David Wilson Cruises for 57 Yards in Tech's First Scrimmage

“We've been putting a lot of work into (freshman defensive tackle) Kris Harley, and putting a lot of work into Luther Maddy, and both of those kids have gotten better this week," Wiles said. “I see here that Luther made some plays. I know you noticed him a little bit. He got tired. It's not fair to give him a really true evaluation when the kid's tired, but he played more than what was scheduled for him to play due to the injury (to Battle). Then, we lose the other guy [Tucker], and we're really short-handed and you're playing three groups. You've got guys going back-to-back (series'), playing 12 plays in a row. That's not realistic. That's not going to happen. We're obviously not going to play a kid 12 plays in a row."

Hamlette has caught Wiles' eye the most this week in practice. At 6-foot-5 and 291 pounds, Hamlette's offseason work has put him in position to get some serious playing time this season.

“If you look at his (weight room) numbers, you look at his body and all that, he's gotten a lot bigger," Wiles said. “I don't know if you guys have really seen him. He's gotten bigger. He has improved. He's more physical. I wouldn't call him just an overall physical kid, but he's more physical. He does have great movement. That's why we were able to move him inside. I would say he's probably our third defensive tackle right now based on the week of practice. After that...it was pretty much Kwamaine and Hamlette, and if you take Kwamaine out of there, then you've got to go with Luther."

Wiles' biggest issue with his backup defensive ends is there's no consistency and too many missed assignments. He wants more out of redshirt freshmen Duan Perez-Means and Tyrel Wilson, a Hampton High graduate, at the No. 2 end spots, but no other players are really pushing Perez-Means and Wilson.

“I've put (freshman) Corey Marshall in a position to try to beat one of those guys out," Wiles said. “Right now, he's not taking it. He's just not physical. He's not playing very fast. It's kind of like I don't know if his mind is tying him up...You see signs. He looks great. He's 258 pounds. He can run, but he's just been very inconsistent."

Wiles said just about everything defensively has been installed except for the goal line defense, which he said is “fairly simple" from a defensive line perspective.

In terms of his other backups, Wiles said freshmen ends Dadi Nicolas and Matt Roth are both probably a year away physically [“(Nicolas) runs around like he's on the playground. It's not playing within the structure of our package. He's just kind of out there like he's playing pickup basketball or pickup football."].

Wiles added redshirt freshman defensive end Zack McCray, who dealt with a knee injury late in the week that caused him to be in a blue jersey indicating no contact and limited work, is playing faster and more physical, but Wiles wants to review film to see if he sustained it in Saturday's scrimmage. Finally, Wiles said freshman defensive end Justin Taylor has leveled off and has struggled with some injuries.

Oh, if you're wondering about Tech's projected defensive line starters — tackles Antoine and Derrick Hopkins and ends J.R. Collins and James Gayle, a Bethel High graduate who had two sacks in the scrimmage — you'll be hard-pressed to get an ugly word out of Wiles about any of them.

“I'm not a bit concerned about James Gayle and J.R. (Collins)," Wiles said. "James Gayle, J.R. and the Hopkins brothers [Antoine and Derrick] — they're playing great. The first group is not the issue. We've got to get depth."

via Norm Wood http://weblogs.dailypress.com/sports/college/accblog/2011/08/a_full_repo...

Battle's injury was a sprain to his knee, the same one he tore his ACL in last season, although according to Hokiesports.com it's being treated as a minor injury. Downside, he's the only proven depth we have. Upside, if he's out a couple of days the younger guys will get more work and Wiles has more film to evaluate to settle on the 4th defensive tackle.