Tech Tidbits: Depth Chart Reveals a Right Tackle Surprise

There weren't many mysteries left to be solved regarding the Hokies' depth chart before Monday's press conference, but I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I dropped everything to scrutinize Tech's newest two-deep this afternoon.

No great surprises to be had (as much as I'd dearly hoped for Jack Click to stun us all and take over QB1) but a few things jumped out at me nonetheless.

You can check out the whole depth chart here, and let's get to it.

O-Line Musical Chairs

Braxton Pfaff at right guard? Not at all that surprising, considering he manned the spot this spring and was regularly mentioned as a possibility at the position this summer.

But Kyle Chung at right tackle? That one caught me off guard a bit.

Justin Fuente and Vance Vice mentioned last week that Tyrell Smith had been dealing with a few minor injuries in camp, but not enough to dislodge him from his perch as the presumptive starter at right tackle.

Well, seems like the staff getting some extra looks at Chung on the outside sure changed minds.

"He's good to go. I'm certainly not down on Tyrell. I would anticipate he'll have a huge role in what we're doing," Fuente said Monday, via Andy Bitter of the Roanoke Times. "Kind of as a product of that, we moved Kyle out there, and he's always been a very athletic guy for us and really took to it pretty well. So, that's the way we're rolling for right now. But I've been pleased with his work there at tackle."

This will mark Chung's fourth year at Tech, and over that whole time he's largely gotten work at guard and center, so this is a bit of a surprise. He's the classic case of a guy whose injuries have always been the biggest barrier to him getting on the field, and I can consistently remember Frank Beamer's staff having nice things to say about him before some new bump or bruise took him out of the mix.

At a listed 6'3" and 302 pounds, he certainly has decent size to play tackle (he can't match Yosh Nijman's freakish attributes, but I won't hold that against him) but he must've really flashed some surprising athleticism to shoot up the ranks so quickly. It may not be the same as playing on the blind side, but that combination of athleticism and size is traditionally what separates tackles from interior linemen.

Perhaps Smith's injury woes are a bit more severe than Fuente is letting on, and that's driving the change, but he downplayed the role of injuries in this decision.

In all, though the move may be a bit surprising, I think the biggest takeaway is that it's always better to have more viable options on the line. If this means Chung has grabbed the job and run with it, that certainly seems promising. If it means the competition between the two was close, but Smith was too nicked up to start this week, that's still fine — outside of West Virginia, the schedule isn't fierce in the team's first month, so there's still time to figure things out.

Personally, I'm happy for the guy — I've long been skeptical that he'd ever start during his career at Tech. Let's hope it lasts.

Receiver Clarity?

Finally, some clarity at receiver — or, maybe not.

I'd expect that, with so many largely unproven guys in the mix, these declarations of starters are more guidelines for how we should view the results of the preseason than hard and fast decisions by the staff.

But, it's still meaningful to see Eric Kumah in the top spot opposite Cam Phillips. It makes sense, given his extra year in the offense, that he'd be a major contender for snaps, but good to know all the same.

It's deeper in the depth chart that things get really interesting. As Fuente and Brad Cornelsen have hinted, we get a pair of freshmen behind Phillips and C.J. Carroll in the slot in Hezekiah Grimsley and Sean Savoy, respectively.

Yet I was at least mildly surprised to see Ohio State transfer James Clark do so well, not only grabbing the backup spot behind Kumah but also nabbing the top kick returner role.

Henri Murphy seemed like a logical candidate for either (or both) of those spots, yet he's fallen off the two-deep entirely. Same goes for Phil Patterson, a redshirt freshman who I heard great things about as a recruit but seems to have fallen out of favor.

"The thing I would tell you is, those guys that are listed as seconds have a chance to play probably quite a bit," Fuente said, via Bitter. "And things can always change."

As for Clark, it seems like he earned his new role on the kick return for a simple reason.

#Hokies Justin Fuente on how Ohio State transfer James Clark won kick returner job: "He's really fast." Clark also ran track for Buckeyes.— Mike Barber (@RTD_MikeBarber) August 28, 2017

Fair enough, though it's not as if Murphy was ever all that slow. Why Mook Reynolds is backing Clark up instead of Murphy is yet another question worth asking, given how important he is to the defense and that I can't recall him ever working on the kick return before.

Meanwhile, Dalton Keene shows up as starting H-back, as Fuente predicted he might earlier, with Chris Cunningham right behind him, though the head Hokie said those two were basically interchangeable.

So there we have it — your 2017 receivers. But I can't stress enough how possible it is that somebody makes a few big plays early and forces the coaches to re-think things. Receiver is a fluid position, plenty of guys will see the field in the opener and there's no reason to believe any of this is set in stone.

Cornerback Shuffling

When it comes to the cornerbacks, Bud Foster says Adonis Alexander is "probably number one on both sides."

But until Tech's many prolific scientists can figure out a way to clone Alexander, the Hokies have tabbed Greg Stroman to start opposite him.

That's notable only because Brandon Facyson might be the more obvious choice to start instead in some capacity. Foster stressed that "we fully expect" Facyson to play against West Virginia, despite his wrist woes, and the decision is less a question of injury and more a statement on Alexander and Stroman's excellence.

But I think it'd be foolish to assume that Facyson's lack of practice time had nothing to do with this decision. Surely all three cornerbacks will get the chance to rotate in, but there's no doubt that Facyson's lack of practice time (and past injury history) is playing some role here in giving primacy to Stroman and Alexander.

The Hokies are in such good shape when it comes to corner that they can afford to not rush Facyson back too quickly — other teams might be in much hotter water if a senior cornerback wasn't 100 percent for the season opener — so no cause for alarm here. Merely be glad that Foster is so enamored with Alexander and Stroman that he can afford to ease Facyson back into the fold.

One other fun tidbit about the cornerbacks from the depth chart release — look at Bryce Watts grabbing the fourth corner spot as a true freshman.

The Hokies plainly liked the guy a lot, given how diligently they worked to flip him from Rutgers back when he was a recruit. That he's managed to surpass older players like Jovonn Quillen, Tyree Rodgers and Khalil Ladler is quite a statement indeed.

Foster isn't afraid to play youngsters in the secondary as a way to groom them for the future, so keep an eye on who gets reps behind the top three (and Reynolds).

Speaking of Mook, worth pointing out that Deon Newsome, once a WR who was moved to safety last year, is now number two at whip/nickel behind Reynolds. Anthony Shegog was generally considered more of a contender as a "traditional" whip, but now he's listed at backer behind Tremaine Edmunds (instead of touted freshman Dylan Rivers).

I suspect Shegog could still spend some time at whip if the team is looking for more run-stopping/blitzing at the position depending on the opponent, but in case you doubted that the whip was going to be overwhelmingly focused on coverage, here's more proof that this position is very different from how Foster first envisioned it.

I leave you with one final reminder that we're under a week until Hokies football arrives, this time with a look at what we'll be seeing at FedEx (aside from beer prices that make you cringe).

RIVALRY RENEWED @Redskins haven't begun painting for Sunday's game at @FedExField but here's what our EZ will look like. #BeatWVU pic.twitter.com/jWL4ve8jEO— VT Football (@VT_Football) August 28, 2017