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That is what I was explaining to a Bama boy down here. It could work, Bama does tend to have OLB weighing in at 240-260lbs. But if he wants to get his hand on the ground on the line of scrimmage. He should be thinking about going somewhere else besides Bama.
French can go on for hours at length agreeing with you. My guess is Alabama wants to morph him into OLB, not sure that's a great fit for him either.
Kellen Moore was also an intelligent young man as well.
Well Alabama might be Alabama, but it doesn't sound like Hand's strengths can be fully utilized as a DE in this defense. Hate bringing up what is now a sour subject, but with his abilty to get off blocks, he would be better in Bud foster's 4-3 than taking up space in a 3-4. Am I thinking this through right?
sigh...
Tapp is a skin too. The skins have quite a few hokies.
Exactly this. This speaks to my point in the original posts. Thanks horse
My point was more from a recruiting standpoint, what resonates with 18 year old kids who want to play college football. Sure Vick is prominent and more recent, but, at least I would assume, that these kids follow football and know the name Bruce Smith.
I agree that non-football fans would know Vick over Smith, but, at least as recruiting goes, I don't really care about their thoughts.
I don't think so. Bruce Smith, I think, is our only Hall-of-Famer. He's our best overall product that has probably ever been in the league.
But MV7 is not only the flashiest, but recently felonious. I would think that the average non-football fan wouldn't have any idea who Bruce Smith is, but they've probably heard of Michael Vick. I'd go as far as to say that MV7 is probably, fortunately or not, the face of VT football in the NFL.
Just asked a non-football-fan coworker: You know who Bruce Smith is? [blank stare] What about Michael Vick? "Oh yeah, of course I know who he is".....
...and just completed a lap around the development team and most people under 40 don't know who Bruce Smith is. But all of them know Michael Vick. The question, "Who is the face of Virginia Tech football," generated all MV7 answers. 100%. Maybe my office here in State College, PA is biased for....some reason. But this was my point. When people think of VT football, the first name coming to mind is MV7.
That poor kid he blew up on his way to the running back at 0:53. Ouch.
"But MV7 is our most recognizable alumni."
I think you are forgetting someone: Bruce Smith.
Yeah Duane Brown was a pro bowler and someone was talking about him as one of the best left tackles in the league, but he also went on the record saying he didn't learn technique at all in college and had to learn it all in the NFL. Meanwhile, UVA placed an OL in the 1st round in three out of four years from 2006-2009.
On a side note, Pre Snap Read ranked Brandon Flowers as the league's 5th best cornerback in a pretty comprehensive analysis yesterday.
Deangelo Hall is obviously a long term starter, but has an attitude that turns some people off, including a die-hard-Redskin-fan friend of mine. Darryl Tapp is still in the league somewhere, I think. But MV7 is our most recognizable alumni.
Every player coming out of HS has things to work on. *every single one of them* Some get the stuff fixed early and dominate the college game, others take a little longer to get going. No worries about Teller right now for me. Three years from now, maybe, but not now. (sorry, wasn't poking at you directly)
Sorry, wasn't meant to point out your post as the catalyst, just seems to be a lot of other people pointing out how they don't like the direction things are heading.
I think we have a lot of guys that could help with the recruiting. Eventhough Tyrod is second to Flacco, he still has a superbowl ring and shows up on the sidelines a lot. Some of the other commenters also point out great players that are out there. I think Wilson has the opportunity to light it up.
I think Vick helped a lot, I just don't want to give him all the credit here. It's kind of like how people say the 460 bypass from 81 to blacksburg is Vick Highway, however that was planned before he became a student. To me, the program is the same, it was moving upward before he got there, he just helped push it a bit. I think we have some guys coming in that could help that again. I'm thinking 2015 or 2016 could be another NC year.
I could throw people who weighed 50-100 lbs less than me around like its nothing too. Nnadi also was the 2nd fastest DL prospect at the Chicago camp and the guy who beat him was 60 lbs lighter. Brown has the frame to get to 315 but Nnadi could be a 310 wrecking ball. His low leverage will reek havoc on those 6'5" linemen.
Depends on your definition of NFL Star. Duane Brown has done pretty well. Deangelo Hall and Josh Morgan are starters. Even Flowers is doing well, despite how much the Chiefs sucked. Their names aren't lit up like Vick's but that's because of the position more than anything.
(Chancellor is the closest thing we've had since Vick, correct me if I'm wrong)
David Wilson has the chance to be the next VT superstar at the NFL level. He could be a HUGE recruiting tool. He's young, flashy, big into social media (instagram/twitter) and he doesn't really get into trouble.
I usually play on heisman, but forgot to switch it. Just played my first game on the demo. #BEATBAMA 24-10, LT was 5-10, 98 yards. 192 yards, 2 TDs on the ground over 10 carries, that read option was unstoppable, especially when running to the left side.
Serious question: Did they change anything from 2013?
I never said anything about being on the way out or the beginning of the end. I was echoing the thought that Vick's diminishing career hurts our recruiting efforts, because it does. Didn't mean to imply that the sky was falling.
And obviously we're in contention with recruits that pre-Vick we wouldn't have had a chance with. But don't you think Vick played a major role to get us to this point? I do. Yes we were on the rise, but we weren't on the rise to a national championship until Vick came.
In regards to Vick and recruiting, high school players like to follow greatness and Vick's the greatest greatness we have (especially for younger generations). Therefore, unless we start to pump out NFL stars (Chancellor is the closest thing we've had since Vick, correct me if I'm wrong) or we win a national championship or two, then Vick will remain one of our biggest pieces of recruiting PR. If he dwindles out of the spotlight and we don't have any other NFL stars show up, then we won't have that NFL figurehead we've been so used to having which will hurt in recruiting. That's my point. Not that it's all doom and gloom in Blacksburg, but that Vick is something these young kids can see tangible results from in regards to VT and if he continues to slope downward it doesn't bode well for our recruiting purposes. Not to say that we won't be able to recruit big names, just saying that foundation we've been so used to having won't be there anymore and we'll need something else to fill the void. Hopefully that's David Wilson becoming a star and one of these DBs we always get drafted to become a star or continuing to dominate the ACC or preferably, we win the crystal.
Sorry to imply that one bad season makes me think we're going to suck. I was just adding more to the Vick/recruiting connection that Eddieryan mentioned in his post because I think it's a real thing and something most Hokie fans don't think about or realize.
I don't know about Brown not having a mean streak. He shoves players who weigh 50-100lbs less than him out of the way with ease and then pile drives running backs in his highlight videos. he has got the mean streak. It is how that power translates to compitition that is equal or greater size that seems to be the unknown right now. When it is more technique than strength. Take a look at this highlight film
Agree with StevenSorrell 100%....I am frustrated that we have one mediocre year and everyone is screaming that the sky is falling. There is ONE thing that can turn this attitude around 180 degrees and that is: #BEATBAMA
agreed .. brown's measurables are more impressive and probably has more upside
nnadi is shorter but strong as an ox (not exaggerating .. he is literally as strong as an ox)
i think that brown has the highest upside of the big 3 DT left (brown/nnadi/walker) but nnadi and walker both have a level of "meanness" and "nastiness" that brown doesn't have as much of
i'd love to have any or all of the three.
I wouldn't be surprised if they don't update the uniforms They tend to miss details like that. They didn't put names on the backs of the white jerseys last year and the orange ones had numbers OVER the shoulder stripes.
I agree that he did a lot for our program, but VT was on the rise before that. We did beat Texas in a big bowl years before he came onboard, so it's not like things weren't on the up and up already. He didn't single handedly make it a perfect season, if I recall, we had a nasty run game and defense, and special teams was disgusting then.
We have had a lot of kids since then come in and go to the pros as well.
Honestly, I find all this talk frustrating. We had one bad year, and everyone thinks its the beginning of the end. We had a rough year, no doubt, but a lot of teams have a small stretch like that. I mean, PSU went through it a few years back as well, they seem to continue being known as a powerhouse, even after all the Sandusky issues.
I think the way recruiting has been, we continue to look on the up and up. We are in conversations for kids that in the years of Vick, we wouldn't have even been a thought.
Thats what Hokie football was after all, bring in some kid who wants to play (no matter his star standing), coach him up and play solid hard nose football.
One bad season, I dismiss it, we are by no means on the way down and out.
"NDing it up" would end up with a 12-1 record, lone loss to Bama. I would take that. Losing to 'Bama big isn't necessarily a sign of mediocrity. Losing to Pitt, UNC, and Miami, while barely beating GT, BC, UVA and Rutgers is a sign of mediocrity.