Who do yall think will be breakout players in spring ball? Heres my list
Melvin Keihn- Dude is chiseled looks the part. maybe its his time
CJ Reavis- Already showing signs of stardom I think he jumps to the top of the depth chart at a safety spot.
Holland Fisher- Hes been quiet since arriving but I think its time for big things. Has all the tools
Carson Lydon- seems to be that prototypical VT linebacker. Undervalued in recruiting rankings but has a knack for the ball. I really like this kid for early PT.
And some guys I want to see bounce back:
Ronny Van Dyke- Has all the talent in the world. Hopefully hes healthy again.
Kalvin Cline- Showed signs of being a star as a freshman.
Alston Smith- If hes ever gonna be productive as a hokie now is the time to show it.
this is a longshot but Demitri Knowles- has great speed but struggling terribly on kickoffs this year. hope they can find a package on offense to use him. dont forget he won the GT game on labor day nite for us a few years back.
Comments
Offense:
Braxton Pfaff at guard/center
Alston Smith at guard
Jaylen Bradshaw at slot WR
Billy Ray Mitchell at guard/center
Defense:
Going out on a limb and going with Carson Lydon at Mike
CJ Reavis at Rover or Free
Greg Stroman at Cornerback
They certainly expect big things from Bradshaw.
Expect Bud to praise Chuck Clark a ton.
CJ Reavis
Chris Durkin as a runner.
Greg Stroman as a corner.
Really looking forward to seeing what Stroman can do on defense. This past season he looks like he has a ton of natural athleticism.
Stroman looks like a playmaker/ballhawk type. I think he will challenge D. Riley at the second corner.
Great user name!
Offense:
Braxton Pfaff - kid has huge potential, I think he reaches it and allows Conte to stay at RT.
Defense:
Chuck Clark - He will thrive at safety.
I wouldnt really consider Clark a "breakout player". He was tremendous last year, and wasn't too bad as a freshman in '13.
Jaylen Bradshaw. He was great on the scout team last year. Should surprise some people
I wish we had more information about how the kids performed on scout team. I couldn't get much out of Stiney at Recruit Night.
Gotta keep the next great (RS) Freshman weapon close to the vest. Can't let Ohio State know all of our secrets.
I'll try Shane tonight.
Edit:
Shane said Trayvon impressed and we would see him. He seemed the most impressed with Vince Mihota though. He said Wednesdays the scout team goes up against first team and Vinny in particular was destroying plays left and right, so it was a good sign for next year but not so good for the next game. He also mentioned Holland Fisher and I think he lumped Reavis in there too, but seemed biggest on Vinny.
The RBs put up some big max bench numbers. Marshawn and Shai led the way followed by Trayvon. JCC put up 330 which is impressive for a guy weighing 190
JCC has been putting up good numbers in the weight room for a while. If I'm not mistaken he holds the RB record for the front squat.
Edit: yep, put up 455lbs in it last Spring, the video isn't available anymore though
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2014/march/4/jc-coleman-broke-running-...
I hope McMillian comes out and plays like a monster. I still don't have a great feeling in my stomach about how he "was given a chance to play quarterback."
Yes sir- watching his film man did he look natural as a qb. I really wanted to see what he could do.
I went back and watched his senior highlights again to get a better feel for his abilities as a QB. I will say if he had stuck at QB, I wouldn't have been upset at all. He's got a pretty good arm (not elite, but not bad), shows good footwork at least some of the time and overall has above-average mechanics. However, he didn't play in a very complex offensive system and he's absolutely more dangerous as a runner than as a passer. I think we'll see some good stuff from him at RB and I don't fault Lefty one bit for moving him.
I'm curious why the coaches never seem to mention DJ Reid... The dude seems to be a monster
Shhhh.... He's our secret weapon. #nosources
will spring ball be super closed like it was last year. If I remember correctly there was very little shared about how things were going and we saw ever less film/highlights..
My guess is it will probably be the same as last year. Hopefully that translates to a little bit of an advantage against OSU, though I doubt it will do much.
It might though. After 35-21 Urban commented on having never seen some of the defenses Bud was throwing at him. He made a remark along the lines of 'that's not something you put in on Tuesday of game week.' Don't know if the coaches are working on games for the following season during spring ball or not, but I feel like that secretiveness may have worked to our advantage.
I was primarily thinking about the offense. I do remember Urban Meyer saying that.
I hope not. I know that the Coaching Clinic folks (including Ocean Lakes and DeMatha head coaches) are going to be attending the first two practice days.
I would expect two open scrimmages and the Spring Game. Everyone loves going to the spring game, but I think sometimes you learn more about scheme in the scrimmages. Bud was messing with different variations of what we saw against tOSU (Bear Front and a press front with 4X4 all in the box) in the last scrimmage before the Spring Game. Leal couldn't even get set before he was getting hit. It was brutal. I try to play the X's and O's stuff a little closer to the vest though in the spring because of that opening matchup.
According to a guy I know who works in athletics, I would expect them to very secretive again. There were some things done in practices last year that never made it out during regular season due to injuries! Lot to be excited about!
And then when anOSU shows up,
I am hoping and praying a quarterback has a breakout spring.
I play the lottery thinking I am going to win every damn time, so take my choice with a grain of salt. : )
Anyway, I agree with the Carson Lydon prediction, and am pretty pumped about the guy. With the DL we have in place, it isn't hard for me to see him step into the Mike spot and flourish. We are talking about a big beast here. A guy that will be coming downhill filling inside holes, one on one with RBs with little place to go. He's going to have guys on their backs, not squirming, bouncing, and falling forward for an extra yard or two.
6'2/240+! That's an Alabama sized MLB, right there. Even bigger than one our best ever, and one of my favorites, Vince Hall. I can't wait to see what he can do, along with some of our other super-sized guys.
Moto is about that same size. I think he was listed at 235 at the end of the season. If Lyndon starts it means he beat out Moto which would means he's pretty damn good.
Dammit...just when I thought I had something...
"Moto is about that same size"
Moto is listed at 6-0 but he's really closer to 5'11" about 3" shorter than Lydon and 10lb lighter. And that's after 2 years in the S&C program. Lydon has a higher ceiling on the physical talent side, but it will all come down to who can represent in practice. Moto has the edge in experience but Lydon sounds like the type who can pick things up quick.
Too soon for a "Not-so-Shy Mckenzie" reference?
I would like to say the running game but I don't know how that will go. Most of our zone plays, Bud's defense is designed to shut down with the single gap responsibility so it may be tough sledding.
I am thinking Bradshaw, Reavis, and Andrew Ford. I think Ford really pushes Brewer.
Really excited to see Ford and Durkin both in action. Curious to see where Durkin is at in the passing game. He has a ton of athletic ability and physical upside. Also looking to see how far Ford has come since last fall. Motley will also be interesting to watch as he battles with the r-Fr QBs. Durkin may take his wildcat role with a good spring.
Travon McMillan, Stroman, and Reavis...
I would love to see Vincent Mihota and Ricky Walker break out and wreak havoc against #LOLuva this year.
Yeah but I wouldn't mind them getting an 11 game head start on that game either.
Brewers decision making? Would that count?
I hope Stroman plays some O and continues punt returns. We need burners with big play potential to have the ball in their hands.
I don't understand the lovefest for Stroman as a returner. I understand that the guy has great return ability and elusiveness but he seems to nearly muff the ball on almost every return. I remember watching games last year screaming at the TV almost every time he would wait until the last second or just disregard a fair catch altogether and get blasted. IMO, his return ability is overshadowed by questionable decisions when fielding kicks.
Are you sure your aren't thinking about Kyshoen? That sounds exactly like him.
On D, Reavis, Mook, and Mihota (any chance he can move back outside to DE to get in the 2 deep?)
On O, I'll go with Travon and Holland.
Not sure if it will happen, but I really hope we get breakout spring performances from: Alston, Gallo, Pfaff, and Billy Ray. Also, I like what I'm hearing about Lydon but I still think Mota holds on to starting Mike.
I think that it's very possible that Mihota enters spring ball at 285ish. If thats the case, then I doubt he moves back outside to end...
I was really high on Kendrick Holland coming in. Think he's a guy who can stretch the field. Love his frame and I think he's more explosive than he got credit for.
Defensively I feel pretty good about whoever the starting Mike ends up being. Loved AM when he stepped up when Chase went down, particularly the way his instincts always lead him to the ball on rushing plays. He needs to arrive with more force though. He gave up some extra yardage by frequently allowing the ball carrier to fall forward.
With all the pass catchers that has people excited, including the TE's, Holland's name gets lost in the mix a lot. I did love his highlight film the best of Cam, Ford, Bradshaw.
But what about Carlis Parker getting more touches?
The very first spring I saw Carlis play, I wrote that he was the best athlete on the field and would be a star.
Since then, he hasn't been able to get much playing time despite a lack of explosiveness at the WR position. I'd love to see him turn the corner but I have reservations when an athlete that good can't seem to move up the depth chart. We'll see.
He looked good last spring. Every time I watched, they always finished up with a back shoulder end zone fade to Parker, and more times than not he made the play.
That being said- we saw Newsome and Stroman play the role of jet-sweep receiver. Ford and Phillips seemingly are entrenched. Parker doesn't fit a slot guy (although I could see Phillips moving inside if Parker proves to be better than Bradshaw,) Again, nobody has seen Bradshaw play, so who knows who wins that battle, but Bradshaw seems to have buzz and nobody is talking about Parker.
Agree, don't see how a spot just opens up for him. Barring injury, Parker will have to explode on the scene and force his way onto the field... although that's not impossible considering his athleticism.
Kendrick Holland was hurt this season (shoulder I believe) so hopefully he can get some good reps in this spring. Not sure how much that limited him from lifting and packing on some lb's. I have high hopes for him.
*fixed*
Yes, yes you should believe. In fact:
you should also.....hold on to that...feelin..
and feel the noize
Am I the only one that think Jools Holland is a douche?
No doubt it will be a secretive year again. I can't see why they would not be. It worked pretty well last year to open the season the first two weeks and we've got the same opponent the first week this year. I'm betting that the spring game is pretty vanilla as well.
I don't really care who has a breakout year, as long as it's in spots of need. I guess I can stop hoping for Caleb to have breakout year. Maybe he surprises me, ha ha ha.
On O, my eye is on the new guys. Bradshaw, Holland and McMillian. If one of the three doesn't have a great spring I'll be a little worried.
Also Austin Clark, to see if he'll be game ready as a freshman or need a redshirt.
O: Stephen Peoples- He put up some crazy numbers in HS and I talked to some people who know Stephen and they think he will be a star at tech.
D: Vincent Mihota- Hoping he goes beast mode this year!
Of course I'm excited to see how the QB's shake out as well.
This may be the year we return to the top of the ACC and make noise at the National level!
Was just about to mention Peoples as well. If he plays HS in the 757 or DMV, he is a 4 star.
I'm guessing he'll play fullback, but he can carry the ball.
Reminds me of Elan Lewis without the injury.
Looking forward to some middle drill footage with him in it.
nm double post