I know we were all excited about the seasons that our trio of TEs could have this year, and they are certainly on that path. With his first career touchdown reception, Ryan Malleck helped this group break the single season record for receptions by TEs (previously held by the 2004 squad), giving the group an astounding 50 catches so far. as of today the group stands just 37 yards short of the all-time single-season yardage record and two touchdowns short of the single-season touchdown record (both also held by the 2004 squad).
As for individual honors, Bucky stands 9 receptions short of Steve Johnson's 1987 record 38 catches, 115 yards short of Johnson's 87 record, and one touchdown from Jeff King's 2005 record. Malleck himself has currently had the 8 best season in terms of receptions, and 15th best season in terms of yards.
I guess I shouldn't say that these are all time records, but these are all records that have been established in the Beamer ball era
and the best part is that they're all back next year
Comments
Thank you for that ray of sunshine. My day just got a little brighter.
Bucky still has another offseason to grow 6 more inches
6 more feet*
6 more yards*
More than ever, it's apparent why we really needed a healthy Malleck last year.
Because Loefflers offense with record breaking TE's has been awesome. Right?
I'll ignore the snark and answer that it's much better than if there were no record breaking TEs to play.
Imagine Thomas with 2-3 excellent TEs to pass to last year.
Please don't ignore the snark/sarcasm. Of all the things Loeffler has done that bother me, right up there with "find something that works and immediately stop doing it" is his excuse about Malleck's injury ruining his whole offense last year.
The sarcasm was directed more at Loeffler than cdsc. I hate excuses, and that one in particular gets under my skin.
We'll last year he only had a fr TE and fr RB and Knowles and Byrne were his experienced offensive players other then Thomas.
Malleck was going to be his mismatch guy sine he had a QB tall enough to throw over the lines that went away when Thomas graduated.
Even with a poor o-line Thomas was big enough to get away with a lot but still forced errors.
Picture Malleck with a stack of quick passes per game last year where Thpmas could get rid of it before pressure arrived rather than trying to force a bad decision.
It wasn't Loeffler's excuse bit it sure would have helped having a properly sized TE catching slot passes and sealing the end and pass blocking.
Calvin Kline made a name for himself - so to speak - last season by performing well for us as a TE.
AS a catching TE. His blocking needed additional work IIRC.
Well we DO have "God's Gift" playing TE for us, so it shouldn't be surprising.
I'm not a big NFL guy, outside of keeping up with former Hokies, but I just noticed this season that Quarless for the Packers has the exact same tattoos.
Bucky Hodges is my favorite TE in college football so far. At the rate he is growing, he could end up being the best TE in school history barring any injuries.
^^^ Doesn't understand that a punchline is supposed to be funny.
FTFY
Unfortunately the trio has really only been a duo. And even the duo hasn't been in play for a number of games.
It'll be really interesting to see what can be done with these 3 guys if they can all be healthy next year.
Exactly. Cline played great for us last year as a freshman. When all three are healthy and available to go we'll have even more options.
Also look at this quote from 3rdand31 from his summer article Stretching the Field with Tight Ends:
We've obviously had very little run game but the physical mismatch that Hodges creates has created great receiving numbers whether he was actually open or not. He just brings the ball in. With a full year of TE play under his belt, and if we can get the running game going next year where the defense has to respect it, imagine the possibilities for Hodges with the play-action pass.
Nice pull from a summer article. This season would have been totally different IMO if Edmunds had gotten all the way back for it. Even if he had just stayed healthy after the UNC game, I don't think we would be on this same skid. He just has a burst that Marshawn, despite the amazing strength and hard running, just doesn't have. He was also further along and really starting to hit some holes. I'm looking forward to the trio of Trey, Marshawn, and Shai being supplemented by the trio of Cline, Hodges, and Malleck. Ford, Phillips, and Stanford could be another impressive trio to look forward to as well.
EDIT: Here's to hoping that Trey, Shai, and CLine get healthy and that the others can stay healthy!!!
I think Hodges might be an All-Pro some day, but it's pretty embarrassing when the best TE in our history only has 38 receptions in a season. When you look at the passing & receiving numbers, it is just mind boggling how low they are. We are definitely at the tail end of the curve.
Well not really, considering he's on pace for at least 51 catches, more than anyone on the team had last season.
Actually, yes, really, considering that the single season record - For An Entire Season - is 38. Total. For. An. Entire. Season.
That's the embarrassing part that some folks seem so eager to ignore while defending the indefensible. Entire season record for VT right now? 38. For an entire season. Not nine games. An entire season. Hodges could end up with 120, but right now the record is 38. That is embarrassing.
Sorry man, I misread your original comment. Thought you were saying it was embarrassing that Hodges only has 38 catches and should have more, or something like that.
+1 turkey leg for you, Glen Coco.
Nope. Hodges is great. He could turn out to be one of the best receivers we've ever had, if he is utilized enough. I'm totally serious in thinking he could be a Gronkowski-level TE, if only we would stop being so stupidly 1980's-offense minded and unleash his potential. He could be a 1st team All American, easy. If... we used him right. The absolute same applies for Isaiah Ford. Both 'should' end their careers as the best in VT history at their positions. If... we don't waste their talents.
Bucky's been a TE for about 1 year now give or take... considering that, and the fact that he's a redshirt freshman, working with a new QB... and he's still in the top 10 for TEs in receptions and TDs realistically we're getting pretty good production from him
38 catches in 9 games for a freshman who is still learning to run routes is embarrassing? Is there anything folks won't twist in order to complain about?
Thanks for completely missing the point. I won't capitalize as to embarrass you, but - emphasis added here: the previous record was 38 receptions, and that was for an entire season, not nine games, so stop knee jerking in defense.
I wasn't the only one to misunderstand, so perhaps it wasn't very clear?
Nevertheless I don't consider 38 an embarrassment. Few teams utilized the TE until the last 10 years or so and VT made no pretense during the 2000s that it was a passing team - and that worked out pretty well. Even truly great and relatively recent TEs like Jason Whitten, Jeremy Shockey and Rob Gronkowski had relatively few catches in their college careers.
If VT had a TE with, say, 55 catches at some point, do you think that the win-loss record would have been appreciably different? Do you think those additional touches a game to a TE would have been more productive than 3 or 4 carries a game (with a TE blocking) by Jones, Suggs, Ore, Williams, Wilson, et al?
But I suppose if one tries hard enough, you can find embarrassment in some offensive stat because there is no such thing as the omnipotent offense.
Or... perhaps one could objectively understand that when an offensive philosophy ignores half of the possible options available (because they involve passing not running the ball) then the recruiting for offensive skill players suffers, the offensive success suffers, the scoring opportunities are minimized, as well as a host of other winning scenarios being snuffed out.
But hey, as someone else said - we're doing pretty good right now. At least they thought so...
All because the previous record for TE catches was 38?
I think Brewer/Coaches need to realize and/or get more comfortable with the fact that Bucky is always open, but in a different way than Danny Coale, he was literally, just always open. Bucky can separate, but even when he doesn't, the dude has shown he can out battle anyone for the ball. Just throw it to him!!
I was impressed on Saturday with him pushing piles.
One definite positive form the BC game was when it seemed like all 10 guys ran as hard as they could to push Bucky into the end zone. There was no lack of effort from the offense throughout most of those 4th quarter drives. It was the team we saw against anOSU. They just need to get used to being that team every play of every game.
Considering the OP says in the end they are referring to the Beamer era, I'd say no, it's not mind boggling. The Beamer era has been about running the ball, which has led to the TE position mostly being about blocking and being an extension of the line. Considering we haven't had a 1,000 yard receiver, I wouldn't expect much output from the TE group numbers-wise.
Mike Burnop had 46 one season.
a DV on this post?
someone no likey positive attitudes?
Methinks there is a troll on the boards...or even worse, a LOLUVA fan.
Joe approves all accounts for the purpose of trolls not being able to join TKP.
Yeah, but it's not like he can read an account and immediately say "Yup. This guy is no good." It's more like, "Yup, this guy has knowledge about the program."
I'm pretty sure I could pass the screening process for other boards just through the sheer power of the internet. I know I call him the almighty Joe, but he doesn't have super incredible future vision.
Website development is not my area of expertise, but shouldn't the moderators be able to see who contributed the up and down votes? I mean, you have to be logged on in order to vote, so each vote is probably tied to an account.
Doesn't really matter, just curious since it seems like there's been an uptick of downvotes recently.
There is a system that can be monitored. I am not privy to it, but Joe periodically reviews voting habits and either (1) reminds people of expectations or (2) suspends accounts after persistent misuse. This is one of the main reasons I try to call out incorrect usage - to save him some work and organically modify behavior.
Gotcha. Curiosity satisfied, thanks!
And once again, thanks to you, Joe, and the others for keeping the house in such great shape for us slobs who just walk right in and put our feet on the furniture without thinking of how much effort you put into making us comfy.
So you are saying this is us:
Which means that Joe is Eddie Murphy, and Guitarman is Charlie Murphy.
So glad Bucky is a Hokie. I could definitely see him getting some All American votes this year, and then making one of the teams next season. Bright future ahead for the kid!
3 step guide to becoming a Virginia Tech fan...
Step 1: Complain about TE not being featured enough in the passing game.
Step 2: Watch team hire an OC who regularly sends the TE on pass routes, often has TE as the primary route, flexes TEs out wide, etc. TEs on pace to shatter VT recieving records.
Step 3: Complain about TE not being featured enough in the passing game.
Bucky should be thrown to every single time he runs a route. Until I see him be shut down or drop a pass, he should always get the ball. Anything less than 5 catches a game for him should be inexcusable.
Except that Isaiah Ford is even better than Bucky. So... who gets the (phony) 'huge' amount of 4-5 targets per game in Frank's lock down run all the time offense? You know, where we ignore the talent of the receivers we have so that we can burn the play clock down and rest Bud's defense? You know, all while the rest of the nation is providing receivers twice that many opportunities to make a name for themselves?
Agree. With as much as Brewer has been throwing it, and despite how much Loeffler likes to spread it around, Bucky and Ford are the type of athletes that should have 7-10 catches each per game. Regardless of what the defense is giving the O, those two should be getting the ball more.
Or we could go with the Sam Rogers offense, and just give him the ball every play. I'd be okay with that too.
ah yes, the rogers rule. On every play, rogers must touch the ball in some capacity (passer, rusher, receiver). The only exception is if he throws a nasty block in pass protection (and no, I don't really think that rushing plays utilizing him as lead blocker have been particularly effective, whoever's fault that is).
7-10 catches a game each? Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Ford and (especially) Hodges have the chance to be special players, but after 10 weeks (9 games) only 14 receivers have 60+ receptions, 5 have 70+, one of them having 90 and another 80. Both Hodges and Ford are freshmen with limited experience in the offense/position, and limited snaps in college. I know everyone wants freshmen to age rapidly and play like upperclassmen but very few around the country do, and most of those are the highly touted recruits. I would much rather take what the defense gives us while running routes that benefit Hodges (seam, fades) and Ford (curls, slants) than force the ball into their hands.
Bucky is top 10 among TEs in receptions, and tied for 3rd in TDs... considering he was a QB a little over a year ago I think it's hard to complain with his production
You would indeed think that both would be targeted more than they have been. That was my initial point, along with praising Hodges. Both he & Ford are tremendous talents, as I made clear above. While we have a lot of talent in our current crop of receivers, they are clearly the two best we have. It seems logical they would be targeted more often. Nobody is saying it is their fault they haven't caught more passes, as some people seem to be interpreting. Everyone agrees they've done all they can do. It just makes sense to give them MORE because they are that good.
I have a sneaking suspicion the QB is the limiting factor more than the receivers.
Those WR have made some outstanding plays but, trying to get the ball to them is one reason why Brewer was leading in INT.
I have confidence they will be worked back in with more targets but the high percentage passes just were not there against Miami and BC. That's one reason Rogers got 4 passes for 70 yards, the backfield was on the WR so Rogers could come in underneath them. He was open in the flat several more times than those 4 times too.
And let's not forget how the QB was struggling in getting the ball down and not over the heads of those guys on longer passes. It got worrysome for picks.
Let's see if it opens up for the WR a little more against Duke and UVA.
This is awesome news, I've been wondering since Keith Willis why we, with what we have always claimed to want to do offensively, didn't integrate the TE into the passing game more. It was one of the things I was most excited about when Lefty came, so it's cool to see that come to a realization...baby steps...
"Tight Ends on Verge of Historic Season"
Heh -- TWSS