I believe the twins are officially signing today. Potentially some key JUCO pickups, but we could also be done adding new 2021 commits.
This day used to be one of the wildest days of the year, but the ESD really took a lot of steam out of the Feb one. Now it's mostly the big dogs fighting over the last few elite guys and coaching turnover teams backfilling slots from decommits.
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pretty sure they officially signed in December, but were only going to make their public announcement at their high school's signing day press conference today
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Truly blessed with this opportunity! I want to thank God and my parents for being with me every step of the way! pic.twitter.com/RXx6uMRVYO— Jayden McDonald (@jaybreezy_06) February 3, 2021
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I know it looks like they're signing today, but Fu talked about them in December at the post-ESD press conference. (answered a question about them I think) He couldn't have done that if they hadn't already signed.
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Fuente says the #Hokies aren't signing anybody today, since VT got everybody in the fold in December."It's been over for a long time for us. The first signing day has become the signing day."— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) February 3, 2021
No one. Currently Fuente is doing a press conference with the media.
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I'm interested in the tidbits. I know Bitter reported Darrell Bailey is officially switching from DL to OL (which was always kinda expected). Excited to see Lakeem Rudolph moving from safety to backer as he physically outgrew the position. I've felt like we've lacked speed and range since the Edmunds left.
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I could tell that the issue about player safety is near and dear to him. He went really in depth about changes he would like to see implemented regarding the fall camp. I'm curious to see how many kids had concussions back when they used to do the Middle Drill and if that research that Teel referenced had to do with them doing away with it. I kind of think you're stuck between a rock and hard place these days regarding getting in "good" work. You want your team to be crisp and get the pads popping, but you have to be careful in doing it.
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What everyone's thoughts on the class overall? I watched Coach Fu's availability this afternoon and he is correct when saying we need linemen, linemen, and more linemen. We are also very thin on D. tackles...
We should not take any more RBs, this year or next. I think we are good there. It's time to even out the roster a little bit.
I like the WRs. Wish we had a big body receiver but we're going to have to work with what we have for now.
James Mitchell coming back is huge. I like the TEs and Holifield and Tribble will have time to grow into the position.
Goodner is going to be REALLY good IMO and will continue the trend of having controlled nastiness when Hoffman leaves.
I think we're good on DEs
Going to be interesting to see how things shake out at LB. With Rudolph moving to Boundary, i wonder if they will consider moving Tisdale to a position in the secondary during the spring.
DBs look good and hopefully we will start building depth. With Waller, Chatman and Strong coming back, I feel good about the CBs. Lets see what Coach Ham has this season.
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I really hope "Personal Foul, Unnecessary Roughness" doesn't become our new holding penalty. We don't have Tyrod to bail us out of 3rd and Prices Fork anymore.
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I really like Kenji Christian, and I believe Malachi Thomas could be good as well. I'm less sure what to expect from Chance Black (I like his film, but don't trust our utilization of that type of back), and unsure if Elijah Howard is a DB or a RB. Either way, my biggest complaint with this group is that we took so many after taking so many last year. I agree, barring some unforeseen attrition I hope we take only 1 back, 2 if it's a can't miss guy, next cycle.
I feel pretty good about the WR haul as well. We got a few different body types and skill sets in this group. We needed to rebuild the room and we got enough guys that hopefully at least 2 are notable hits. If one or both of Tyree Saunders and Dallan Wright come good I will be optimistic.
I agree about our TE/H-Back types as well. Seems like we got two guys that fit what we like to do, and you don't necessarily need blue chip TE's to consistently find success at that position.
I like the potential of Stretch Carroll and Cole Nelson. If Rob Wooten and Beadles develop well, I feel that can be a room we see turn around well.
CB, I LOVE DJ Harvey. I am very pleased with that pick up. I think the only other person I feel slated for corner with any confidence is Nyke, who I also like quite a bit. I think getting 2-3 true corners in the next class should be a priority given we haven't taken a lot of true corners in recent cycles.
Listed as CB's, I will defer judgement on the McDonald twins as I know almost nothing about them, but you'd be hard pressed to convince me either of those guys will ever play corner in college if their listed sizes (6-4, 217) and (6-3, 218) are correct, and in pictures they certainly look like they are accurate. Interesting prospects but they seem to be headed towards my next group...
A huge collection of LB and S types, which was probably necessary with how thin our DB depth got this season. COVID and key injuries really showed how quickly we could find ourselves scrambling for depth there. I don't necessarily know who will end up where and who will be good out of this group, but I think Jalen Stroman looks like someone who will be a starter at safety in our future, and as huge fan of Greg, I trust the pedigree. I feel based on sheer numbers that there has to be some hits in the S/Nickel grouping.
With most even front defenses most commonly playing 2LB sets in the modern game, we basically field the Mike and Backer, plus a nickel/OLB hybrid type which has been well manned by Conner in recent years. Isi Etute is an interesting ILB prospect to me. I don't have a ton of clarity where Will Johnson will best fit but like his athleticism. The Backer spot seems to be the most interesting to me. Jaden Keller and Keli Lawson present an athletic, long safety hybrid profile at the position, and Lakeem Rudolph moving to Backer suggests this is the profile we are going to looking to fill that room with. LB seems like a group to me that will either be filled with major market inefficiency hits, or a multiple busts. Based on size I'd expect one or both of the McDonald twins to end up in the Backer conversation at some point.
OL was disappointing to me, but not because I don't like Goodner and Miletic. I feel good about Goodner as an interior lineman, and I'm okay with taking a flier on developing a guy like Miletic. I feel like we needed a tackle in this class bad, and losing Canon Boone and finishing without one hurts.
DT was an outright failure imo. I hope Mamudi ends up being a solid player and will root for him to be great, but once again we take one iDL, miss on our biggest and most important prospect Tyleik Williams, and end up flipping a G5 player at the eleventh hour to avoid taking ZERO DT's. Roster management, particularly at WR, RB, and iDL, has been one of my biggest complaints about this staff. I'm so glad we were able to land Jordan Williams in the portal, but he's likely a one year guy. This is a group where we have to hit on a few DT's in the next cycle.
That leaves Tahj Bullock, who I think is at worst a solid fit for our offense and could execute the run reads and operate the extra run heavy version (QP version) of our already run heavy offense. Our staff hasn't inspired a ton of confidence in me that they can develop QB's well, but I think he is a good prospect.
Thanks for posting your thoughts by the way. I enjoyed taking the time to parse through my own and reflect on the class and my doing so was directly tied to seeing this comment.
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I feel relatively confident in assuming that JF already knows (or has a feeling) that the RB room will thin out prior to the season. I would bet, without any actual information, that he was partially referencing that when talking about picking up more transfers and having the room for them. Could be completely wrong here but would be surprised if I was. Would love to see that room thin out and then be able to pick up an OL and DL from the portal
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I agree there will be attrition in the RB room, I was trying to specify that unless we have some unforeseen level (like 5-6 guys leaving in a short period) I would prefer to take a small RB class in 22.
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Great thoughts! and I appreciate you going through all of the prospects. I guess the only reason I want to watch this season is because I want to see how this defense develops around Justin Hamilton. For all we know, this could be his audition for the head coaching job when FU is gone (stranger things have happened).
On offense, I look for the same ol, same ol...while we should be able to score some points, i have zero confidence in us being a legit threat in the passing game with Burmeister at QB. I saw some good things from Kadum and I agree that I think Tahj will be good one, but he just needs time.
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I liked this class better than its rating. I can't really explain it but I just seemed to get the feeling that a lot of those guys were being undervalued by the star ratings. I hope that is not just me forgetting what a class with a handful of 4 stars looks like.
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I think there are a lot of underrated recruits in this 2021 class relative to the previous few years because of the lack of spring/summer 7on7 and regional/national camp circuit. Some of these high school kids haven't played organized football since the Fall of 2019 (like Virginia recruits). Some kids did though, and those kids with senior film will likely be more accurately rated.
As it pertains to our class specifically, I think we have several mid 3*'s who would likely have been higher 3's in a normal cycle, and a few who had the potential to earn a 4th star in a normal cycle. I think guys like Keli Lawson, Jaylen Jones, and Isi Etute are examples of those who potentially suffered (in terms of rating) from not having a summer camp circuit and a senior season of film.
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Comments
I believe the twins are officially signing today. Potentially some key JUCO pickups, but we could also be done adding new 2021 commits.
This day used to be one of the wildest days of the year, but the ESD really took a lot of steam out of the Feb one. Now it's mostly the big dogs fighting over the last few elite guys and coaching turnover teams backfilling slots from decommits.
pretty sure they officially signed in December, but were only going to make their public announcement at their high school's signing day press conference today
I wish I had a chin line like these guys. They should keep their hats (helmets) off on the sideline for the pure intimidation factor.
These two look like they are 25 year olds.
I know it looks like they're signing today, but Fu talked about them in December at the post-ESD press conference. (answered a question about them I think) He couldn't have done that if they hadn't already signed.
No one. Currently Fuente is doing a press conference with the media.
Koma's working on a presser report. Very little recruiting conversation, but a lot of interesting roster tidbits.
How do we work "super seniors" into everyday conversations?
I'm interested in the tidbits. I know Bitter reported Darrell Bailey is officially switching from DL to OL (which was always kinda expected). Excited to see Lakeem Rudolph moving from safety to backer as he physically outgrew the position. I've felt like we've lacked speed and range since the Edmunds left.
Good to see him getting after that water bottle right from the start.
Felt like he sounded more personable this time around than he has in a long time
I could tell that the issue about player safety is near and dear to him. He went really in depth about changes he would like to see implemented regarding the fall camp. I'm curious to see how many kids had concussions back when they used to do the Middle Drill and if that research that Teel referenced had to do with them doing away with it. I kind of think you're stuck between a rock and hard place these days regarding getting in "good" work. You want your team to be crisp and get the pads popping, but you have to be careful in doing it.
Dead ass forgot that its NSD. Feels like an afterthought what with ESD..
Not signing but PWO who committed
What everyone's thoughts on the class overall? I watched Coach Fu's availability this afternoon and he is correct when saying we need linemen, linemen, and more linemen. We are also very thin on D. tackles...
We should not take any more RBs, this year or next. I think we are good there. It's time to even out the roster a little bit.
I like the WRs. Wish we had a big body receiver but we're going to have to work with what we have for now.
James Mitchell coming back is huge. I like the TEs and Holifield and Tribble will have time to grow into the position.
Goodner is going to be REALLY good IMO and will continue the trend of having controlled nastiness when Hoffman leaves.
I think we're good on DEs
Going to be interesting to see how things shake out at LB. With Rudolph moving to Boundary, i wonder if they will consider moving Tisdale to a position in the secondary during the spring.
DBs look good and hopefully we will start building depth. With Waller, Chatman and Strong coming back, I feel good about the CBs. Lets see what Coach Ham has this season.
What part of Hoffman's nastiness is controlled? He is a walking personal foul penalty.
I really hope "Personal Foul, Unnecessary Roughness" doesn't become our new holding penalty. We don't have Tyrod to bail us out of 3rd and Prices Fork anymore.
I really like Kenji Christian, and I believe Malachi Thomas could be good as well. I'm less sure what to expect from Chance Black (I like his film, but don't trust our utilization of that type of back), and unsure if Elijah Howard is a DB or a RB. Either way, my biggest complaint with this group is that we took so many after taking so many last year. I agree, barring some unforeseen attrition I hope we take only 1 back, 2 if it's a can't miss guy, next cycle.
I feel pretty good about the WR haul as well. We got a few different body types and skill sets in this group. We needed to rebuild the room and we got enough guys that hopefully at least 2 are notable hits. If one or both of Tyree Saunders and Dallan Wright come good I will be optimistic.
I agree about our TE/H-Back types as well. Seems like we got two guys that fit what we like to do, and you don't necessarily need blue chip TE's to consistently find success at that position.
I like the potential of Stretch Carroll and Cole Nelson. If Rob Wooten and Beadles develop well, I feel that can be a room we see turn around well.
CB, I LOVE DJ Harvey. I am very pleased with that pick up. I think the only other person I feel slated for corner with any confidence is Nyke, who I also like quite a bit. I think getting 2-3 true corners in the next class should be a priority given we haven't taken a lot of true corners in recent cycles.
Listed as CB's, I will defer judgement on the McDonald twins as I know almost nothing about them, but you'd be hard pressed to convince me either of those guys will ever play corner in college if their listed sizes (6-4, 217) and (6-3, 218) are correct, and in pictures they certainly look like they are accurate. Interesting prospects but they seem to be headed towards my next group...
A huge collection of LB and S types, which was probably necessary with how thin our DB depth got this season. COVID and key injuries really showed how quickly we could find ourselves scrambling for depth there. I don't necessarily know who will end up where and who will be good out of this group, but I think Jalen Stroman looks like someone who will be a starter at safety in our future, and as huge fan of Greg, I trust the pedigree. I feel based on sheer numbers that there has to be some hits in the S/Nickel grouping.
With most even front defenses most commonly playing 2LB sets in the modern game, we basically field the Mike and Backer, plus a nickel/OLB hybrid type which has been well manned by Conner in recent years. Isi Etute is an interesting ILB prospect to me. I don't have a ton of clarity where Will Johnson will best fit but like his athleticism. The Backer spot seems to be the most interesting to me. Jaden Keller and Keli Lawson present an athletic, long safety hybrid profile at the position, and Lakeem Rudolph moving to Backer suggests this is the profile we are going to looking to fill that room with. LB seems like a group to me that will either be filled with major market inefficiency hits, or a multiple busts. Based on size I'd expect one or both of the McDonald twins to end up in the Backer conversation at some point.
OL was disappointing to me, but not because I don't like Goodner and Miletic. I feel good about Goodner as an interior lineman, and I'm okay with taking a flier on developing a guy like Miletic. I feel like we needed a tackle in this class bad, and losing Canon Boone and finishing without one hurts.
DT was an outright failure imo. I hope Mamudi ends up being a solid player and will root for him to be great, but once again we take one iDL, miss on our biggest and most important prospect Tyleik Williams, and end up flipping a G5 player at the eleventh hour to avoid taking ZERO DT's. Roster management, particularly at WR, RB, and iDL, has been one of my biggest complaints about this staff. I'm so glad we were able to land Jordan Williams in the portal, but he's likely a one year guy. This is a group where we have to hit on a few DT's in the next cycle.
That leaves Tahj Bullock, who I think is at worst a solid fit for our offense and could execute the run reads and operate the extra run heavy version (QP version) of our already run heavy offense. Our staff hasn't inspired a ton of confidence in me that they can develop QB's well, but I think he is a good prospect.
Thanks for posting your thoughts by the way. I enjoyed taking the time to parse through my own and reflect on the class and my doing so was directly tied to seeing this comment.
I feel relatively confident in assuming that JF already knows (or has a feeling) that the RB room will thin out prior to the season. I would bet, without any actual information, that he was partially referencing that when talking about picking up more transfers and having the room for them. Could be completely wrong here but would be surprised if I was. Would love to see that room thin out and then be able to pick up an OL and DL from the portal
I agree there will be attrition in the RB room, I was trying to specify that unless we have some unforeseen level (like 5-6 guys leaving in a short period) I would prefer to take a small RB class in 22.
Great thoughts! and I appreciate you going through all of the prospects. I guess the only reason I want to watch this season is because I want to see how this defense develops around Justin Hamilton. For all we know, this could be his audition for the head coaching job when FU is gone (stranger things have happened).
On offense, I look for the same ol, same ol...while we should be able to score some points, i have zero confidence in us being a legit threat in the passing game with Burmeister at QB. I saw some good things from Kadum and I agree that I think Tahj will be good one, but he just needs time.
Don't sleep on Kadum, although I think his time is coming in 22, not 21.
I liked this class better than its rating. I can't really explain it but I just seemed to get the feeling that a lot of those guys were being undervalued by the star ratings. I hope that is not just me forgetting what a class with a handful of 4 stars looks like.
I think there are a lot of underrated recruits in this 2021 class relative to the previous few years because of the lack of spring/summer 7on7 and regional/national camp circuit. Some of these high school kids haven't played organized football since the Fall of 2019 (like Virginia recruits). Some kids did though, and those kids with senior film will likely be more accurately rated.
As it pertains to our class specifically, I think we have several mid 3*'s who would likely have been higher 3's in a normal cycle, and a few who had the potential to earn a 4th star in a normal cycle. I think guys like Keli Lawson, Jaylen Jones, and Isi Etute are examples of those who potentially suffered (in terms of rating) from not having a summer camp circuit and a senior season of film.