Physical TE Lecitus Smith Brings His Blocking Expertise to the Hokies' 2017 Class

With a tight end/wide receiver hybrid like Bucky Hodges on the roster and a pair of athletic TE prospects already committed as part of the 2017 class, outside observers might get the idea that the Hokies prefer nontraditional players at the position.

Then, they earned a commitment from 2017er Lecitus Smith out of Fitzgerald (Ga.) HS, showing there's still a place for a hefty, blocking-focused TE in Justin Fuente's offense.

"You see a lot of tight ends today that are really more flex wide receiver-type guys, but he's one of the more traditional on the line of scrimmage type guys that likes to put his hands on ya, likes to drive you out of the box and do those type of things," Jason Strickland, Smith's head coach at Fitzgerald, told The Key Play. "But he does run good routes, and he's got good hands. He isn't afraid to catch a football."

Indeed, even though Smith boasts a larger frame than the type of speedy TEs that are in vogue among college offenses these days — he currently stands at roughly 6'5" and 260 pounds — he still expects to be playing tight end when he makes it to Blacksburg.

"They want me at tight end," Smith said. "We had that conversation and actually, when I went to visit (TEs coach James Shibest) was showing me different schemes they do with tight ends and how they have two to three tight ends in the game at a time, and everything like that, so they are recruiting me as a tight end."

But even though he'll be playing at TE, Smith says it's no secret that blocking is his forte.

"I feel like that's where I definitely have an advantage, because I can block very well," Smith said.

Strickland agrees wholeheartedly, noting that Fitzgerald has relied on Smith's blocking skills to power the offense the last few years.

"We're a team that has traditionally run the football a lot, so he's been relied upon a lot," Strickland said. "In our offense, being able to set the edge at tight end (makes him) maybe the most important guy we have, and he's been tremendous at that for us."

Yet Strickland notes that he hasn't always been that kind of force on the line.

"He came into our program as a long, lanky freshman, kind of uncoordinated, but he really worked himself into a really good football player," Strickland said. "As a sophomore about midway through the season we had a senior tight end who got injured, so we pulled Lecitus up from our JV team and he wound up starting in a really big region game for us. We won the game and he played extremely well, and he's been starting for us ever since then."

As Smith developed, he eventually caught Shibest's eye in late February, prompting the Hokies to offer him in March. They convinced him to make his first visit to Blacksburg for the team's spring game, and it clearly made an impression on him.

"From the moment I got there, I felt right at home," Smith said. "I felt like it was the place for me, and when I went to visit, I felt pretty good being there. It was just the place for me, and I felt pretty good about it."

After that visit, Strickland suspects that "he knew he wanted to go to Virginia Tech for quite some time, but he just wanted to find the right time to commit." But once he did decide to pull the trigger on June 15, Smith says he made Shibest his very first call.

"He was very excited and I gave him the good news and he was really happy," Smith said. "He was happy I made that decision and got me on the phone with the head coach, Coach Fuente, and he was excited as well."

Smith notes that, since he's committed, Shibest has assured him that he'll be a TE at the next level. Strickland doesn't fault him at all for pushing for that opportunity, though he does think another path could present itself.

"I've told him more than once that I thought his big time ticket was at tackle," Strickland said. "But he's told me, and told Coach Shibest and Fuente, that he'll play wherever they want him, but said, 'If you're gonna ask me where I want to play, I want a shot at tight end.' So he's just a guy that wants to come in and try to help the program out."

All that being said, Strickland thinks that Smith may have no choice but to make a switch at some point.

"I could see him getting up there in their program, steady diet, steady place to sleep, their weight training program and nutrition program, all of a sudden, he'll be 290, 295 by accident," Strickland said. "He's just a really, really long kid, he's got extremely long arms, so he could hold another 30, 35 pounds easily, I think...And if that happens, he'd be open to it."

But before he gets to Tech and has to grapple with those questions, Strickland expects that Smith will get plenty of chances to hone his receiving skills between now and then.

"We'd like to be able to throw the football a little bit more, and we're going to need him to be involved with that and our expectation is he probably needs to be our leading receiver this year, and he's a guy that can get us down the field and get first downs and move the chains for us," Strickland said. "And he can be more of a threat catching balls down in the red zone, those type things. But he's a guy that jumps pretty well, he's got good length, so down in that area I think he could be a pretty doggone good threat catching the football. "

Smith expects that he "probably" won't enroll early at Tech, so he'll have plenty more time with Strickland to work on those skills. Between "summer workouts and going to camps," he said Strickland is keeping him plenty busy this summer, so he's unsure when he'll return to Tech, but he's hoping it won't be too long.

"I'll definitely talk to my coach about it, and hopefully I'll be able to get back up there soon," Smith said.

But when he does get back, there's plenty on his agenda in terms of things he wants to see.

"I'm just ready to see the full effect," Smith said. "The dorm room I'll be staying in, the classes I'll be having, I think I'll be more comfortable when I get a chance to see all those things."

Yet, more than anything else, Strickland thinks Smith is anxious to seize the opportunity a Tech scholarship affords him.

"He's a kid that comes from really a tough home life, a good family, but very underprivileged and I think he kinda understands that this is an opportunity for him to change some backgrounds for him, and he's excited about it," Strickland said. "I think he's very, very excited about going up and being a Hokie."