DJ Coles and a Changing Role due to Lack of WR Depth?

Over the last couple of days we have seen Kevin Asante dismissed from the football program, Joel Caleb moved to tailback, and Charlie Meyer has tweeked a hamstring. We didn't expect Carlis Parker and Deon Newsome to be contributors this season, and now they are getting 2nd team snaps. Depth at the wide receiver position is a major concern.

In the spring, the Hokies utilized R-SR DJ Coles at the HBack position, especially from an I formation with Coles flexed away from the tight end and one flanker. From this formation the offense often runs inside and outside zones away from Coles. Coles would dive inside trying to cut off pursuit from the back side, often by a defensive end. As a counter, Coles would dive inside but counter step and head to the flat away from the flow of the play on a bootleg.

Coles is a big, physical wide receiver, but he has a history of nagging injuries. He is the only veteran wide receiver on the team with any game experience. He also is the only big physical receiver who can be a threat in the red zone with Joel Caleb moving to tailback. If I was Scot Loeffler, I would consider keeping DJ Coles wide, where he can still be effective as a blocker, but also isn't getting beaten up blocking defensive linemen. The Hokies have a glut of tight ends, with Zach McCray and Duan Perez-Means as players who can contribute as Hbacks and may be more physically suited towards those assignments.

With so little information coming out of the Hokies camp, it is hard to tell if Scot Loeffler has made any minor changes in his approach as result of injury, but it certainly makes sense that he wants DJ Coles to be healthy for the 2013 season, especially with experience being such a limited quantity. Coles has shown the ability to make plays in the intermediate passing game, is a tremendous blocker against defensive backs (and the occassional UVA middle linebacker), and his ability as a blocker will be critical to success running quick wide receiver screens, as Stanford and Knowles likely will be more effective catching screens than blocking for them given their small stature. The August 17th scrimmage will tell us more about what the fully installed offense looks like, but it is probably safe to say that the lack of depth at the receiver position will impact the offensive philosophy in some way.