Virginia Tech certainly made a statement on the recruiting trail Thursday. The Hokies bookended their second spring practice with a pair of verbal commitments; one expected, the other out of left field (at least among recruitniks).
Quarterback Hendon Hooker announced for Tech during a planned ceremony at his high school earlier in the day. Meanwhile, fellow 2017-cycle recruit — linebacker Aundre Kearney — needed just a handful of characters and a few emojis to make his pledge.
Officially committed to Virginia Tech it's lit see y'all boys come january 904540 #HokieNation pic.twitter.com/tFqCOSOWzm— Aundre R. Kearney (@D1Dre7) March 25, 2016
@HenBoss2 wassup bro congrats on the commitment lets get it— Aundre R. Kearney (@D1Dre7) March 25, 2016
The 247Sports Composite rates Kearney as a 3-star prospect. The 6-0, 215 pound Mandarin HS (Jacksonville, FL) product originally committed to Miami on June 9, 2015, but decommitted on February 12.
pic.twitter.com/DvHMDlqITw— Aundre R. Kearney (@D1Dre7) March 9, 2016
I asked French for a quick analysis of his highlights.
Projects as a whip; good bend, contorts his body to the football; very productive; doesn't look big on film; drapes himself onto runners instead of putting them into the dirt; body keeps moving and moving to the football; play at 2:04 is impressive, gets off blockers to the back and envelopes him down.
Comments
Sweet! 2 commits in the same day! This is something I could get used to
Gotta love getting Florida kids up here. We're the biggest offer right now though so hopefully FSU/UF don't get in the mix later on
another Miami decommit into a VT commit. love it--welcome to Hokie Nation, Aundre Kearney!
Stealing recruiticorns from another ACC team is always a good thing, especially in their home state!
Just to be clear, he decommitted from Miami before he committed to Tech. It wasn't a flip. He committed to Miami's old staff.
Welcome Aundre, thanks for staying away from the scUM and Criminoles.
Damn. Bend and pursuit. Has the techniques down just needs a little bulking up. 2 Years and then starting
Seems to be listed as a LB/RB. Are we recruiting him as one or the other?
Looks like a natural runner on film although I'm no expert.
I'm hoping LB. We really need to develop depth and bring in some talent at LB.
I have a feeling that Fuente will be able to get some good RBs.
I concur. Why can't he play RB, again?
Man, his speed is very impressive! Catching the dude on the sideline run looked great.
certainty has some swagger! I know that doesn't mean hes a great player. but I cant tell you how much I miss the excitement and emotion from our D the last couple of years. and boy does he get excited after every play he makes that stuff is contagious and I want to get back to being the flying around in your face attitude disrespectful defense that we used to be!
Poster child for "flying around in your face attitude disrespectful defense"
I was just scrollin' down, skimming comments, and then, BOOM! Pooped my pants.
I like it but, it feels weird.
It's all going according to plan, perfectly.....
via GIPHY
He's always gonna be linked to a Hooker, though....
With all due respect to French, I'm hoping the coaching staff projects him - correctly - as something other than a whip. Projecting a kid as a whip these days is only slightly better than projecting them as a long-snapper.
Without intending to, I have started to react the same way to finding out a recruit projects as a whip, or moving a former recruit I was excited about to whip. The whips' presence has been largely absent or insignificant recently. However, Shegog's use late in the season may signal something of an resurgence for the position.
From another post sounds like he wants to be a backer
Sounds like he was a backer in a similar
offensedefense in HS and was told by the staff that they see him at the same position at VT.I have to admit I haven't watched the film yet.
I want to hear more about this offense he played backer in. Maybe Brad & Bud can use it to our advantage, some sort of hybrid where we convert our own turnovers into points. Were any of our offensive staff former DCs?
/s
I like the way you think...most people wouldn't get what I was getting at. The offensive backer position is indeed a unique hybrid role similar to the deep tackle.
Most coaching staffs would have trouble adapting to these roles, but I do believe Foster et al can turn what seem like insurmountable challenges into VT strengths.
The defense usually doesn't account for the offensive Backer
You can't use et al! You haven't introduced them yet!! /s
Is that what Kyle Fuller played in the GT game, where he was technically on defense but started each play in the offensive backfield? 'Cause I liked that.
Felt like we used an awful lot of whip last year. I remember seeing VanDyke and Shegog on the field quite a bit, and I'd imagine that would continue if we keep moving towards Bear concepts.
Right he does not run through his tackles.