Bud Foster broke the bad news at tonight's media session, Tech will once again be without one of its top defensive tackles. The coaches were previously optimistic Maddy would be healthy for Thursday's game after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee on September 23rd. It's unknown what Maddy's status for the rest of the season will be, although the possibility of the senior applying for a medical redshirt remains.
#Hokies DC Bud Foster says DT Luther Maddy won't play Thursday vs Pitt.— Mike Barber (@RTD_MikeBarber) October 13, 2014
Tailback Marshawn Williams' status is still up in the air.
#Hokies OC Scot Loeffler said he's still not sure if RB Marshawn Williams (sprained ankle) will be able to go Thurs. at Pittsburgh.— Norm Wood (@normwood) October 13, 2014
Well at least wide receiver Josh Stanford is giving the starting defense a good look.
Scot Loeffler said WR Josh Stanford did some scout team work today. #Hokies— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) October 13, 2014
At the team's weekly press conference earlier today, Frank Beamer said, "[Stanford's] back within the football program. He's working to get back on the football team and we'll leave it at that."
Comments
Man. Would have loved to see him back against James Conner.
Maddy being out doesn't really shock me. knee injuries aren't something to try and come back early from if you can help it. As much as we need him for Pitt I'd rather him sit and get 100% to not get hurt again.
I'd be stoked if Marshawn could go. I think we may see him in limited action. he came back fast after the hernia earlier in the year.
Well said and heartedly agree. Would hate to see him cut his recovery short just to hurt the knee again. Luther Maddy played hurt for us against GT, he's definitely earned some rest.
Maddy would've been an integral part of the defense against the power run game but a limping Maddy isn't as good as Nigel Williams. Maddy hasn't been healthy all year and Wiles in the Andy Bitter video states that Maddy's film this year is night and day from the high caliber he was playing last year.
In my opinion getting a medical redshirt for Maddy could be best for all involved if Maddy isn't 100% after this week.
I think a medical redshirt is best for Maddy as well, no question. Having no film of him playing healthy this year definitely isn't helping his draft stock, and, even as thin as we are up front right now, him playing hurt isn't helping the team. He's only got 0.5 TFL this year after basically spending the year camping out in opposing backfields all season long last year. I say shut him down, get him healthy, and let him loose in 2015.
I am in this camp as well although I have doubts Luther feels the same.
i may be wrong but I didn't think he was eligible for a medical redshirt.
The new rule is 30% of games played in season and injury has to be season ending. It rounds up from 3.9 to 4 games that he could play in and he's played in exactly that many. So from the rules he should be eligible for it.
Best for Maddy depends on his NFL draft grade. If he thinks he'll be drafted within the first five rounds, he should go.
Undersized DT that relies on his quickness not being able to showcase that twitch in his last season on film think will get him a low grade. Problem is that he can't get his NFL grade right now.
Think Wiles was being very candid in the Andy Bitter video when he specifically said that Maddy's film hasn't been good thus far this year compared to what he did last year.
Why won't he get a grade? Didn't realize that was a thing with injured players.
Even before the coaching staff was talking to the media about his injury, it was evident he wasn't playing at the same level as last season and a logical conclusion was he was playing hurt. Winning college games is great and all, but I hope the kid didn't risk his future for VT.
Edit: Watched Andy's video of Wiles interview, really happy to know this is basically Luther's decision.
Maddy put in for a grade last season. It obviously wasn't good enough to send him into the draft. It won't be better after an injury riddled year. So, the question is whether Maddy is getting squirmy about having an NFL future at all. Having one injury is usually overlooked, but multipe injuries puts a player in that "injury prone" category, whatever that is. But, if he would redshirt and have a full dominant year next year, his stock could potentially rise. I sure am glad that I don't have to make the decision for him, but I am glad to hear that the coaching staff isn't trying to force him one way or the other.
My point on the grade is that it wouldn't help him if he decided to play in the near future, he can't take a medical redshirt if he plays again. He won't get another grade until late December or early January if I remember right. If he was going off the grade he got last winter, I figure he came back because it was too low in his mind.
The only way it makes sense for his draft stock to not redshirt is if he thinks he can come back and have better play recovering from the injury than he did last year. If he comes back it's probably because he doesn't want to let his teammates down which is very commendable but from what I've seen Nigel Williams plays better than a 75% healthy Maddy.
It's been pretty obvious from the start of the season that the theme of 2014 was to prepare for 2015. From a coaches point a view, I could really see them push for that medical redshirt. Similar story with Facyson, although he had many more years of eligibility, they saw no reason to push him for 2014.
If you google 'sad luther gif,' this shows up.
Seems appropriate.
terrible news. im sure maddy is in the film room and training preparing the next man up.
I did not expect to see him or Williams back for this game. So not shocked.
Sounds like he's doing his best to stay strong. Get well, Big Lu.
I like the analogy, well said.
Not surprised at all. I'd be really surprised if Williams plays as well. As much as I'd like to have him back as soon as possible having him tweak his ankle again and be doubtful for more games down the line wouldn't be good. I was pretty happy how the DL played against UNC w/o Maddy so I have faith in their abilities, granted UNC wasn't a power running team and they don't have someone like Connor to run the ball. But if Toledo can beat Pitt.....well we should be able to as well. It will be interesting to see if Connor actually plays DE for them this week and how that translates to their running game. At least we don't have to go against Shai back there.
Agree on the Marshawn sentiment. I'd much rather have him heal in one time period than have him subpar, in & out for weeks on end. When guys rush back, they are never even close to 100%, despite their claims.