2005 Recruiting Grades: The Offenseby Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 2/14/05 You know what I can't stand? I can't stand it when someone writes something like, "The Hokies graduated three defensive backs this year, so they were looking for DB help in their 2005 recruiting class." No, you twerp, if three DBs were slated to graduate after the 2004 season, the help was needed earlier than the 2005 recruiting class. I promise not to make dopey statements like that in this article, but other than that I make no promises about this, my attempt to grade the recruiting for the Hokie offense. When evaluating a recruiting class, you have to do two things:
That's all we have to go on. Players will disappear from the current roster due to attrition, some of the low-rated recruits will go on to be NFL draftees, and some four- and even five-star guys will be total flameouts. We can't predict any of that with certainty. All we can do is project needs and count recruiting stars to see if those needs were met. That ends the tidy little disclaimer portion of our article. Now let's get on to evaluating how the Hokies did in recruiting, starting in this article with the offense. In the following article, we make a lot of assumptions about 2005 positions and depth chart status for a lot of players currently in the VT football program. The depth charts listed here aren't the final word, of course. New depth charts will be issued in the spring and will change throughout spring practice. Then they'll morph even more as the inevitable attrition in the program occurs and fall practice starts. For now, this is our best shot at the 2005 depth chart.
Quarterback: Assuming Marcus Vick stays on the straight and narrow and is in position to be a contributor for the Hokies this fall, Virginia Tech is in good shape at QB. Last season, the thought of Bryan Randall being injured and being replaced by true freshman Sean Glennon or fellow true freshman Cory Holt was scary. In 2005, Vick is a strong starter � assuming he wins the job in the spring � and Holt and Glennon now have a year in the program. Glennon is a redshirt candidate, if no injuries occur and the Hokie coaches decide to go that route. VT could use more experience at the backup positions, but who couldn't? How VT Met Their QB Needs: VT QB coach Kevin Rogers has said that he wants four quarterbacks in the system at all times, but he probably never guessed he would have this many good quarterbacks this quickly. Okay, this many good quarterback prospects, because none of these guys have proven themselves yet. But with the addition of Ike Whitaker and Greg Boone, both of whom the Hokie coaches were thrilled to land, Virginia Tech is now fully stocked with QBs and can take a year or two to develop the young guys and see how things shake out. Let's be honest: with this many QBs in the system, it's very possible that someone, maybe more than one "someone", is going to get left out of the shuffle and decide to transfer or change positions. Before you decide that Boone -- at 6-4, 240, with 4.6 speed -- is the guy who will change positions, please note that he has been told he will begin his VT career at QB and can stay there until he wants to move. Suffice to say that Rogers is the envy of his peers around college football, and that VT met their needs very well.
Tailback: For the 2005 season, the Hokies are in good shape, with top rushers Mike Imoh and Cedric Humes both returning. Branden Ore received rave reviews as a redshirt, drawing comparisons to Lee Suggs. Should Imoh or Humes go down with injury, Ore should be a capable fill-in, though he is young and has no experience. George Bell is the wild card here. Will he stay at tailback or move to fullback? How VT Met Their TB Needs: Looking at the tailback depth chart from 2006 on is actually a little unnerving. The Hokies are deep at the position in 2005, but 2006 gets a little thin. Both Branden Ore and Elan Lewis have got to be ready to play in '06, maybe with an assist from George Bell, who could be a tailback or a fullback -- we'll find out this spring. As far as 2005 signee Elan Lewis goes you can't do much better. This past season, Lewis capped off his marvelous high school career with 2,323 yards rushing and 35 touchdowns. His career rushing total of 7,156 yards is number 4 on the Virginia High School League�s all-time rushing list. So the Hokies get an A for quality, but the lack of quantity -- Lewis is the only signee -- drags the overall grade down a bit.
Fullback: The Hokies are young but not overly impressive here. Last year, VT fullbacks were on the field for less than half of VT's offensive plays, as the coaches preferred 3-tight end sets, 1-back sets, and/or 4-wide sets. The Hokie coaches love the abilities of Michael Green, who enrolled this January, and Kenny Jefferson, who will be a true freshman this fall, so converted tight end Jon Kinzer and walk-on Jesse Allen can't feel comfortable in their 1-2 slots (they pretty much split time at the position last year). And there's always George Bell, whose final fate might be fullback. How VT Met Their FB Needs: Virginia Tech has been snakebit on fullbacks the last two years -- and beyond, really, but we'll focus on the last two years. The Hokies have recruited one fullback a year from 2003-2005, but unfortunately, the two guys recruited in 2003 and 2004 haven't worked out (yet). Joey Razzano, VT's 2003 signee, got into a convoluted academic disagreement with the football program over what it would take to qualify and get into the university, and when Razzano was denied admissions to VT, he opted for Kentucky instead. 2004 signee Michael Green arrived at VT last fall and almost immediately had to go back home and spend the semester in New Jersey, courtesy of a bleeding ulcer that he suffered last August. Green is back now but missed an important semester of training and academic development. Now comes 2005 signee Kenny Jefferson, who is a classic fullback. The Hokies are excited about Jefferson, but time will tell if he can become the true scholarship fullback the Hokies have been seeking, something guys like Marvin Urquhart and Ryan Angelo could never do. Much like with the tailback situation, the Hokies get a good grade for quality, but more quantity would have been nice.
Tight End: Something's got to give here between tight end and fullback. The Hokies played a lot of three-tight-end, no-fullback sets last year, but this coming season, they won't have three tight ends they feel confident in. Jeff King has the potential to be first-team All-ACC, and Duane Brown is a gifted athlete who is poised to explode. But Andrew Fleck has not been impressive, has been moved around a lot in his career, and is probably a player the Hokie coaches will pass over, if a third option with a longer, brighter future exists. Jon Kinzer might be moved from fullback back to tight end, if the coaches decide to redshirt both true freshman and to leave Fleck on the bench. How VT Met Their TE Needs: Let's talk about the elephant in the room: Jonathan Hannah. Had the Hokies landed Hannah instead of losing him to South Carolina on Signing Day, they would get a pretty high grade here. Instead, they will slot Ed Wang and probably Sam Wheeler at the tight end spot. Neither one was touted as a tight end until Signing Day, so that's a chin-scratcher. You wonder, if Hannah hadn't bailed, would Wang be targeted for tight end, or offensive tackle like we all thought? Wang or Wheeler or both may turn out to be a very good tight end, but you can't escape the feeling that Hannah was the guy the coaches really wanted. My gut feeling is to grade the tight end recruiting somewhere in the C range, but Wang's athleticism, and the fact that he played tight end in high school (29 receptions, 411 yards, 2 TDs as a senior) make me grade them out a little higher than that.
Wide Receivers: Young, young, young. With four talented sophomores (Eddie Royal, Josh Hyman, Josh Morgan, and Justin Harper), a talented junior in David Clowney, and an up and coming freshman in Jeremy Gilchrist, the Hokies are so loaded at wide receiver that it's sick. It's a great situation � unless you're trying to recruit more wide receivers. VT has no "need" at wide receiver, but since Todd Nolen signed an LOI, we have to add the following section � How VT Met Their WR Needs: What wide receiver needs? It's hard to meet a need you don't have, and now I'm confused. How do you grade a situation like this, where a team lands a four-star wide receiver (Todd Nolen) that they didn't need but will gladly take? Nolen doesn't really get a grade. He's more like extra credit. Yeah, that's it! Extra credit!
The OL: For 2005, the starting offensive line for the Hokies will be solid � it's the backups that might get a little scary. In the 6+ months between now and the opening of the 2005 season, the Hokies hope that the second line listed above steps up, because to this point, none of them have. Ryan Shuman is the one young OL creating the most buzz in the program right now and could be a very capable center, though young. If he develops and is ready, the ability to start him at center and put Will Montgomery back at guard would be a nice boost for the OL. How VT Met Their OL Needs: Starting in 2006, the Hokies have a dire need for offensive linemen. They'll either need a handful of guys to back up Gore, Welsh, Shuman, Carroll, and Marshman, or they'll need a passel of guys to compete with that bunch for starting jobs. Ideally, the Hokies could have used more than one offensive line recruit in 2004 (when Shuman was the only big ugly to sign), giving them some guys who are more physically mature ready to compete for playing time in 2006. But what's done is done, and the five 2005 signees listed above, plus maybe Ed Wang, will be counted on to provide either depth or starters in two years. The Hokies certainly got OL quantity with this class, and only time will tell if they got OL quality. At this point, it looks like three-star recruit Tony North and prep-school matured Brandon Holland are the two guys most likely to make an impact in 2006. Richard Graham and Eric Davis are more long-range prospects, while Robert Norris is somewhere in the middle. Offensive line recruiting is more of a crap shoot than any other position, so these guys could all wind up being studs or duds. All we can go on now are their star ratings, and the Hokies inked a lot of guys, but none of them have a high wow-factor. Will quantity make up for a lack of star-rating quality? Time will tell, but this class of OL neither thrills nor disappoints me.
To summarize, that gives us:
This is a very good offensive recruiting class. It's very strong at the QB position, solid at the tailback and fullback positions, and the Hokies got an unexpected bonus at wide receiver. On the downside, tight end is a question mark, and offensive line, while strong on quantity, lacks star power. At least one of the two QBs is likely to work out, and for whatever reason, I think Elan Lewis will have a good career at tailback. What will elevate this recruiting class from good to great is if Jefferson develops nicely at fullback, Wang or Wheeler becomes a good tight end, and at least three of those offensive linemen become starters at some point in their careers. Anything Todd Nolen does at WR is gravy. As it is, on paper this is a good offensive recruiting class, but not great. To make it great, it would need another highly-rated tailback, another fullback, Hannah's signature on a VT LOI, and more star quality on the offensive line. It's rich in QBs, though, which could prove to be huge in the future.
Next, we'll grade the defensive recruiting. |
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