15, 16 in 13) and I don't think he improved his draft stock much.My point was that we need our seniors to give us the best seasons of their career. It could be argued even with Maddy that his '13 season was stronger.
*sighs* I got this guys
Unless you actually meant that the DL was departing from the main topic of conversation/writing.
Jeez, what the hell is wrong with me? I got that wrong every time!
+ for you. Never do anything half-ass.
Always give 'em the whole ass.
Hey, no worries, 60% of the time it works every time
Always love a good grammar lesson. But I regress. We were talking football were we not?
Joe, wandering OT a bit here but: any specific color on why LM hasn't worked out for teams/was extremely limited at the combine?
I feel like it must be pretty significant - seems to me he needed a good showing at either the combine or VT's pro day to up his stock...
Luther is recovering from a minor knee procedure he had in February. He has an individual pro day in Blacksburg scheduled next month.
Including Face and Mook??
Absolutely, Alexander could easily be the next great shutdown boundary corner for us. His length, size, and athleticism give him as high a ceiling as you can have at corner. Extremely similar body type, almost identical, to Richard Sherman. If he has the natural hips and develops excellent technique, we could be watching a truly special player. I don't say that to overhype, but to illustrate how much potential a guy like that has.
I get the points with the athleticism and size, but my concern with him is speed.
Interesting, I can't recall thinking he was slow last year, maybe hesitant here and there, but not slow. Then again, straight line speed is overrated, 4.5ish with great hips and technique is lockdown. Were there moments I may be forgetting?
He had a tendency to look back for the ball, which cost him a step and made him look slow, like in the clip above?
[not sure how sarcastic that is, so read it either way (/s)]
Wasn't trying to be sarcastic haha. The above clip is an example of poor technique and a mental mistake, that he made up for with an athletic dive. That play was not an indictment of his speed.
I meant I was not sure how sarcastic I was being in light of the previous technique critique. The long version of what I was trying to communicate is - He had technique errors, including getting caught looking in, that caused him to give up space to the receivers, which makes it look like he lacked the speed to keep up with them, but he obviously has the speed to keep us evidenced by being able to make up the ground to make the play above.
I hate to copy a gif already used on this page but...
via GIPHY
As of late last season, Alexander had given up the highest comp % of anyone in the ACC. Facyson was the best.
Small sample size, I guess.
Facyson's comp% against him was excellent, I thoroughly enjoyed those corner stats David Hale would post occasionally throughout the season, not always easy to find that data.
Facyson was unreal in that NC State game. Looked like he did as a freshman. I hope he can return to that form.
Versus Tulsa, Alexander completely shut down there top guy Keyarris Garrett. Then he made an alignment error and Bud moved Facyson to Garrett. Facyson also had excellent coverage, but Garrett started making plays.
Facyson is clearly the starter at corner, be it boundary or field, if 100% healthy. But he isn't healthy for spring practice. Alexander has the ability to be the same kind of player, maybe better, at the corner spot. As I noted in my review from UVA, Alexander made two of the biggest plays of the game on snaps where he initially busted his technique. That shows me range, balls skills, and big time athleticism. Meanwhile, some of the other options at corner time and again did everything right and then lost the battle for 50/50 balls. To me, you have Alexander as the high risk high reward corner and let him spend all his time there so the technique busts become fewer and farther between.
Then, if Facyson is healthy, you have someone who can plug right in and be prepared to play if someone gets hurt.
There are so many ways this can go, but we aren't having this conversation if CJ Reavis was still in the program. That domino combined with the lack of depth really screwed things up and it will take awhile (and successful development of Alleyne, Floyd, and Quillen to be contributors- a 100% hit rate is tough) before things get back on track. Right now, Bud has to rob Peter to pay Paul just to get experienced bodies at every position.
TAKA TANAKA ALWAYS GETS UP VOTES
Red Rover Red Rover, send Chuck Clark on over
I would be much more comfortable with Mook at the field and Stroman at nickel
I dunno, nickel requires getting in there with tight ends and coming up in run support against bigger guys. While FC does have some run/screen support responsibilities, I definitely want my smallest guys as far outside as possible.
Fair points but I still recall Stroman struggled way more against bigger receivers compared to bigger slower tight ends. I could have that wrong since I'm just going off memory. Plus I think both Mook and Stroman are good tacklers.
That's true, and he's going to have to contend with bigger receivers for jump balls outside. Who knows? Maybe Bud will go back to some of his more exotic zone packages and make it a moot point.
Or, perhaps, a Mook point?
YEAAAAHHHHHHHHHH
Can wetalk (more) about the clip of the UVA fan celebrating behind the endzone Lane Kiffin style... then utter TERRORsad Hoos are the best Hoos
Edited after seeing somebody already pointed out her reaction
Tickets to Lane Stadium North, 10 bucks in the parking lot pregame, hot dog and coke inside LSN, 10 bucks as well, seeing hope for loluva football turn into disappointment and dejection.....priceless!
Her reactions:
YES
YES
YES
YES
AWWWWW
... what exactly is that guard doing to make her so terrified?