2017 RB Jalen Holston of Stockbridge (Ga.) may be a few months away from joining the Hokies, but it seems his explosiveness has the coaching staff itching to get him on board already.
Holston's Dec. 8 commitment comes at a time of extreme uncertainty for the team's stable of running backs, and as the first running back Justin Fuente's signed since arriving in Blacksburg, he feels that the coaches are very ready to see how he might fit in the offense.
"Basically, they see me as a home-run touchdown threat," Holston told The Key Play. "When I get the ball, they want me to score. And they want me to make a difference in the passing game, they want me to get in there and be the home-run back for them."
That sort of explosiveness was sorely lacking among Tech's running backs in 2016, and there's no guarantee that Fuente will trust one of the players currently on the roster as the lead back next season.
After all, 2015 breakout star Travon McMillian earned just 13 carries in the team's last three games, while Shai McKenzie hasn't touched the ball since early October. Marshawn Williams is facing the possibility of yet another lost season after yet another knee injury, while Deshawn McClease has spent the year sidelined with an upper extremity injury of his own.
With Sam Rogers graduating, D.J. Reid, Steven Peoples, and Coleman Fox are the only other runners left on the roster, and it seems highly unlikely that they'll ever become feature backs for the Hokies.
That leaves Holston in prime position to step in and impress as a true freshman, and he seems well aware of that fact. But, for now, he's taking things slow.
"They think I can make a very good impact, but I'm going to have to earn the job when I come up there," Holston said.
But Holston chose the Hokies for more than just the chance for early playing time. He's visited Blacksburg several times over the course of the year, most recently taking his official visit for the team's big win against UVA, and he ended up feeling exceedingly comfortable with Southwest Virginia.
"It was the right situation for me, the right place for me," Holston said. "It was home."
He said he ended up deciding on Tech for sure the week after his official, and gave the Hokies the news by calling up Fuente and RBs coach Zohn Burden.
"They were very excited, they said it was the best news they'd received all day," Holston said.
The only bit of bad news Holston had for the Hokies was that he wouldn't be able to enroll early, as he'd originally planned. He wasn't able to land one of the classes he needed to take to graduate early, so he won't be joining Tech until July.
Luckily for Holston, Fuente and Burden didn't seem too worried about that development.
"I talked to Coach Burden and Coach Fuente about it, and they were like, 'Don't even stress it,' it'll be fine if I come in the summer," Holston said.
But he doesn't plan on losing touch with the Hokies in between then and now. He's already planning a trip for the spring game, and he expects that won't be his only return to Blacksburg before he joins the team.
"I'll be there a couple times before July 8," Holston said.
Comments
For some reason I can see this guy in a miami uniform...I hope it's just my being paranoid.
My first thought on looking at that photo was we are getting a Miami transfer?.
I want the same thing.
Looks real good. Decent speed, good vision finding holes, but where I was most impressed was his balance through contact. He took a lot of hits in his film and always kept moving forward and dealing with new contact.
Yes, he looks like a real stud, great speed, decent strength, inside and outside threat, and even decent receiving skills. My only concern, and it might be a little bit on the knit-picking side, is that he runs through the hole a little too upright. But I said the same thing about Kevin Jones, so what do I know. I'm sure if that's a real concern to our coaching staff, they'll address it. But he looks like a great find who could make an immediate impact. If anything, let him return kicks his freshman year, cause we need a threat back there when Stroman is absent, although CJ Carroll looks like he has some untapped potential there also.
Stroman is a hokie and i love him, really impressed me on D this year. But i couldn't help but think almost every return by any other player seemed more successful than stromans', including carroll.
Stroman was 30th in the country with 8.8 yards per punt return, higher than Carroll, and even only playing 10 games this season he had more returns than the majority of guys above him (good defense) which probably brought his average down some. He also ran a punt back and doesn't muff punts. He is clearly, by all measures, the better return option. I'm not dealing with this nonsense again.
I wonder if some of the dislike is carryover from last year where he would dance around and run backwards. I was VERY pleased with Stroman's punt returning this year.
Are we talking about punt returns or kick returns?
He's easily the most dangerous punt returner. But teams seem to punt high (and thus a little short) to him to keep him from getting the ball in space. One thing Stroman isn't is a guy who's going to break many tackles.
As for kick returns, I think Murphy and Greene are better KR's, but they need to protect the ball.
Facts. Boom. Stop hatin' on Hokies, Hokies! Mic drop.
Is 30th best in the country really a number worth bragging about, I mean it could definitely be worse but still I dont hear much bragging when were ranked 30th as a team? He is also 84th on kick returns, we bragging about this number too?
Sorry to cause you such distress in "dealing with this again" your highness. If this has been a common complaint then perhaps its because theres some validity to it.
As for the comments below about hating on hokies, well lets just say "I'm not dealing with this again". Implying that perhaps other players on the team seem like they could be better options than 30th and 84th best seems like pretty mild hatred, especially when the comment starts with [hes a hokie, I love him, and hes impressed me at his starting position this year]
Some of yall need some life causes to fight for or something, jeez. I'll just go back to not commenting now.
I think there is a legitimate discussion between Stro and Carroll. One could say that Stro is high risk/reward whereas Carroll is more dependable at getting the yards available. One could also note that one 87 yard return skews Stro's stats and that Carroll may have broken one if he was PR earlier in the year against bad teams (Carroll only had one return vs UVA before getting hurt).
And I don't think there is any argument that Murphy is the better KO returner. Shibest seemed to allude to this in the last week when he said something about finding the right guy on KO returns.
I love Stro, I liked him at CB even last year and I appreciate his improvement at PR this year. But Carroll is pretty good too and might be better overall if given the same opportunities.
There is certainly validity to the mob mentality that developed against him last year creating confirmation bias that has skewed people's view of him this season.
His ability to take care of the football is currently unmatched by any other returner we have. He has also produced two punt return touchdowns, that speaks volumes to his talent. You can argue that someone else "could" do it, but we know for a fact that Stroman can do it and has done it more than once.
Really no need for this personal shot, clearly directed at me. There are many things in life I care more about than football, and I do devote a lot of thought, energy, and discussion to those matters. But one of the things I try to do in regards to football is protect young men, playing football for our enjoyment, from unnecessary and inaccurate criticism. Too many grown ass men spouting off about 18-22 year olds when they actually don't know shit about football.
Actually, my first quote there was directed at you (clearly) and the other at others who commented below (clearly). But thank goodness you were there to protect that player on OUR team who I obviously wish to destroy. /s
Seriously, please re-read my initial comment and tell me whats actually wrong with it. I even presented it with an "I think" to which you responded with the whole "nonsense youre not dealing with" thing. Then you bring up 30th on PRs and I bring up 84th on KRs. Just based on those metrics alone is my argument really that dismissable?Furthermore to be written off as an assault (or whatever you would call it) on our player? Do we even have the yardage of our other players to compare it to? (I havent been able to find it I assume because of too few returns to qualify).
I apparently missed out on the mob of last year because I never commented about it before this, but I say again it seemed like almost every return fielded by any other player on our team went further than when stroman did other than the one big return when he was wearing 25 (and that was awesome). If you have the other players average return numbers and they are lower I will absolutely yeild that my eye test is wrong. But im guessing you dont. Otherwise Ill stick to my "I think" opinion that was respectfully voiced and I guess you can stick to being the captain america to my red skull seeking to destroy all the hokies I am a fan of.
For the record, I've never argued he should be the kick returner. I think he is our best option at punt returner for sure, but Murphy, Greene, whoever they want to put on kick return is fine with me.
To clarify, the "I'm not dealing with this nonsense again" was more of my general frustration with the narrative, which has been fleshed out many times in the past.
So here is my complete stance, I believe Stroman has been our best option at PR because he takes care of the football and has shown the game breaking ability to make the big play. I think these qualities in a punt returner are more valuable than always gaining a few positive yards. That said, he showed marked improvement in his ypr average this year, as he has lost yards less frequently. That was the area where most people were most upset with him last year, and the numbers help illustrate that he has addressed that weakness/criticism of his game.
I see, I was speaking in general as far as returns (KR and PR). Perhaps I took your general frustration (im not dealing...) too personally as an infrequent commenter and for that I apologize for the "highness" response. You are clearly a hokie, and one of class and honor. If ever we meet I will buy you a beer. Just to clarify I am not being sarcastic in this comment. Has TKP invented a not being sarcastic sign yet?
Sounds good to me!
PR & KR stats are fairly meaningless. Just for starters, you can have 1 or 2 great returns and be absolutely brutal the rest of year (see Knowles, Jeremy) and have a decent mean average. Or, as I said earlier, teams can choose to punt high and short to minimize a dangerous returner making a big play at the risk of giving up an extra 5 yrds of field position.
A better way to judge a punt returner might be net punt gain by the opposition.
Stroman turned it around this year. I think the new special teams coach told him it was unacceptable to go sideways or back to start a return. Go forward even if you are only going to get 2 yards.
Reminds me of David Wilson.,. His balance and running style.
Bummer he won't be in for Spring. Anyone know if past freshman contributors like Shai, Marshawn, Ryan Williams, Darren Evans, etc were able to make the impact they did with only the summer to prepare?
Williams (unbelievably) and Evans both redshirted.
Daaaamnit I miss Ryan Williams.
Edited:
My bad, I'll take my personal grudges elsewhere.
Yeah, his cousin lived on my hall and he [Williams] would leave trash everywhere.
You have a problem with him leaving broken tackles all over the place? Oh, wait, I assumed you were talking about football. Never mind, silly me.
That's one way to describe the UVa defense
Williams was redshirted for not being able to pass block well enough.
Pumped for some new talent to arrive. Gotta say the times I saw Fox run
the ball in the spring game, he was impressive.
The guy is blowing everyone away but he doesn't really look fast / quick. Maybe it is just me.
It was the 3:00 mark of the video before he got tackled. I was beginning to wonder if he got tackled all year. Definitely a "get him the ball in space" kind of guy.
I hope we are also talking to the kid who ran him down at 3:40.
He sure has some speed to his game. I do wonder his tackle breaking abilities, seeing as how he wasn't even touched until about 1:23 into the video, but the vast majority of his highlights are plays when he reaches the second level untouched. There was a real good sequence at 2:20 in that showed him shedding a few near the goal line, which is promising, but knowing how our blocking was this year, I'm not sure how much he'll be able to rely on pure speed at Tech. That said, you get him the ball in space, and he'll torch a defense. Have to wonder if there's potential to maybe moving him out to slot receiver, at least until our blocking improves.
I'm going to guess 0% considering we are bringing in Cape, Savoy and Pimp who are more natural slot guys. And even if one moves to corner, they're all still competing with Carroll too.
Maybe you have seen a lot more of Reid and Fox than the rest of us. I'v heard some good things about both. But is it really "highly unlikely" that one of them plays a lot next year? Peoples has looked really good at times, I don't think you can rule him out just yet. I have two main thoughts on this subject.
1. Under Fuente, we may never again have a true "feature back" like the ones we've known in the past.
2. It is much less likely, in this offense, that we will see a true Freshman, with no Spring ball, play a significant role in their first season.
Edit: spelling sorry
Haven't seen much of Reid myself, but I wasn't overwhelmed by what I saw vs a worn-down, morale thrashed Hoo D.
Hope I'm wrong.
Agreed, the word plodded comes to mind. Maybe H-back or DE could be a better match for his physical skills.
But he's not Bo Scarborough.
The young man looks very good, and VT sure will need him. and for those that think Peoples can't run or carry the Load, I got news for ya, He can if given the chance. Fuente likes him and I see him being in a lot of plays next year. Blocks well, catches the ball and will truck you if need be. Holston gives VT that Darren Evans type runner with more speed.
I loved how DE always fell forward, was never a "dancer".
Obligatory
I know I'm being greedy, but every time I see this I wish he had taken it to the house, to add the cherry on top.
Not only running the ball but I like his effort when blocking. I rewatched the loluva game and noticed repeatedly him being very aggressive when blocking. I liked it.
Steven, is that you?
Don't we call him The Peoples Champion for exactly this reason?
I, for one, have considered Peoples to be our current version of Darren Evans, probably my favorite Hokie, anyway.
I thought this guy was the People's Champ?
Either Way we need to get a Mick Foley to join DBU, so we can have the Rock N Sock Connection on D-Block.
Go jalen go straight to the endzone
I got it
Call me an optimist but I think our o-line blocking will get better when they've had the same coach for more than one year at a time. I'm no football expert but even though there should be a fair amount of common teaching, it seems we've expected maybe a little too much from a group that's had so much coaching turnover in recent years.
The running game should improve with some stability there and I think Fuente will take advantage of any strength he has at his disposal.
Agreed, and having Osterloh instead of Conte may be an upgrade. We need Chung to push Gallo, lots of room for improvement at center.
I also think we could see a dramatic improvement in McMillians play next year. He wasn't a TB until 3 yrs ago, this could be a big offseason for him.
No doubt a talent upgrade would help too. This group, I think, didn't play as well collectively as the sum of the individual parts whereas a line with stable coaching should play better collectively than the sum of the parts.