We continue our breakdown of VT's 2005 recruiting class by examining the wide receiver and tight end positions. We'll figure out if the Hokies got the player they wanted at each position and will project where recruits like Ed Wang will fit into Virginia Tech's plans.

With four WR recruits the previous year and emerging receivers in second-year players Josh Hyman and David Clowney, Tech did not have a glaring need at wide receiver. However, the Hokies still would like to have a big-play wide-out, preferably with good size, in this recruiting class. Here are the wide receivers that Tech offered last year:

Obviously, Tech was looking for size at wide receiver with six of the eight WR offers being players standing 6-2 or better. The Hokies looked out-of-state for most of the receiver talent with three offers going to blue-chip players from South Carolina – C.J. Byrd, J.C. Neal, and Eric Huggins.

Todd Nolen from Hampton HS was clearly the top receiver in Virginia this year. Nolen has excellent size and physical skills, but the attribute that really stands out is his ability to “go get the ball.” He has big-play ability and excellent football instincts. Many considered UVA as the leader for Nolen throughout the recruiting year, but the Hokies broke through the “walls” that the Cavaliers had built around the strong Hampton HS program and signed a player from Coach Mike Smith. North Carolina and Penn State also made a late push for Nolen. Qualification concerns kept the number of offers down for Nolen, but he is an exceptionally talented wide receiver.

Prediction: Nolen will likely need a year at prep school before enrolling at Virginia Tech

C.J. Byrd, from North Augusta HS, was generally considered the top player in South Carolina and could be an immediate impact player at WR or at either safety position. He has all of the physical attributes for receiver or the secondary and possesses a good, competitive attitude. Byrd wants a shot at receiver but he could make an earlier impact at safety for Georgia, who gained his services over offers from Clemson, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Tennessee, Southern Cal, Virginia, Oklahoma, Auburn, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, and many more.

J.C. Neal, from Lakeland HS, is an incredible athlete who could play numerous positions in college, including running back, cornerback, or safety in addition to wide receiver. Neal was a high school quarterback who saw some time at running back as well. He is exceptionally quick and elusive with great football instincts. Most schools recruited him for offense, but he showed in the NC-SC Shrine Bowl Game that he would be an exceptional defensive back as well (Neal played strong safety in the all-star game). N.C. State signed Neal after a tough recruiting battle with the Hokies. South Carolina made a late push and Maryland was in contention throughout the recruiting year. Other national powers, such as Auburn, Florida State, and Ohio State also offered Neal. Having Neal sign with the Wolfpack was one of the biggest recruiting losses for the Hokies.

Eric Huggins, from Conway HS near Myrtle Beach, is a rangy athlete with excellent potential. He has big-play ability but still needs some “polish” in his game. He needs to gain some weight (looks lighter than listed) and become more physical, but he looks to have a bright future if he hits the weight room. Oklahoma received a fairly early commitment from Huggins, who chose the Sooners over offers from Michigan, Tennessee, Clemson, Florida, Virginia, Auburn, Miami, Florida State, Southern Cal, LSU, Georgia, and many more.

Nyan Boateng, from Brooklyn, NY – Lincoln HS, is a two-sport star that had numerous offers in both football and basketball. Obviously, he is a great athlete with excellent potential in both sports. Tech actually learned of Boateng initially through Seth Greenberg and the basketball program. Florida signed Boateng for both sports over offers from Nebraska, Michigan, Michigan State, Southern Cal, Miami, Virginia, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Georgia, Texas, and many more.

After Florida won a tight recruiting battle with the Hokies for WR Derrick McPhearson from DeMatha HS in the previous year, McPhearson failed to qualify and enrolled at Fork Union prep school for 2004-2005. After Ron Zook was fired from Florida, McPhearson re-opened his recruitment only to switch his signing to Zook’s new school, Illinois. Tech recruited McPhearson again, but without the same effort as the previous year. Ultimately, McPhearson chose the Illini over his previous school, Florida, and offers from Maryland, Nebraska, and Clemson. LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Miami, and Ohio State had offered the previous year. McPhearson has excellent speed and big-play ability and he should see the field early for Illinois.

Lavar Lobdell, from Syracuse, NY – Christian Brothers Academy, is another big receiver with excellent hands. Lobdell paired with Greg Paulus, the Duke point guard recruit who was also an excellent quarterback, to provide an exceptional pass-catch combination in high school. Lobdell decided to stay local signing with the Orange over offers from Miami, Florida, N.C. State, West Virginia, Southern Cal, and Penn State. Lobdell is an excellent signing for Syracuse, who has lacked big-play receivers in recent years.

Geron James, from Wilmington, NC – Eugene Ashley HS, is yet another tall, rangy receiver with excellent potential. He needs to hit the weight room and gain some size and become more physical, but he has the ability to go deep and make big plays. James chose the local school, N.C. State, over the Hokies and UNC. He should contribute for the Wolfpack after a couple of years of strength training.

Virginia Tech was looking for a big-play receiver with good size and certainly met that goal with the signing of Todd Nolen. The signing of Nolen also had the added benefit of re-opening the recruiting door at Hampton HS which had been shut for many years. Even though Nolen will likely have to prep for a year, Tech was not looking for an early contribution at WR and sitting out a year puts an additional year of separation between him and the outstanding receiver class of 2004. Statistically, Tech’s “won-loss percentage” at wide receiver was 41.7%, which is slightly below average, likely due to many schools not offering Nolen because of his qualification concerns. This score emphasizes that the statistical rating can be misleading because I’m sure the Tech coaching staff was ecstatic about Nolen’s signing.

The tight end position has changed for Virginia Tech in the last couple of years with the need for two types of players. The prototypical tight end needs to have the size to block and should also be a receiver, but Tech also uses an H-Back (hybrid tight end/fullback) now who has to be more athletic and have the size to block. Ideally you want a player that can fill both roles, such as Jeff King, but these players are hard to find. Duane Brown returns as a prototypical tight end and, at the beginning of the recruiting year, Tech had Maurice Reevey as a future H-Back. As we know now, Reevey is no longer in school and Tech moved John Kinzer to H-Back in the spring, but for planning the recruiting class, Tech had to consider Brown and Reevey as the future at tight end. To provide backup at the position, Tech was probably looking for a prototypical tight end and an H-Back candidate. Here are the tight ends that Tech offered last year:

*Wheeler would be counted as a 2003-2004 recruit but for our purposes he will be discussed as an in-coming recruit.

Ed Wang, from Ashburn, VA – Stone Bridge HS, committed in September, 2003 stating that he was a life-long Hokie fan and had always wanted to play for Tech. He attended Tech’s camp that summer and impressed the coaches enough to give him a written offer at the beginning of his junior year (written offers cannot be given prior to a player’s junior year). Wang immediately jumped on the offer and never wavered from his commitment. Given his size and speed, he would surely have received a number of offers if he had kept his recruitment open. Wang has exceptional agility for a player his size, but he failed to dominate at his high school level (class AA) as you would expect from a player with his size/speed, particularly on defense (playing defensive end). While possessing all of the physical traits for an ideal tight end, Wang needs to play with more aggression and become more physical.

Prediction: Ed Wang has the frame to eventually grow into an offensive lineman, but I see his immediate future at tight end. Wang is an excellent prospect, but he will need a year or two to adjust to the college game.

Sam Wheeler, from hometown Blacksburg HS, signed in 2004 but failed to qualify and attended Hargrave Prep School last year. He has now qualified and will enroll this fall. Wheeler is an outstanding athlete who was an excellent basketball player as well. He has good hands (played some WR in high school) and can be an effective blocker. Wheeler also played linebacker in high school, but did not show an aggressive, defensive temperament in the games I saw, so I feel he is better suited for offense.

Prediction: Sam Wheeler has very good size and could play a number of positions for the Hokies, but I believe he will start out at H-Back. He played fullback last year for Hargrave, so the move to H-Back should not be difficult. Wheeler will need to adjust to the college game as well and, with some hard work, could develop into a solid player in time.

The name Jonathan Hannah is now infamously linked with other former recruits, such as Mike Mangold, Courtney Denson, Montavis Pitts, and Patrick Dosh. After committing to Tech at a January press conference, Hannah succumbed to the evil preaching of Steve Spurrier at South Carolina and signed with the Gamecocks on February 4, sending shockwaves throughout the Hokie Nation. Hannah, from Hope Mills, NC – South View HS, is a physical, blocking tight end with excellent athletic ability, as exemplified by his talent in basketball. He could play defensive end as well, but his future is likely at tight end. Hannah’s recruiting took many twists and turns and we really shouldn’t have been surprised by the ending since a number of schools were mentioned as leading for him. Ultimately, Hannah chose South Carolina over offers from Virginia Tech, North Carolina, N.C. State, Clemson, Florida State, Tennessee, Virginia, LSU, Oklahoma, Penn State, Georgia, and several more.

James Dray, from powerhouse Bergen Catholic High School in New Jersey, is an outstanding receiving tight end who also plays very physically. He has exceptional hands and is a very good blocker with the frame to put on considerable weight. Dray is also an aggressive linebacker, but tight end is his future position in college. He is an outstanding student and chose the academics at Stanford over offers from Boston College, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Florida State, and Iowa. Tech was under consideration, but never seemed to be in strong contention for Dray. He likely would have been an H-Back at Tech.

John Phillips, from Hot Springs, VA – Bath Co. HS, has been compared to UVA tight end Heath Miller by some, particularly since he comes from a small, rural high school in Western Virginia and dominated at that level (class A). Phillips has ideal size and decent speed, but we will have to see if he develops the intangibles that Miller possesses. He has excellent hands and is a physical blocker, so all of the tools are in place to become a good tight end. He also plays defensive end and he could play on the defensive side of the ball in college as well. Virginia landed Phillips last spring over the Hokies (only offers), but many schools were interested. An ACL injury his junior year may have kept some teams from offering early until they could be sure he was fully recovered. Phillips, like Wang, will need a couple of years to adjust to playing in college, but he should have a solid future for the Wahoos.

Tech filled the immediate needs of a prototypical tight end in Ed Wang and an H-Back in Sam Wheeler. Both of these players will need to become more aggressive to see the field for Tech, but each one has the physical tools to succeed. Tech will need solid backups at both positions in 2006, so both players will need to develop quickly or the Hokies will need to sign an elite tight end in the next recruiting class (or move another player, such as Greg Boone, to tight end). Neither Wang nor Wheeler had any other offers, so statistically the won-loss percentage at tight end would be 0.0%. Wang would surely have had numerous offers if he hadn’t committed early, thus showing that this method of quantitative evaluation has its limitations.