Virginia Tech Football Recruiting: WR Bryce Watts Commits to the Hokies

3* WR out of Toms River, NJ, Bryce Watts committed to the Hokies.

Watts was previously committed to Rutgers, but recently opened up his recruitment.

Primary recruiter Brian Mitchell tweeted out his approval:

Check out Watts' highlights below.

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Comments

welcome to Hokie Nation!

Good.

 photo 101379-Jim-Carrey-I-like-it-alot-gif-GflM.gif

Guerry hinted at a big weekend for Foster. Is it likely he'll play corner for VT and not WR?

This was the impression I got.

I have no idea why my username is VT_Warthog.

Arkansas blew a 24-0 lead in the Belk Bowl.

...and he was recruited by Brian Mitchell, my guess is he at least starts on D.

uva sucks

Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

Wait, I thought we weren't going to have a good recruiting class?

Somebody tell him.

Idk if I would say this commitment changes the way anyone is gonna evaluate our class.

Per Evan Watkins:

247 has missed the boat on his eval (likely due to injury and missing camp season). I was told his senior film was being evaluated so he should get a bump.

Based on his film, I bet he's a 3/4 star prospect by 247.

-Semper Primus

Yesterday on his Twitter timeline, Watts re-Tweeted a story about Aaron Henry being named safeties coach at N.C. State.

Henry was listed as his main recruiter at Rutgers, which likely explains why Watts decommitted last Sunday.

Regardless of the back story, props to our staff for moving quickly.

Also, besides being recruited by Brian Mitchell, this may be one more clue that his projected college position is on defense.

Woohoo!

Huh?

I was trying to find a gif of someone excitedly doing backflips but found this one, which reminds me of what it'd look like if I did backflips.

thanks for helpin a brotha out.

I think the most amazing thing is the jump AFTER the flip. It's like he has damn springs in his feet

Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

more like Wa-hoo

The Dude Abides

Keep em coming this weekends started fabulously

Curious if this was the second big recruit news?

Directions from Blacksburg to whoville, go north till you smell it then go east until you step in it

No offense to the kid, but by no measure would I call this "a big get". But he's clearly good enough to get a VT offer - and smart enough to accept it!! Welcome, Mr. Watts.

Anyone know where we can find BAG? He'll have the cryptic, non-answer tease we all crave. Heh

the numbers don’t lie and they spell disaster

Reminder folks...don't down vote because of an opinion that differs from yours. I agree it's not a big get but if he wants to be a Hokie and the coaches want him, welcome aboard!

didn't downvote but I imagine it's less about his opinion and more for the irony of his "welcome" to the Hokie Nation by way of insulting the kid.

my rule of thumb. any commit is a big commit because they choose the good guys. so talk nicely about them. Being critical about aspects of their game is ok, being critical of them being big time enough less so.

Thank you for your feedback but your "rule of thumb" isn't in the community guidelines

Looking at the wording/punctuation, I'll concede that his 'welcoming' could use some work. I know I'm a wiseass on here quite often, but I actually meant "if our staff likes him, and he likes us, I like him! I believe in him because they do, so come on in!" No harm intended.

I was just responding to hokienator. He asked if we thought that Watts was the 2nd big one this weekend. I said I thought he wasn't. And in the grand scheme of our croot class, he adds another nice athlete - but he doesn't move the needle much at present.

If we're downvoting opinions about football, I'll be on my merry way. And if we're downvoting the tone of opinions about football, we're gonna need to build a bigger penalty box - because we have some really smart, really informed wiseasses on here.

Which is why I love this site in the first place.

the numbers don’t lie and they spell disaster

as I said, I didn't downvote. It was ironic to me, not offensive. I appreciate your posts, so hope it doesn't discourage you in future.

which is why i called it "my" rule of thumb, and not the community guidelines.

Just remember... Sam Rogers, Kyle Fuller, Kam Chancelor, Danny Coale, just a few names that weren't considered big gets. Don't get me wrong, we need guys like Devon Hunter too.

Completely agree. He could become the next One Of Those Guys. I want that!

The question I was responding to is "is this the other marquee get that we've been talking about?" Just like all the guys you mentioned, I wouldn't call this a program-changer at this juncture.

the numbers don’t lie and they spell disaster

No offense but all commits are BIG gets. Some perhaps bigger gets than others. Hunter Ren'bro' from Clemson was a walk on and just won the NC for Clemson. Watts can clearly ball already. So with the proper instruction and enough effort any one of these young men can be the next Kevin Jones or Sam Rogers. Both came in with far different expectations and both excelled at football and being Hokies. Congrats to Watts on this big opportunity.

It is a natural gift I posess to create friction in sensitive situations.

I get excited every time someone wants to be a Hokie

ESPN score box, keeping this gif SFW since 2012...

Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

And she looks down to make sure the box score is there before continuing to bounce...

Since I'm viewing from home, I wish there was a NSFW option.

Just for authenticity purposes, of course. My preference is always for the original/uncut/uncensored version.

+1 she will always get a leg from me

"Give me a fu¢king beer", Anonymous Genius

Find her...

You will see this game, this upset and this sign next on ESPN Sportscenter. Virginia Tech 31 Miami 7

His decision was made after a phone call with longtime Virginia Tech assistant coach Bud Foster. All Foster told him was, "We win. They don't."

"Give me a fu¢king beer", Anonymous Genius

Where is the competing gif of the winking Hokie girl from this years ACCCG? (JJs girl?)

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It is a natural gift I posess to create friction in sensitive situations.

Meanwhile at LOLUVA

Scary.

This was the worst kept secret in Blacksburg....kid loved VT for months....found a chance to decommit from Rutgers...and here he is..... Very good player in my opinion....

So this class is going to fill up and Speed, Garbutt, Dimukeje, Debose, Porcher, Newsome, Person, Becton...how much more can we realistically take? More people need to transfer, go to prep school, grey shirt, something is going to have to give pretty shortly.

FIRST DOWN, HOKIES!

Good questions here......

The numbers ALWAYS work out. ALWAYS.

If I have this straight we have 9 EE's
15 hard commits
And up to 5 to 8 more potential targets

I know we have some walk ons and transfers paying there own way.....but aren't we nearing the 25 limit???? .....85 limit???

Someone edumacate me .....

The 9 EEs can count towards last year and the walk ons don't count towards the 85

Not all 9 can count unless we only ended up signing 16 from the last class. Last class can only be 25 so the difference is what can count towards that class. We initially signed 21, but I know that number was reduced by the time school started, just not sure by how many.

Rob Peterson
VTCC
Charlie/Hotel Company
Class of 1999

Were any of the 21 EEs last year to count towards 2014? It would only take a few. Evans? Deablo? Kumah, Patterson, Ladler? Seems as though a few of those enrolled early IIRC

edit research shows there were 5 early enrolled last year so that would make sense to be at 16, this the 9 early enrolled this year to be at 25

Yes some of last years EEs counted towards 2014. I think at least 5 did because I remember saying that we could take at least 30 and still be at or under the 25 limit. I'd have to go back over the recruiting numbers again (but its all unofficial anyway).

Its the 85 that is the upper limit now. Expect more attrition.

Expect more attrition.

no doubt...spring is make/break for a few

85 limit???

I was reading a Bitter article yesterday (pre-Hunter's commitment) and he said we had 59 on roster. I'm not entirely sure if that included EE's or not.

59? That can't be correct

From his article

Where does Virginia Tech stand right now? With the attrition it had this winter, losing Mitchell Ludwig, Chris Durkin, Steve Sobczak, DuWayne Johnson, Seth Dooley, McKenzie and the the early NFL entrants from the scholarship ranks, my rough count of the scholarship total the Hokies have from returning players (VT and Fuente don't give an official one) is 59. Add the nine mid-year enrollees and you're up to 68. That'd leave room for another 17, either guys who sign in February or walk-ons on the roster who get rewarded with a scholarship. The Hokies have 13 more players in their 2017 recruiting class who are expected to sign on Feb. 1 and obviously are pursuing some other targets in this final week and a half. With the number of scholarships I think are available and the various accounting methods you can use to stay under the rule of enrolling 25 new players each year, it looks like Tech could sign more than 25 this year and still get them all in eventually.

I thought you meant 59 during last season. Yes that sounds right after people going pro and attrition, etc

Oh woops. Yeah, I meant post attrition, graduation, and early departures.

This is true. They will make room one way or another. Grey shirt is the most obvious since most of the attrition has already occurred. Another way is to simply pull a guys scholarship to make room for another. This rarely happens, but it is a possibility. However it is a bad look so it is avoided at all cost. One work around that I have witnessed is to put a guy on medical scholarship. This is a player that is hurt and can no longer play football, he still gets to keep his scholarship, but it doesn't count against the 85 limit......if we have a large class don't be surprised if a non contributor on scholarship that has an injury all of a sudden decides not to play anymore

I was talking to a guy about recruiting and he informed me the SEC has a bylaw or something where they can pull schollys whenever. He was saying that this is why they are always stacked.

Its not an SEC bylaw, its an NCAA rule I believe. Football scholarships are 4 (or 5) - 1 year scholarships.

There was talk of trying to change that to an actual 4 (or 5) year scholarship so that coaches couldn't pull someones scholarship after enrolling.

I think the PAC has guaranteed 4 years since 2014.

VT has the option of offering multi-year right now per Babcock's "Pylons of Promise" program.

I looked the PAC up.. and yep you are 100% correct.

And yep the "Pylons of Promise" does say 4 year option to deserving student-athletes.

Yo Toms River North is no fucking joke when it comes to football. Everyone only pays attention to the Parochial schools up North but there is some talent all over.

My old HS was in the same league just a bit south, Southern Regional. It took having current PSU do it all TE Mike Gesicki as a SR to break a 3 year losing streak to them. While before it took Glenn Carson, the former PSU and Cardinals LB to go 1-1 vs them, losing in the regular season but winning in the playoffs when I was still there in 08.

Didn't realize he was from Tom's River. I have about six months logged at the Tom's River Ramada. But not in the last ten years, Gott sei dank.

Southern Regional grad here -- class of '83. You?

And Tom's River was always tough to play. Rahway was probably the toughest but Tom's River was always good.

"When I was growing up, Virginia Tech was a school that was kicking ass and taking names, and it's time we get back to that" - James Franklin

dear god this is bizarre

We seems to have a ton of wide outs in this class. Who would factor in at DB?

Our motto bringing spirit true, that we may ever serve you

Capehart

and Watts

Is he electric enough for that?

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

Ohm my god, not this again

I told him I’d crawl on my hands and knees to be the DL coach at Virginia Tech. Now, all of a sudden, I’m sitting in this chair and I told him I’d still crawl on my hands and knees to work here. I just want to be here.
JC Price

he's got the Power to deliver a big hit, so yes

VERY good speed

You rang?

"Hi, I'm an agent with the federal... FBI... Well, my, I'm Stanley Goodspeed."

"But of course you are...."

You will see this game, this upset and this sign next on ESPN Sportscenter. Virginia Tech 31 Miami 7

His decision was made after a phone call with longtime Virginia Tech assistant coach Bud Foster. All Foster told him was, "We win. They don't."

Not a great movie, but I love it

Onward and upward

Agree. It's a terribly awesome movie. One of those that they play on IFC that got bad reviews, but is so entertaining you can't turn it off. Others I'd compare it to... Con Air, Die Hard, etc.

It also has one of the greatest lines of all time, which is twice as good when said in a Sean Connery accent.

"I'm trying my best!"

"Your best? Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and fuck the prom queen."

You will see this game, this upset and this sign next on ESPN Sportscenter. Virginia Tech 31 Miami 7

His decision was made after a phone call with longtime Virginia Tech assistant coach Bud Foster. All Foster told him was, "We win. They don't."

Carla was the prom queen

Joffrey, Cersei, Ilyn Payne, the Hound, Jeff Jagodzinski, Paul Johnson, Pat Narduzzi.

Yep, a 6.55 for 55 meters is not slow. If you follow that very useful link to the state of Virginia you can see that a kid named Noah Lyles from TC Williams ran a 10.08 hundred meters last year at the USATF Junior Championships. I am not sure what the allowable tail wind speed is, but that is blazing. A little search tells me he turned pro and skipped college athletics. Dang!

"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. " Rocky B.

Both brothers turned pro, otherwise would have been at UF with Holloway. They were the top 3 55m guys in Va.

I'm not a track guy so I don't know how accurate this conversion is, but one online formula puts a 6.55 for 55 meters at 4.35 for 40 yards. I'd guess with conditions and timing margin of error that's maybe between a high 4.4 to a low 4.5?

Also, I did find this interesting comparison to Warrick Dunn and Rocket Ismail:

We are often asked what constitutes a good 55 or 60 meter sprint in terms of translation to football speed? Well, consider that Warrick Dunn ran 6.31/55 meters while at Baton Rouge Catholic High and Raghib "Rocket" Ismail ran 6.28/55 meters during his time at Meyers High. Those times sort of set the top of the bar in terms of quantifying football "quickness" and track translation. Ismail and Dunn were both small for running backs but their pure quickness made a big difference. For skill players, depending somewhat on size, anything in the 6.75 (fully automatic timed) range is solid and under 6.6 FAT is outstanding.

https://www.trackingfootball.com/blog/13-track-field-events-quantify-foo...

me either, but...

Somewhere in one of the threads, Watts is reported to (or claims to) have run a sub 4.4 40. I was looking to see how realistic that was so I did the 55m search. From the track results, it looks plausible.

Tweedy can run like a dadgum antelope or whatever. I like to use scalded dog. Do antelopes lumber? Cheetah, OK. He runs like a cheetah. He's fast. - Bud Foster

GUERRY SIGNAL UP

GET LIT FAM

LETS GO HOKIES

the numbers don’t lie and they spell disaster