Looks like Tech is hosting their Pro Day today. 17 total guys participating in one form or another. Could be a good opportunity for some of our Hokies, like Gosnell and Moore, to strengthen cases for UDFA status come the fall
Not really sure how to track performance but figured this could be a place to discuss any potential risers and standouts.
Players participating:
Tuten -RB
Lane - WR
Felton - WR
Jennings - WR
Gosnell - WR
APR - DL
Peebles - DL
Fuga - DL
Nelson - DL
Pene - DL
Strong - DB
Jenkins - DB
Jones - DB
Schlee - QB
Clements - OL
Kaden Moore - OL
Peter Moore - P
EDIT: Looks like events kick off at 2 pm
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
No not Peter Moore!
I think Felton and Jennings have a chance to put themselves into the late rounds with a good showing, but I see them as UDFA right now.
Jennings is undraftable.. medical issues. May get a look as a free agent- if he moves to TE.
Would be a possibility, particularly for Felton, since NFL teams seemingly love measurables. Also would think they benefit from a pretty weak WR class this year
O Schlee...we barely knew yee
Seeing Parker's name...
All any scout has to do is watch his game film.
He probably had second most sacks on the team. Couldn't block a lego if he had to
With his sack count they should look at him on defense /s
I didn't think teams could draft for their rivals. "No, no, you have to sign this guy to your team."
Like an anti-draft.
That would make a fun all star game format, you want them to play, then dis them from the start.
Seeing Tuten benched 24 reps today, more than any RB did at the combine. Peebles also hit 28 while Jennings put up 17
Tuten's stock just keeps going up and up.
Don't tell the NFL pundits that. They still are listing him as a 3rd rounder behind nine or ten other RBs.
there are two components to this -- the first has nothing to do with Tuten as a prospect and that is that it's just an absolutely loaded class at RB. the second is that Tuten as a prospect is small and there are concerns (founded or not) that he would struggle as a true 3-down back in the NFL -- didn't see a lot of usage in the passing game at VT and might struggle in pass pro at the next level.
not in NFL draft circles, but more on the Dynasty Fantasy Football circles, there is a concern Tuten would slide due to a perceived fumbling issue, but that is lazy to me. as Hokies, we know that a notable amount of the fumbles attributed to him were actually on janky mesh points/reads by the QB. I don't think that's all on him.
His range of outcomes is Round 2-3 to Round 5 just based on where teams have him on their boards -- either some team will jump at the chance to take him, or some team will be absolutely ecstatic he dropped into their lap.
NFL scouts are good at scouting and valuing RBs- they generally hit on the good ones- meaning high draft picks perform- Barkley, etc. And also have realized that you can get a good RB- Tuten- in the 5th round. They devalued the position- rightfully so- when the game and offenses changed and the best head coaches were simply play callers now. They aren't going to had the ball off 50 times. Having said that nobody in any industry does anything worse than the NFL scouts QBs. They are dreadful at it.
I've been listening to Todd McShay's podcast and he loves both Lane and Tuten (and was critical of our coaching staff, shocking I know).
I'm surprised he could find a place to start his critism, its just to much data.
It felt like Lane and Tuten (and Felton, albeit to a lesser degree) got a ton of love during the combine. Seeing how well Lane ranked among the WR group really hammered home how underutilized he was with us...
Was McShay's critique of our staff in regards to their usages or something else entirely?
I recall another poster comment before the season that scouts were primarily at games to see Lane more than any other player on the roster.
IIRC, he just didn't understand why the offense wasn't better considering a stud RB and a true college WR1. He called out the OL for sucking.
For the past 10 years, on 3rd and 6- we run the QB keeper 80% of the time vs. throwing it to a Jaylen Lane in that spot. Play calling is equal to the shit OL. But I don't ignore the overall lack of talent in the program. 10 win teams, highly ranked recruits help guys like Lane be more effective.
All correct.
Pry can find talent, he can't maximize it. Hoping new coordinators fix the problem.
Um he can't even marginally use it. Maurice Williams (1986) was the last time VT had a back that had 1000 yards and 6.0+ ypc. Herbert probably would have had he not gotten injured and/or played a full season.
Tuten put up generational combine numbers. He was incredible. He holds VT dongle game rushing record and did it on 18 carried. And this has to be the worse offensive line any off our really great backs have played behind.
Dude should have broken the single season record ig we have maximized his talent, yet he was 600 yard ls short.
I was having trouble imagining what this meant, then I wasn't and now I'm uncomfortable.
Single
I have no clue why my autocorrect would have used that. I dont use that word at all.
No, with a record breaking dongle game I don't think he's single.
Double? Triple?
A players dongle game is directly proportional to how much dork magic he possesses.
There is a direct relationship between dongle game and pussy touchdowns.
This made me question:
If I was still in my 20's and single would I rather have the dongle record or the rushing record?
Per McShay, Tuten had a "generational" showing at the combine. Was clamoring for him to be in a Miami-style offense.
You can bet your bippy that if Tuten had been wearing a gold helmet, a plain white one, or a maroon one with the letter "A" on the side, they wouldn't be trifling with 5th round talk.
Yep both Ohio State RBs are projected 1st rounders
He will probably end up being the steal of the draft. I hope he goes somewhere where he has a shot to succeed though, it can be hit or miss.
Love Tuten, but NFL RB scouting is pretty good. Much better than QB and other positions. They must see something in other RBS
I think rb scouting is good which is why they draft guys in late rounds all the time, its where they fit well in the value scheme.
top 10 rushers this season:
4 x 1st round
2 x 2nd round
1 x 4th round
3 x 5th round
Extremely deep 2025 RB class. Tuten would be a 3rd rounder if he was in last year's class.
Idk, Ashton Jeanty is going to be a top 10 pick and he played at a mid-major...Tuten is being compared to De'Von Achane (best case scenario) who was a third round pick - where Tuten would be projected if this was a "normal RB" draft.
With the RB class being so deep, early 5th seems right...Tuten is great, but he's small, not a pass catcher and fumbles.
Gonna leave this here now;
My hot take...
Tuten will be a NFL impact player, Jeanty will not.
You beat me to it. Jeanty excelled against bad teams.
Let's not simplify him to that. Jeanty put up 192 yards and 3 TDs on Oregon (allowed 130 total rushing yards average). He went over 100 yards against Penn State (allowed 101 Total rushing yards average), who only allowed one other 100 yard game all season. In other games against the Pac 2 he had 259 yards and 4 TDs against Wazzu(allowed 175 total rushing yards average) and 226 and a TD against Oregon State(allowed 185 total rushing yards average). In their conference championship against UNLV (allowed 115 total rushing yards average) he went for 209 and a TD.
Do I think he will be an otherworldly pro? No. Do I think he will be successful as long as he has a decent O Line? Absolutely.
Ashton Jeanty played on a better team with more talent across the board than VT has. Boise is bigger than us, faster than us, tougher than us. Had we played them last year we would have lost by 3 scores. I saw them in person, as I did the Hokies- no comparison. They are bigger, stronger, faster more physical pretty much everywhere. This isn't 1998. Boise is as good as anyone in the ACC now- including on par with Clemson, IMO.
I guess the question in my mind is.......HOW? How the fuck are they recruiting bigger faster stronger than we are? What the actual fuck?
Search Wiki or Chat GPT for the following topics: Justin Fuente, Mack Brown recruiting against VT, Dabo Swinney, James Franklin, P4 teams that have lost to ODU and Liberty in football. Start there.
Must be the S&C coach
Boise S&C Coach
LMAO
Nope
It's funny to see Hilgart in long sleeve anything in that article. He famously was in short sleeves for every game I saw VT play on TV and many of those were frappin' cold.
Two out of five from PFF as X Factors in the draft from a 6-7 team.
This draft may change some fan's perspective on the staff. If we have 4 players taken in the first 3-4 rounds I think many fans will be wondering why we didn't do better than 6-7. Now we have seen the OC, OL coach, and DC head out of town, so either Pry is incompetent or he deserves credit for realizing performance wasn't where it needed to be and make changes.
I think he can be an incompetent football coach while realizing 6-7 isn't good enough and changed had to be made
I thought this was the consensus about the decision to let coaches go after the season. Everyone knew changes needed to be made in the staff and he made them.
Star skill players can only get so much done when the offensive line is a sieve that is barely being coached. The narrative that a few select players being good to great should make for a winning team doesn't hold up. Otherwise, Miami would have been amazing for the last 20 years, and swimming in ACC championship trophies. Instead they have zero championships, and a flukey record.
The reality is that it takes a team, not just players, to win football games.
The decline in the late Beamer years also coincides with some less than stellar offensive line coaching and play. Had that been better, it could have offset some mediocre playcallers. Newsome was the beginning of the end for Beamer.
I also think this should be a positive that the individual talent level is increasing, even if the cohesion team results haven't hit yet
"I also think this should be a positive that the individual talent level is increasing"- we have been saying this for years. I don't think its true. all due respect. We haven't seen it on the field.
We had ten players drafted in the six drafts from 2019 to 2024, and likely six will be drafted in this draft alone. I agree it's not translating to the field for VT yet - that's the results thing I already mentioned. But it's still an improved evaluation of VT's individual talent from the NFL.
I really only think four will get drafted unless teams take flyers on Felton and Strong. Was surprised that quite a few project APR as a UFA as well.
Imo we'll see Tuten, Lane, Peebles, APR, Strong as the five with maybe some late round action for Felton/Jennings
This site seems to agree on Strong, projecting him in Round 4. Seems like his grades are all over the place though.
https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Colleges/FBS/ACC-FBS/virginia-tech-hokies
Was surprised to see Colin Schlee's name above Jennings
Agreed. I have seen Strong in rd 3 and the evaluations for the rest are anywhere from Rd 2 -6, it's wild. I saw Lane as a second round pick in one mock. Seen Tuten as high as RB3 and as low as RB15.
I'd put Strong above APR. He got washed out of plays by TEs. He needs a lot of work to play NFL DE.
it wasn't an order, just a grouping
The only one of the players we are taking about that was a high school committee to VT is Strong, and he was a Fuente recruit. I dont think we did anything to develop the other guys on the list. We had other Delane and Chaplin that could have gotten to the NFL but they left so I dont really see our talent level increasing as much as we have blips when we get transfers like when Herbert ran all over everyone.