With the NSD a little over a week away I was trying to wrap my head around who is still available, and how the rest of our class might fill out. I was going to just post this as a comment in the recruiting thread, but I got a little long-winded. here's what I came up with:
So I had a revolutionary idea...I have seen articles about how Dax and Grant were at UNC together this weekend. And have seen tweets between Grant and Chatman. Someone should totally tweet at them all and let them know they could all play together for the Hokies.
On a more serious note, those 3 are my hopes to finish out the class. I saw a headline on 247 that Fuente still has an in-home with Walker and Baptiste, but I don't have much hope for either of them.
Here are my odds and thoughts:
Becton - 80%
His tape underwhelms me, half of it is him running the wildcat on the goal line, and when he is at DE he stands straight up and waits to see where the ball is going, then chases it. Seems like he is just used to being bigger and stronger than everyone he plays against and hasn't had to learn any technique. Seems like a big project to me. (side note: Jaevon, if you're reading this, nothing would make me happier than for you to come to VT and turn into a star and make me look like an idiot! PS, I'm a middle school math teacher who has no idea what he's talking about)
Dax - 60%
This feels a lot like Hunter's recruitment last year. We obvioulsy want him because he's a great player, but we also want to prove to ourselves that we can land blue-chip recruits. I think the biggest thing keeping him from committing to the good guys is the number of bodies we have at LB. I would counter that with the fact that we don't have any other guys rated as highly out of HS as him, and our starters just left, so the competition will be wide open next Fall.
Grant - 50%
I wasn't all that excited about Grant when his name started showing back up, but the more I think about it, I really hope we can get him. He would be the highest rated RB on our roster and it seems like he would make a good pair with Ford in a couple years. I think he could really improve our RB room.
Chatman - 35%
He is my biggest hope in terms of filling a need. I think he would become the next Woody Baron in our system and would make a great pair playing alongside Goode. I think our only hope is if Miami takes another DT and they don't have room for him, or he doesn't like his chances competing with whoever they land.
Baptiste - 5%
I think he would be a great recruit and could become a beast in our system. However it sounds like we have no shot with momma not liking the Burg. At the end of the day, our DE depth isn't terrible after last years class, but it would hurt to miss out on Henry first, and then think we found a diamond in the rough with Baptiste, only to lose him to Nebraska??
Walker - 1%
I know people view him as a project on the O-Line, but he is the highest rated OT we have offered. I thought he showed incredible growth from his sophomore film to his senior film and think he could be coached into a star. With that said I get the feeling it's a two horse race between PSU and OSU and I actually feel decent about the rest of the OL guys in our class.
Comments
Per the recruiting thread, we just offered Malik Washington (3-star WR, 5-9, 180lb from Georgia) yesterday I think that puts him in the remaining targets boat.
https://247sports.com/player/malik-washington-90215
edit: I'm a dummy, he's class of 2019
It says he's class of 2019, not 2018.
that's what I get for TKP'ing and teleconferencing at the same time...
Honestly though, at this stage in the game a late offer might mean the coaches are figuring one of our top picks isn't going to pan out, right?
I think JJBs mom doesn't want her baby to leave home, word is she didn't like Columbus either. Would getting Gran effect Ford's recruitment at all?
I highly doubt it. Most position rooms are crowded and every highschool kid (especially elite players like Devyn) believe they are the best and can win a spot. I know people talk about how many backs we rotate but that's only because we don't have a Devyn Ford in the backfield. If we had somebody like him then carries would not be split nearly as much. Furthermore, splitting carries isn't something that scares guys away necessarily. Georgia played 3 backs this year, 2 primarily, and still bring in the top guys every year. Even if we got Derrian Brown before Ford, I don't think that scares him off. FSU snagged Akers and Laborn last year.
I know that those are bluebloods, but other schools have done it too including UNCheat with TJ Logan and Elijah Hood. I really think a guy going to another school because there is a crowded and/or competitive room at the school he wants to go to is a very slim percentage of cases.
Hope we can land someone to turn around our steady descent in the rankings. I knew we would drop from 15th after the early signing period but was really hoping to stay in the top 25. We sit at 22nd currently and I imagine we drop more if we dont land a couple of our top prospects.
Agree with everything above! Would love if we could land JJB because he's going to be a stud, but not as big of need as Chatman. To me Chatman (because of need at DT) and Dax (because of time/effort invested in his recruitment are the 2 most important remaining. If we can land Dax, JJB, and Chatman (I know it's highly unlikely), it would be a great close to an already quality class. Grant would be a cherry on top, but given how McClease ran in the last 2 games and Peoples in the bowl game, I'm optimistic for an improved run game next year with the existing backs on the roster and hopeful we can add Ford in 2019.
Always good to recap since things have been pretty silent to us non-#sauces people over the past few weeks.
It would be super dissapointing to not see Dax in O&M because he is playing at a position of need and we have spent immense resources to court him. I would say 70% chance at landing him.
I agree Becton doesn't impress but might be the most likely next commit. I don't know how he will crack the two-deep unless he improves mightly. Agree with 80% chance.
Grant for would be a huge get because even though I think we are ok with Clease, Peoples, and Holston, I still am looking for someone to be a "dude" for a RB. I think Ford is that kind of guy but the more we can recruit the better.
Baptiste might be #2 of the most talented remaining targets and think he loves Tech, but DE isn't a dire need like DT or Mike LB. Would still love to have him and even though Mom doesn't love the Burg, still think we have a 25% chance.
Chatman seems like a guy from Georgia that could get early PT with potential to start his Soph. year. Seems to have room to add 20 pounds and be a twitchy DT Wiles loves. I agree that around 40% chance, gotta convince him the U isn't really bak.
Walker I think would be huge but would only put our chances at 3%. If we can develop TJ Jackson or Silas D., it won't be as bad but Walker to me would be a massive O-Line recruiting statement
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner
Nahhhhhhh don't tweet recruits.
5% for Baptiste... you forget a 0 or something after the 5?
Momma didn't have any issues with the Burg from what we were told.
Unusual recruitment for JJB, looking forward to hearing some stories after next Wednesday.
(my take: he really liked BBG and wanted to commit but momma wanted him to see some other schools. he got the big OSU offer and checked out Nebraska but didn't love either of those. He's now thinking his original instinct was correct and momma's coming around.)
look forward to this vacation next Friday..
Thinking of an easy format for Q&A.. Might be open thread top 10 upvoted ?'s will get answered..
That's great to hear. It would be awesome to have him in the group, I was just judging by the CBs and rumors that momma didn't like BBurg and kept him from committing on his visit. But I will take your info over rumors any day.
Unfortunately this means that all of my attempts to not get my hopes up have officially been dashed.
Seeing on Twitter that UNC offered Dax's little brother this weekend to try to entice him in and that Alabama is looking at making a late push for Dax as well.
EDIT:
my attempt to post a GIF failed miserably.
Anyway, it was just this dude shaking his head in disagreement.
Trust me, it pained me to have to put it up here, especially after how much time the coaching staff has spent working to bring him here.
Please tell me Fuente is a really good dancer
#fakenews
I love how everybody pretends to know what a recruit's Mom thinks of a college town, Jesus Christ.
True.
You never know until they say it, and then really only when their son sends in their letter of intent.
If you're going to talk about how we don't have a good shot with him because he waited past ESD and got a lot more attention from other schools, I'm all ears. But the nonstop "momma doesn't like Blacksburg" like it's gospel because some rando said it was a possibility on some message board at some point is weird as hell to me.