After a "memorable" weekend in Blacksburg, Virginia Tech sealed the deal on his official visit. 2018 offensive tackle Walker Culver opted for the Hokies on Sunday night.
"I just felt like (Virginia Tech) is the best fit for me and I plan to sign this week," Culver told The Key Play.
I am thankful for all of the great schools and coaches that have recruited me and I am proud to say I am committed to Virginia Tech! #ExitLight18 🦃 pic.twitter.com/l3ihOp75QD— Walker Culver (@WalkerCulver58) December 18, 2017
He texted and called a seemingly happy offensive line coach, Vance Vice, with the good news.
More talent being added to this class! TOUGH WINS! pic.twitter.com/Pajl8SlKbx— Coach Vance Vice (@VanceVice) December 18, 2017
"It's really about the people there," said Culver. "Including the coaches, players and everyone there at (Virginia Tech). Coach Fuente and Vice have always been very honest with me. I believe the (Virginia Tech) culture is a good fit for me."
Culver was previously committed to Colorado (November 2016 through November 2017) and also held offers from Ohio State, Auburn, and Virginia among other Power 5 programs.
The 247Sports Composite rates the 6'6", 273 pound Baylor School (Chattanooga, TN) product as a 3-star OT.
"My game is just to play hard, do my job and to finish," Culver added. "My best asset is probably my love of competition and I'm working on getting stronger and putting on good weight."
Comments
I really like this kid. He will likely be a right tackle. Very good feet. Polished technique. I think he projects very well.
On a scale of Austin Clark to Nick Acree how well would you say he projects? *Ducks*
Side note: Have mercy on my soul Mr. Acree.
I thought Acree was the second most overrated 4 star I have watched. He looked like a monster, but didn't move well. The worst was Nijman, and I was dead wrong on him. His film was awful.
I think Culver is a polished, athletic offensive tackle. He could move inside if needed to guard, but I expect you will see him at right tackle in camp. I think he is a guy who could very easily be a solid starting right tackle as a redshirt sophomore, and could contend for a spot after a year in the strength and conditioning program. The challenge initially for him will be that right tackle has Chung possibly getting a sixth year, Plantin looking promising on both sides, and Tyrell Smith as an experienced guy. He is almost a lock for a redshirt year, and I would actually be bummed if they didn't redshirt this whole class. Every commit (Culver, Harris, Tenuta, Darrisaw) are all kids who are nowhere close to as big as they will be by the time they are seniors. They all have pretty good feet. It is a good class to build and develop, which VT needed.
With Pfaff leaving, what do you think about moving Chung inside to guard and putting TJ Jackson at Right Tackle. Once Njiman years the following year, move him over to LT. I've read that
BectonBrown is looking real good so it appears to be he will be starting at left guard. So here is my starting O Line for next year:LT: Njiman
LG:
BectonAiden Brown (my bad)C: Hoyt
RG: Chung
RT: TJ Jackson OR Plantin
Pfaff has one more year. Has he announced he is transferring?
Oh I thought this was Pfaff's 10th and final year...didn't realize he got an 11th year. :)
He walked on Senior Day I believe.
Colt Petitt did. Is that who you are thinking of?
Yeah that's right
Becton?
Someone should tell him that Becton signed with Louisville.
Seriously though the only player I can come up with that he might mean is Tyrell Smith.
Maybe he already graduated in less than one year and is coming here as a grad transfer.
Corrected...i meant Aiden Brown
I am not sure. I think Tyrell Smith is good enough to play. However, I guess he could move to guard if Brown or Cannon are not ready.
Plantin is right tackle if Chung doesn't come back. Pffaf will be the right guard. He did a good job this year.
Slide Chung back to Center? Or are we comfortable with Hoyt?
Fantastic. I trust your evaluation over any magazine. Glad you like him. To my untrained eye, he looks agile and aggressive on film- the latter we need badly and you can't teach.
YESSSS!! OFFENSIVE LINEMAN!!!!! This is amazing! So pumped we got a solid OL. Let's Go!!!!
Now we're talkin'! Thanks French for the analysis.
HOKIES!
Hell of a weekend looking forward to the 20th
He's one of those guys people in the recruiting thread thought was a "low percentage" commit, right?
Given the recent Auburn offer, I'm surprised.
I'll still be a bit concerned if he doesn't sign on the 20th
247 says he is planning on signing on the 20th.
Yes, word is he's planning on it, but things can happen
Why are you being a:
?
This recruiting class rocks.
Lol so let me get this straight... He committed like 56 hours before signing day and that still isn't good enough for the Chicken Littles in here.
Man, we really need to get over this inferiority complex. We could win a national title and we'd be worrying it would destroy the program because of early departures and coaching mobility. Smh
Overreact much? Damn.
Not at all.
I trust that Culver knows if he will sign on Wednesday. It's three days from his announcement, so I'd say the odds are pretty good.
We don't have to go all:
It's a sports discussion board and I'm discussing sports. My comments, however you read them, are not binary. If I am not butterflies and rainbows doesn't mean I'm a debbie downer, just as if I express my happiness doesn't mean there may not be room for improvement..
I am happy with the commit. I think it was a great pull by the staff. I was only bringing up a potential note about hoping he doesn't delay, bc then it might not be as in the bag as we all hope given his familial connection to Auburn, where he initially said he would visit. I've followed recruiting for a long time. It's fair for me to not get overly excited one way or another for Culver (or any recruit) until we get that fax. It's just part of the game
It's weird how much criticism comes on this board at times - largely unwarranted - for inferred tone.
I'm suggesting recruit's commitment thread may not be the right place for that sentiment, particularly given the short window here. It's just not warranted.
Before I made the "Debbie Downer" comment, I went through every comment you've made on this board since You joined on Sept 20. Go back and have a look. Let me know if you STILL think I'm being unfair. It's not just the one comment.
It doesn't have to all be unicorns and rainbows, but in this case think some pushback is fair game. You bring up some good points. Sometimes, it's worth knowing about a potential blind spot.
Seriously then, where is a better place to talk about a specific recruit than a recruiting post about him?? 'That sentiment' was me hoping he moves forward and signs on the 20th. You're acting like I did something out of line.
If you think that, or any of my posts is 'too negative' for you, I don't know what to tell you ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'm just sayin':
Wow. Seriously, the way you just tossed out "but things happen" was to put forth the chance that he would de-commit or delay signing as it if were more than 0.01% chance. It was not some innocent, legitimate response to a commitment. It was a 100% pessimistic debbie downer glass half full post with no basis in reality.
So yeah, OK there's a chance we don't sign him. Newsflash, that applies to any recruit. We don't need to rehash it every. single. time. someone. commits. Especially in this case, where a guy who has already de-committed and commits to VT with less than a week until signing day, well I'd put the odds of him de-committing along the lines as the Dumb and Dumber guy getting the girl. Now GTFO the train. Because this is the Hype Train and Walker Culver is all aboard!
dilly. fucking. dilly.
Disagree with everyone harping on outoftowner. He didn't say anything wrong. And having pessimism in recruiting is healthy.
He's entitled to his point of view.
He didn't cross the line. He didn't say anything out of guidelines. He didn't insult the recruit.
So let the guy express his opinion.
Disagree.. pessimism is not healthy.
Not to mention the fact that thats not weird at all....lol.
Did you not just use this photo?
Touche. It's just that I remembered him making negative comments before, about coaching, players, and recruiting. I wasn't sure, so I looked back. I'm just pointing out that there is a trend of buzzkill there.
I don't disagree with the notion. However, he has an Auburn offer and opportunity to visit after the early signing period and he proactively told me he was signing early with Tech. I didn't even have to ask him the question. Circumstances would really have to change for him to walk that back a few days later. But, it is recruiting and nothing matters until the fax machine fires.
It absolutely baffles me that in the year 2017 fax machines are still used to send in NLIs! Is this actually still the standard procedure or have they modernized at all?
It's just the easiest way.
Docusign is pretty easy too.
Only two ways as far as I've been told are allowed. Scanning in the letter and emailing it or fax. Where is JUGS when we need her to answer these questions for us.
You assume it's a she because her name is JUGS?
Edit: Forgot the /s
Nope, because she and I have spoken on here. I know for a fact Jugs is a she.
I know. I'm just surprised the NCAA has gone all in on it other than it costs more than a fax.
Keep the updates coming, Joe!
I said it on the other Culver thread but it bears repeating... We have incredible recruiting momentum at an incredibly important time on the recruiting calendar... Looks like Grant is flipping... Looks like Sheed is high on us... Looks like Dax is likely... I still won't let myself be optimistic about KJ but Mitchell, Webb, Culver, Sheed, Grant, Dax.... wow.
I wonder what attrition we get to make the numbers work
Like we have never seen before. Big year for attrition
Attrition makes me sad. Love all my hokies.
Part of me is happy, part of me is sad.
Guess you can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs.
Exactly my take when Buzz Williams came to town. So far, the cooking has been good.
The numbers always work out. McMillian, Pimp, Pettit all leaving with eligibility remaining, and I would guess there might be others. Beckett status up in the air. The QB room is pretty crowded too with scholly guys.. Jackson, Hooker, Bush, Willis, Patterson- numbers don't shake out there long term. I could see Bush being a WR or jet sweep guy next year though. Either way it always works out.
willis is a walk-on. Bush only has one more year, but yeah i could definitely see him getting snaps elsewhere next year now that we'll have a viable 3-deep at qb
Viable 3-deep QB might be too strong a word. Jackson is a R-Soph next year. That'll make Hooker an R-Frosh, and QP a true Frosh. I know Willis has a live arm and coaches are impressed, he's still an unknown commodity to me.
I guess i'm assuming Bush remains 2nd string but gets snaps elsewhere. Then we would have an incumbent starter, a senior with athletic upside, and a promising freshman with a year in the system. A lot of unknowns, but that's almost always true with 3rd stringers.
Thanks - I thought Willis was on scholarship? Didn't he have several transfer options? At any rate, if he is the starter or #2 on the depth chart, he will be on scholarship rather quickly.
Seems to be a transfer if that info is still right, but yeah if he does get PT he'll get a scholly
http://www.roanoke.com/hokies/kansas-quarterback-ryan-willis-transferrin...
Nice offer list too. I'm loving this class so far!!
Welcome to Hokie Nation, Walker!!
Yaaaaaayyyy!!!!
Worth noting that Baylor High School is the alma mater for Big John Hannah..... in his retirement he returned to Baylor to coach FB ... looks like he's a good teacher....
Absolutely did not expect this after the Auburn offer. What a close by the staff! This is some serious momentum. I'll buy anyone committing now.
Welcome aboard Walker!
It's always good to have it stick it to an SEC team.
How tall is Fuente?
As tall as that BAMF WANTS TO BE
If Culver is 6'6", then Fuente has to be like 6'4"
Fuente is about 6'2" Culver looks to be 6'4" - 6'5" which is plenty tall for OL.
Just saying he's listed as 6'6"
So 6'4"-6'5" confirmed then
I'm 6'3", and Fuente was about an inch shorter than me when I walked past him last year.
I had the same reaction. I saw the picture and I was like man Culver isn't that tall and then saw he was listed at 6'6". Fuente is a giant too haha
Actually if you look closely you can tell that this is actually Coach Fuentes who is a couple inches taller than Coach Fuente.
I was beating around the bush at it, but my guess is that Culver isn't a true 6'6", not that it really matters
Im willing to bet he's just slouching in the picture.
Oh yeaaa we will see a good bit of attrition. I love all my Hokies too. BUT this is the type of class we need to consistently bring in to get back at the top. I have a feeling this is not the last stop.
I hope you're right!
Most analysts are projecting him at LT, and he was high on Ohio State and Auburn's boards. This is a big, unexpected late pickup.
Why am I really hungry all of the sudden... Oh yeah.
Yum have one 5 min down the road from me
I'm definitely a bit jealous, it's one of the few things I miss living in SWVA.
I haven't been that impressed with Culver's since I've been here, to be totally honest. I don't think they're that good.
Huh, all the ones I've been to have been great. The frozen custards and cheese curds are always great and the butter burgers (basically just a smash burger for the uninformed) and the pork tenderloin sandwhiches are always good choices. I don't think anyone would ever call it health food though.
Here is a more detailed review:
Strengths:
He is athletic, takes good steps and has nice aiming points in the run game. He is a guy who will get to the second level and engage with blockers. He is very quick getting to contact, and he can pull (which means he can play guard or tackle if needed.) He has sound technique.
Opportunities to get better: I don't think he is a left tackle because when he bucket steps backwards, he is a little jerky and tends to stand up a bit. I think he would be susceptible to inside power rush moves untill he improved his technique. He either doesn't extend his arms or has shorter wingspan. I think he is more suited to be a right tackle.
In the run game, he plays with attitude. However, while the will is strong, he isn't generating a ton of movement (there is lots of activity, just not a ton of movement.) He will get stronger and improve his leg drive. However, it would be unfair to expect him to be a road-grader (which isn't critical for zone schemes anyway.)
I will do a more detailed review after bowl season. I think given VT's scheme, Culver is an upgrade over McFadden and could be a solid, multi-year contributor in Blacksburg.
Can we call him Walker "Texas Ranger" Culver now or wait till he signs?
HOLY SHIT +1