According to an article on 247Sports yesterday (by Evan Watkins), Virginia Tech quarterback commit Hendon Hooker was bumped up from a three-star prospect to a four-star prospect ( rating of 90) in their (247Sports) rankings. Drake Deiuliis (rating of 93) and Dalton Keene(rating of 92) have also been bumped up to 4-star recruits by 247 prior to yesterday. If other services reevaluate them these VT commits may see their composites rise to a 4-star status. If this were to happen then the VT recruiting class would receive a boost and the glass could be called half-full instead of half empty.
Hooker now ranks as the nation's 8th best dual-threat quarterback and the number 251st best overall prospect in the nation according to 247Sports.
247Sports now ranks Deiuliis as a four-star prospect with a numerical rating of a 93 and is the number 169th overall prospect in the nation. Deiuliis joins Dalton Keene (at 177th) in the Top 247.
Comments
Awesome news. Will be interesting to see the team take shape
in this new era.
During Justine Fuente's tenure at TCU this play was known as "Purple Cheetos". The "cheetos" play is very similar to how many spread teams are using the quarterback as a between-the-tackles runner (Dash), when the passer isn't the most gifted ball carrier. In 2009 alone, OC Fuente called this play 40 times for a total net of 400 yards. Look for him to use it a lot at VT with his D-T QBs not because Evans or Motley are not good ball carriers but because it can have devastating effects on opposing defenses. Evans is actually exceptional in my estimation. This play is much like zone-read and actually works better when your offensive line is struggling with blocking stretch. This is simply a 3x1 (power) zone read, "run backwards". The back will run his stretch course (aiming at the hip of the tight end), but the offensive line will block power. This action provides a dual-threat, optioning off the playside defensive end.
If the DE gets upfield, the QB goes upfield (keep).
If the DE squats or squeezes, the QB gives.
The severe angle of stretch angle (perimeter threat), the playside linebacker will usually fast flow with the defensive end, creating the wide path for the quarterback to run inside.
Where the defense comes into conflict is not just with the defensive end (C gap defender), but also the safety. Because the horizontal stretch becomes so great (one true inside threat plus a wide perimeter threat), the alley defender can be put into a bind as to the proper path to take on this action.
The beauty of this play is that there really are no additional concepts to be taught to the players (you're just combining power and stretch) and it can be applied to Wildcat looks simply by changing the player taking the snap. The offensive line will simply down block into their inside gap-track, with the backside guard pulling for the play side linebacker (he'll end up picking up the first man that shows on give).
So pumped for Hendon to get here.
more hookers, the better
Can never have enough hookers
I agree. Hooker completed 127 of his 198 passes (64%) for 2,234 yards and 17 touchdown passes in his junior season. He added 1,217 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns on 122 carries (9.9+ YPC). I think that he has earned moving to a four-star ranking. He has notable offers from both Notre Dame and Clemson that he passed on to commit to the Hokies. He is suited for the read option spread. Clemson and Notre Dame operate out of spread offenses, also. I think he is sort of made out of the spread QB-DT template that Fuente is looking to bring to Blacksburg. He is not near as fast as Vick though.
I really hope we can have an offense that can succeed without needing a Vick like talent under center.
No problem he can still be the savior of the "Hokie Universe."
via GIPHY
now if the 247 recruiting team rankings would update themselves to reflect a new ranking for us i'd like to see where we stand post-Garbutt decommitment
45th in the Composite rankings, 32nd in 247's rankings.
I'd prefer if they get bumped DOWN, lest Clemson, Bama, UNC and others come looking to poach talent that VT evaluated early.
Then everyone will say "VT is terrible at recruiting", right before we smack them up
I agree. Once they commit, they don't need more stars.
I prefer other teams forget about them until those teams are getting punched in the mouth on the field, and they say "Who ARE those guys?".
So when is Bama's offer coming in the mail?
Well he isn't a 5 star, so I think we are safe.
I think the 5th star comes attached to the Alabama or Ohio State offer.
Our recruiting class did not change. Our recruits did not get better. I can see getting a little more faith in our coaches ability to judge talent, which is good. I would love this is if would quiet the "we suck because we can't recruit and will not get better because we hired coaches that can't recruit" debate, but other than that its not doing much for me either way. Do 4*'s build more recruiting momentum than 3*s and help get other 17 year olds to pick us even though the players did not change?
Maybe if it helps those guys get picked for the under armour and army all america games. Then it puts VT on a national stage. I don't know how those teams are picked
Yes...for the hundreds time yes. Time and time again it is proven that recruiting at a higher star average will yield success.
Obviously we don't know how these recruits will perform, so changing thier ratings now won't change them, but it is at least indicating that the coaches are looking at guys that should produce.
Right and his point was that the ire directed at the coaches for recruiting average players was premature.
all of them are still consensus 3 stars. I like keene a lot and think hooker has a lot of potential but a 90 grade on 247 is a 3 star anywhere else (ford and durkin ring a bell for other 90 ranked qbs). I think most people realize there is some talent in this class there are also quite a few reaches/projects at the lower end of the spectrum and the inability to get any of VA's top talent is troublesome.
I wouldn't call the lower spectrum guys projects per say. Guys like Smith and Pimpleton aren't well rounded players but they have very specific traits that are elite. Fuente has a plan for those skill sets.
Our Virginia troubles is definitely worrying though. I don't know how that gets fixed
Winning......a end of the year bowl game or better gets us back recruiting VA in '18..
..Is the door closed with Garbutt?
No. And 247 crystal balls show 4* Devon Hunter as a heavy VT lean. He is in Blacksburg today. They also rank him as the #1 recruit in VA. Obviously there is serious speculation about 4* Capehart right now too.
They are all tweeting/re-tweeting each other which again goes to show that big time recruits do talk and do influence each other to a degree.
Hooker is 4-star talent straight up. He was the top QB on Notre Dame's board and Brian Kelly told him to his face that he wouldn't take another QB in his class if Hooker committed. Then Hooker picks VT and Notre Dame grabs a 4-star QB from TX. Again, the offer sheet is just as important and Brian Kelly had Hooker on par or ahead of a 4* himself....
Look, I think its awesome that we're loading up on offensive talent like this, but I can't help but feel like there is this defensive void that seems to be growing.
I, for one, embrace our new Offense as overlord.
The quote. The gif. Level-up sir.
I wouldn't call it a void, but I do see what you're getting at. However, I think it's more of a masterplan to front load the offense for two cycles to get as many playmakers as possible and then even back out.
I imagine the convo going something like this:
Fuente: So that's the plan. I can get our Offense there but I need a bit of time. And I need our defense to keep kicking ass. You think that's possible?
Foster:
Fuente: uh... Bud Foster
Foster:
I hope so. I just have seen the defensive play start to show cracks the last couple years, and it makes me very uneasy to see us not really addressing many of these areas right now. I completely get the need to load up quickly on offense, but recruiting has never been a zero sum game, and we have guys who specialize in recruiting offense and we have guys who specialize in recruiting defense, and I'm kind of wondering where the defensive work is going, especially while we're seeing some of the ones we do get in absolute placed of need eventually decommit.
yeah, I agree with you there. I think the last couple seasons have really dragged on the defense. We went from stout, to bend not break, to bend and break sometimes, to what the fuck just happened against Tulsa?
Ultimately though I think the greatest damage done was on offense, and I think Fuente is more confident he can win football games when he has the offense he wants with a shaky defense than with an offense that is not up to par and a great defense.
Being able to score actual physical points this year will definitely be a nice breath of fresh air. But I just get the feeling we're in for a lot of 35-31 type shootouts. Which, hey, at least would be fun to watch, despite the stress involved.
(yes, I do realize I just chose 2 scores that are fairly average nationally for the definition of a shootout.... says something about how good our defense has been and how bad the offense has been all these years)
Would be an interesting change from our 3-6 shootouts...
Yeah I'll take the stress involved with 35-31 over the frustration/stress that comes with 3-6. What I'd really prefer is a lot of 38-0
Can it at least be 6-3....lol....it's still frustrating either way but at least we win.....
Sure can't argue with that. A leg to make it so.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry y'all.
I really tried to resist
That is about the funniest dam thing I've read this week.
Apparently, Garbutt was back on campus this weekend for the Blacksburg Bash. Thoughts on that anyone? Any relation to the "announcement coming soon" alluded to in Fuente's cryptic Tweet?
Seems like he may have decommitted to avoid dealing with his coach during the season. Hopefully he realizes VT is where he wants to be at the end of the day.
soooooooo..... when is their decommit date?
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I kid :)
as if we're not going through enough already
3 4* recruits at this point ain't half bad. I predict 3 more before signing day.
That's cool, but until we get a 6-star or better, I won't be happy.
#ALLTHESTARS
And then, there's the ever-elusive, precious rarity, infinity star:
So... just a fair warning... do not google "infinity star" in front of children or at work. I learned the hard way.
just got home....now switching to private browsing....
just out of curiosity, I googled it on my phone and got nothing NSFW. So not sure what you're referring to?
I also googled it on my phone. I didn't see anything NSFW, until I switched to "Images". I then had to stifle my laughter as to not arouse suspicion.
i see what you did there...
i looked again and saw what you saw...I have to admit, not what I was expecting.
Throwback Michael Vick commercial
Ha! I remember this. Thanks for the blast from the past
This is what I'm maintaining hot status all summer on two different Chipotle Chiptopia rewards cards for. Kinda my ace in the hole for this class.
Did no one tell you Chicrapole is losing business. Moe's is where it's at.
Team Moe's! There may be dozens of us!!
We recently got a Moe's up here, right around the corner from my house. Chipotle is downtown State College which is a pain in the ass to drive around and park, so I go to Moe's on the occasion. Like.
I have nothing against Moe's. I think the quality is a notch below Chipotle, but its also usually a little cheaper, and I can appreciate that. However, the coupons and promotions Chipotle has been offering in a desperate attempt to bring back customers have been really, really good. I feel like every other time I've eaten there this summer has been for free. And I imagine the risk of getting sick from it is an all time low right now because of the scrutiny they're under. Also, there are no Moe's in my area.
See I was actually borderline offended by the chipotle summer promotion. I would have participated if the points could roll over month to month or if getting four burritos for my family could count for four points. I'm normally a sucker for chipotle promotions but this one was not structured for people like me who might be able to afford going there once every two weeks.
That said, you won't catch me in moe's. 20% cheaper than chipotle, 75% worse quality. But, um, yeah, free stale chips and gross salsa. Woohoo
I like Moe's, and sometimes I'm in the mood for it. However, I think objective it's difficult to argue that the quality of the food at chiptole isn't notably superior to Moe's.
I think we need to test this theory. You guys go buy the food and I'll eat it and let you in on my findings. It's all for science, of course.
Moe's is a second rate knockoff of Willie's
Amen. Glad someone brought up Willie's.
What/where is Willies? Do you mean Willy's in ATL?
At least he's not a DE, we might actually keep him committed.
Thanks for the critique on food, all. I'll have to remember this next time I'm in the mood for some Southwest fare. Personally, I prefer Neato Burrito........and the Hokies D. GO BUD!
Looks like Tyjuan Garbutt was on the VT campus this weekend. Would anyone like to speculate on Fuente's tweet about a big announcement in the near future? Looks like Foster and Wiles retweeted it, also. Whatever it is probably has something to do with the defense.
So we can add Pokemon Go to Frozen as ways to actually get LOLUVa fans into Scott Stadium?
Well, it is the only place to catch the wahoo version of
douchizarddouchemanderThere is a certain resemblance...
(Yes I know charmander and charizard are different, just go with it)
I can't believe that jerk left Charmander out on that rock during the rain all night.
Dude... trigger warning next time! That's some serious stuff.
Sure why not? It would be a "zero sum game", some will attend but not to watch the game. They could be good placeholders. Nevermind they all look like they just came from Comic con.
Obligatory "More fans than at their spring game"
True and up vote for you my man, except they didn't even have a spring game at lolUVA this past spring. I believe it more like a slip and slide in zima and meet and greet, Bronco. Woooh
TE Lecitus Smith's stock was upgraded as well, per Evan Watkins of 247sports. Smith is still a 3-star, but his numeric rating jas gone up to 84, moving him into the top 1000 nationally, and top 50 in TEs.
Florida QB Treon Harris granted release and tranferring came out today. Any rumors on where?
does Syracuse need a QB? Otherwise, I don't think he's going anywhere we have to be worried about.
I could see him going to Miami, to take over when Kaaya goes pro
According to a recent article on the subject ECU has expressed interest. Florida can block certain schools. I know Florida State is one.
Sorry if I missed this, but why aren't the profiles of the recruits updated with the new star count?
The answer lies with what has been discussed that 247Sports has increased their points accessed for some of our recruits. In three cases that I know of that has made the recruits go from 3-star recruits to 4-star recruits. 247 does run the composite but only makes up usually 1/4 of the score that goes into computing the average. If the other 3 or whatever number of recruiting groups would do a similar thing then the overall average would increase more. Most of the recruits are evaluated by 4 services but not all. That can vary. For example, a problem that Dalton Keene has is that he has score of 92 with 247Sports but a 74 with ESPN's Scout. You can well see the dilemma. That alone gives him an 83.
So this means we have several four stars that will never show up because everyone now relies on a composite rather than their own rankings. Did I get that right ? Why would a service not just post their own rankings, no confidence in their own judgement ? Think this is somewhat dumb founding new revelation to me, but good to know. :--(
They post both. You can filter to one or the other, but they tend to use the composite rating as their default since it takes into consideration multiple sites. 247 seems to give out more 4 stars than any other service and their 90 ranking is generally a 3 star everywhere else.
I'd love to know what you're basing this off of. Last year I went through the sites and ESPN easily gave out the most.
True looks like espn gave out almost 1100. I don't bother using their site compared to rivals or 247.
In an article tying VT to Treon Harris, Virginia Tech is listed in top 5 on the list of schools Treon Harris (Florida) might make as a transfer destination. Seems like a big "if" with his problems off the field that Fuente would even consider him. It concerns me that Fuente seems so equivocal about Evans and Motley and there is an impending announcement in the near future. I hope it is an unrelated coincidence. Here is the article if anyone is interested in the read.
http://fansided.com/2016/07/25/5-transfer-destinations-treon-harris/2/
Apparently any division 1 program Treon Harris transfers to means he sits out for a year. He would then have 2 years eligibility remaining after that.
Consider. The. Source. FanSided is an SEO noble house among the crap-site kingdoms and clickbait empire. The author is some dude named John Buhler. He's not some reputable investigative sports journalist. You'd be served well to ignore everything published there.
When has Fuente been equivocal about Evans and Motley? He's given the same answer to every reporter who has asked him about the quarterback competition. Evans and Motley lead the competition. And he wants a QB who can make average plays and deliver expected outcomes. Read Koma's interview with Fu: http://www.thekeyplay.com/virginia-tech-football/2016/05/12056/justin-fu.... If he named a started on Tuesday, there wouldn't be a competition. He's pushing the players. This is a good thing.
The impending announcements are recruiting (2017, 2018) related.
Go outside and breathe some fresh air.
Here's an update on Treon from someone more likely in the know: http://florida.247sports.com/Bolt/Sources-Treon-Harris-garnering-interes....
.