One of our insiders was only able to take a brief look at Wednesday's practice, which took place in Lane Stadium, but that was enough time for him to give us some impressions regarding a couple of players we were interested in. Namely, how does Theo Miller, the #4 cornerback, look, and what about Barry Booker? Is Booker ready to contribute on the two-deep at defensive tackle?

VT's top three cornerbacks are starters Jimmy Williams and Roland Minor, plus Minor's backup, Brandon Flowers. Miller is listed as Williams' backup, making him the de facto #4 cornerback, and the general perception is that there's a dropoff after that when discussing the third-string players and beyond: Brian McPherson, Chris Ceasar, and the walk-ons.

The question is: how close is Miller to the trio of Williams/Minor/Flowers? Is Miller, a rising redshirt freshman from HD Woodson High in Washington, DC, going to play a lot this year, or will the Hokies have to go primarily with their top three? The coaches have barely mentioned Miller on BeamerBall.com, with Lorenzo Ward mentioning him at the beginning of this week as "having a ways to go."

Miller, who is 6-2, 179, and wears #47 is still a year away, according to our practice observer. "He's not terrible or anything like that," was the verdict, "but he still needs to bulk up and learn technique.  He plays off the receiver too much.  He isn't getting cooked deep or anything, but I believe a three-corner rotation of Williams, Minor and Flowers is what we will see this year."

Redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Barry Booker, who wears #59 and has bulked up to 6-4, 294 since signing with the Hokies as a sleeper a couple years back, has cracked the two-deep this spring by moving ahead of Kory Robertson and taking the #2 tackle spot behind Jonathan Lewis. This would put Booker into the four-man tackle rotation with Lewis and nose guards Carlton Powell and Tim Sandidge. Is Booker ready?

"Booker's is still an inconsistent player, but he has improved," we were told. "I saw him get pushed around by Murphy a couple of times, but other times he held his own at the line and forced the play in another direction.  Right now I feel like Booker will be an okay player this fall, and will develop into a solid but not spectacular player in his last two years.  Kory Robertson needs to turn it up a notch or he will find himself lost on the depth chart for another year."

• At one point, the second teams were scrimmaging against each other, and former wide receiver Brenden Hill was practicing with the second team at free safety, ahead of Kent Hicks. Hill was burned for two deep receptions by Jeremy Gilchrist during pass skeletons, with Marcus Vick as the QB. The Hokies are, as noted previously, thin at free safety, with backups Justin Hamilton hurt and Hicks and Hill not ready for prime time. The pressure is on first-teamer DJ Parker (#25, 5-11, 181, sophomore) to step up and be the man.
  
  
  
• It was reportedly "fun" to watch Justin Harper and Roland Minor go one on one in pass drills.  They were really challenging each other on deep passes, as well as short and intermediate routes.  Harper never caught one deep on Minor, and Minor did a great job slapping a pass away on a crossing route.  "That was definitely the most fun I've had watching a one on one matchup here in a long time," our insider said.
  
  
  
• Skimming the rosters of the spring game on Beamerball.com, the Maroon team might hold the advantage.  The Maroon team features seven defensive starters, plus Brandon Flowers, who is almost starter-quality.  On offense, Maroon has Vick with Holt as the backup.  (Holt didn't throw again Wednesday, so he may not even play Saturday.  If not, that means Vick takes all the snaps.)  Also, Vick may be able to take advantage of Theo Miller, with Vick's receiving corps of Hyman, Harper and Justin Born, a pretty darn good walk-on receiver who was the other starting wideout with Eddie Royal at Westfield High.  The White team features all backups along the D-line, although Chris Ellis is a tremendous player. The White team also has Hill and Hicks at free safety, making them vulnerable to deep passes.
  

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