DE K.J Henry (signs on 12/20)
DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste
RB Anthony Grant
LB Dax Hollified
In the perfect scenario, Virginia Tech could take all four, and what a haul that would be.
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I like where this is going
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ on who he picks. House would have its money on Clemson.
He is going to Clemson
Thank you for your insight.
So 247 says that Grant is a 'hard' commit to Tennessee, but 75% predict that he'll sign with VT? Can one of you recruitniks explain this to me?
Because nothing matters 'til signing day?
He's a teenager?
Quip aside, he's previously stated that he's going but now insiders believe that he'll change to the good guys. Some (75%) buy what their sources tell them, others remain skeptical.
Some of the recent crystal ball predictions has him flipping to the good guys.
That means he's going to FSU
We have him already I'm sure he is a silent commit he will probably make it official later on today or tomorrow.
"hard commit" is the default value there for any kid committed anywhere. I've been following recruiting since I was in HS. I've seen "soft commit" maybe a half dozen times. Wouldn't look into it.
This was my real question. thanks.
So are we officially not going after Rasheed Walker now that we got Culver? I have always thought we were a long shot to land him, but would have thought he was one of those guys who had a spot no matter what (like KJ and Dax). Not sure the last time we got an OL ranked in the overall top 100.
Highest ranked OL to show up at Tech was 2002's Tripp Carroll who was 110th
Not quite. Aaron Brown was also #110 nationally and rated 94.15 (vs Carroll's 93.41). I'm not sure he ever played a down on the OL for Virginia Tech. I think he played a few game snaps on the DL, but very few.
But from these two names, it's pretty clear that recruiting service evaluations mean everything in OL recruiting.
Unrelated side note:
Aaron Brown was an incredibly nice guy. Dated a friend of mine while we were at Tech. She's no more than 5' tall and he was 6'6" 300+ so they made for a hilarious looking pair. He used to pick her up and put her on his shoulder like she was a parrot.
My wife had a friend from HS who was also around 5' who dated Robert Krabbendam, who was Greenberg's biggest big at 7'0.
ER?
Yep! We worked together in college.
I hope her name was Polly and I hope she liked crackers.
I'm 6'7" myself, and once you're this tall height kind of stops being important. I've dated anywhere from 4'11" to 5'10" and it's not like a girl 9" shorter seems to fit any better than one over a foot shorter.
Bucky?
He's got a few pounds on me and they may be distributed a little better, but I'm pretty good at staying on my feet so I've got that.
I'm also 6'7. Although I think I'm shrinking.
If he wants to come here I don't see any way the coaches would turn him away. With that being said, I wouldn't be surprised if now that Culver is in the boat the coaches turn their attention, energy, etc. to the other guys listed above that seem to have more interest in us. To me it seems like we have always been third at best for Walker and with the class filling up fast I just can't see us continuing to use too many resources on him when there are other guys we need to close on.
That makes sense. Though I think this is one of the great parts of the early signing period, especially for schools with smaller budgets. After this early signing period we can put all our resources into 4 or 5 guys (and future classes) instead of continuing to recruit everyone. To play devil's advocate, I would think that adding Rasheed to the list in the OP wouldn't strain resources all that much.
True enough, but you always play until the whistle. Eventually, that'll pay off.
There seems to have been a mutual parting of ways post-visit.
I don't mean this in an argumentative way, but is that based on something? The last I have seen from him was his tweet with all the other recruits after the visit. Again, I'm not trying to be a jerk, just wondering if I missed something.
Yeah, the tweet seemed like he had a good time. But within an hour of Culvers commitment, the behind-the-paywall scuttlebutt was that we were done at OL.
Excited about Darrisaw-Harris-Tenuta-Culver.
Gotcha, thanks for responding. Leg.
My impression is that is a not inaccurate way to describe the situation. Causation not always equal to correlation, and so forth, but yeah.
VT in top 3 but Crystal balls all say 100% to other team.
Kid mentions VT in interview
Debate how much our rankings will go up once kid picks VT
Kid picks other team
Me.
Stealing from myself, again:
Stage 1: highly rated recruit announces commit date
Stage 2: VT fans start looking for clues suggesting he'll commit to VT
Stage 3: Crystal balls come in 2-3 days before commit date for team other than VT; these are dismissed by VT fans because the experts just do this for attention
Stage 4: Evan Watkins predicts the recruit will pick Not VT an hour before he picks Not VT; reality sinks in for VT fans
Stage 5: Recruit picks Not VT; VT fans melt the hell down
Stage 6: VT fans say he wasn't that great of a fit anyway and VT will just get (insert list of highly rated recruits at same position)
Stage 7: 2/3 star commit with light offer sheet commits to VT, fans proclaim him a sleeper and much better on tape than 4/5 star that picked Not VT
Stage 6 and 7 couldn't be closer to the truth with some people on here lol
Happens every year man. lol
But Baptiste is a 3/4 star.
Just got a CB on 24/7
Yeah but if you watch his tape he's actually better then any of the 5 star guys, just doesn't have the blue blood bump because he's been interested in VT. Much better fit for our scheme anyways.
Seems like the coaches are spending a lot of effort on this early recruiting period. I wonder how bowl prep is coming along with this new emphasis. Scheduling, staff support, and attention to detail are huge right now.
What has the bigger effect on the team: winning the Camping World Bowl or landing recruits? Other than pride, I would argue that picking up some multi-year starters is more important right now. The teams in a tough spot are the ones with games this week or in the playoff.
Two to three years from now, nobody outside of VT and Okie State fans are going to remember who won the 2017 Camping World Bowl.
It's not where we are, it's where we're going.
Two to three
years from nowdays after the gameI feel like the buzz on the fan base lasts the whole off season, either positive or negative. Final ranking, record and just the general atmosphere around the team lasts for a lot longer than 2 or 3 days.
There should always be a commitment to the current roster, especially seniors. There should be some balance.
On the other hand, it's unfortunately becoming routine for players to forgo their bowl game, despite being healthy, to prepare for the NFL. So maybe players have lessened feelings about 2nd tier bowls.
I would love a player's take on this. On one hand it is a chance for the seniors to go out with a W. On the other it is a meaningless game and the players view it as a reward trip and some swag and if they win great, if they lose no one will care in a few years as Illinois Hokie said.
Did you see the celebrations after the victories in Annapolis vs UCinn, Shreveport vs Tulsa, and Charlotte vs Arkansas?
Sure looked like it meant to something to the players to me...even more than many regular season victories.
If I ever believe we are treating the bowls like meaningless games I will stop going to them. However, I believe most coaches treat half of bowl prep as a chance to rest and heal up the starters, and to get quality reps and development with the younger players, and get a jump on reloading for next year. They often put in a few fun gadget plays specially designed for their opponent, but don't really do much real,prep until game week, and that is usually set up to mirror normal game prep as much as possible. May be a little tough if you barley qualified for a bowl and play this week, but doubt it changes bowl prep much for those with games after Christmas.
There was an article I was reading (can't find it at the moment) talking about how coaches are having a hard time managing bowl prep and the early signing day, and that this is especially hard on the schools with bowls pre-Christmas. It's easy to say the bowls are meaningless but coaches are paid to win games and many of them I believe have bonuses for bowl wins. Plus (this doesn't apply to Fuente this season) if you've had a down year it's nice to end it with a win to keep the boosters happy and shut down any hot seat rumors.
KJ Henry could come in and make an immediate impact on defense. I think he goes to Klempsen, but damn, how awesome would it be to sign him.
My gut is we have a 25% shot at KJ... 90% with Dax... 50% with Baptiste and 75% with Grant... I also think we land a recruit or two not listed here between early signing day and February... Maybe Jaevon Becton if we miss on KJ and Baptiste.
No sources just my $0.02.
I'm loving this class and think we finish strong. I think the biggest position we have missed out on is DT. I like Goode, but was hoping we could add another good prospect there. As some have mentioned, there always seems to be a recruit who comes out of nowhere late in the process, I would love to target a DT between now and February.
In particular, I would love to make a push for Tenn de-commit Jamarcus Chatman. We were in his top 10 before he committed to Tenn, and now there are 3 schools listed as "warm" on 247; GT, MSU, and UNC. I think we could go up against those guys for a good DT. He reminds me a lot of Alim McNeill, who I had a football crush on and was sad to lose to NC St.
I agree, adding another prospect at DT would really solidify this class. I thought maybe there was a JUCO plan for this position, but I haven't heard any rumblings on that front.
I think Kane may end up at DTackle...
Goode and Kane are defensive tackles. If Becton ends up as a Hokie, it will be as a defensive tackle. I think Goode can be very good. I would love to get a real difference maker. Tim Settle showed how much of an impact an elite talent who buys into Bud's system can make, and he is the most irreplaceable guy on defense right now. As much as I liked McNeil, I don't think he is THAT GUY. Chatman and Becton aren't either. All three would be productive (and McNeil reminds me a ton of Ricky Walker, so very good) but they aren't guys who demand double teams like Settle that can still beat them.
I think Ben Smiley could be THAT guy! Looks to have a good frame to add muscle and he is quick with good instincts.
Thanks for the input. I also saw McNeill and Chatman more in the Ricky Walker mold, which is good, but as you said having a guy like Settle is a difference maker, I just dont see us having a shot with any DTs of Settle's build/caliber.
And Smiley looks like a great talent, but he's going to need to add a lot of weight (I think he's listed around 250) to get to Settle's level. I would still be pumped about getting him, just that I think he's also more in the Walker mold than a future Settle.
I'm confident that wouldn't be a problem. I think Hilgart has shown what he's capable of in that realm (see Keene, Dalton).
But what about all these injuries /s
Smiley is listed in the recruiting sites at 250 but in the Virginian-Pilot the other day they had his weight for the all-Tidewater team as 274. Seems to me that Ben Smiley is growing into he frame!