The Gallo Injury and Next Man Up at Tight End

Sort of buried in yesterday's Prysser was news that long time starting tight end Nick Gallo will miss the first week and perhaps longer of the season. What changes will that bring to the Hokies offense?

As I pointed out last year, Tyler Bowen loves the quick tight end throw on play action. However, Gallo struggled to get separation, in large part because the Hokies run game was ineffective. Despite a lot of targets, especially early in the season, Gallo only finished with only 30 catches, most of which were close to the line of scrimmage (about 8 and a half yards per catch.) Gallo's biggest value is as a lead blocker using wham techniques, at which he has excelled at times, but struggled early last season.

While many may think this means more snaps for Dae'quan Wright, I am not convinced. Wright played more of a jumbo slot receiver role, with a focus on zone buster routes (curls and stick routes finding holes in zone coverage.) His blocking was, at best, inept. But, he gave the Hokies a competent intermediate receiver at a moment where nobody in the receiver room outside of Kaleb Smith seemed capable of getting separation. This year, the Hokies have veteran receivers occupying the top three slots, so unless there are injuries I believe Wright will be a fourth option (or a replacement at TE on passing downs.)

So, that leaves TE snaps for Benji Gosnell. I thought Gosnell was very similar to Gallo in terms of blocking in the spring game, and appears to be more athletic in the passing game. Friends in high school coaching familiar with Gosnell have told me that he is a big time athlete, and would garner much more attention if he had been in an area with a bigger history of producing DI players. The worry for Gosnell has been knee injuries. If Gosnell can stay healthy, I think he can be equally effective as Gallo (with fewer targets) and has the potential to be an outstanding tight end. Expect Gosnell to get most of the work over Wright in the Grant Bowl next week.