Spring Football Wrap-upby Chris James, TechSideline.com, 4/18/05 With the Virginia Tech spring game came the culmination of a spring football practice that saw many positional battles very much up in the air. A normal spring practice generally includes perhaps one or two starting positions for the taking, while everyone else just fights for the right to be in the two-deep or to see time on special teams. Not so in 2005. Despite the lofty preseason expectations, there were a lot of question marks surrounding certain positions on this year�s Virginia Tech team. Some of those questions have been answered, and others will drag on into August. Here's the breakdown of offense, defense, and special teams, including a projected depth chart for the 2005 Hokie football team. OFFENSE
Quarterback Monday afternoon, the Hokies announced the worst-kept secret in the world of Hokie sports: Marcus Vick will enter the fall as the #1 quarterback, ahead of #2 Sean Glennon. For those who followed spring practices and saw the spring game, it was obvious that Vick would be the quarterback for this team. The only question was when the coaches would make it official: now or later? They chose now. Vick has tremendous talent and simply has more experience than Sean Glennon, who is only a second year player who was forced into playing as a true freshman.One thing that seems obvious about Glennon: he doesn�t look ready to be the starter for a big time college football program. Not that he should. After all, he would only be a redshirt freshman right now, had Vick not gotten in trouble last spring. In the three official scrimmages, including the spring game, Glennon was only 23-54 (42.5%) for 196 yards, with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. Well less than 50% throwing the ball, with a 1:3 touchdown interception ratio isn�t going to get you on the field ahead of you-know-who�s little brother. Vick went 31-53 (58.5%) for 406 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Cory Holt was not a factor in the quarterback race after sustaining an elbow injury. He missed the spring game, as well as the last two weeks of practice. Tailback This is a position that has no question marks. Well, maybe a couple. How many backs from Billy Hite�s deep stable will be allowed to carry the ball this year? That�s actually a legit question, as the Hokies have never had this much depth at the tailback position. They have had more star caliber at the top, but when was the last time Tech�s third and fourth string tailbacks have been as good as George Bell and Branden Ore? One more question arises. Who is going to start? Seniors Cedric Humes and Mike Imoh were very good last season, both peaking at different points because of injuries. It isn�t clear who is going to start at this point, but it shouldn�t matter. Both will see a lot of carries, and could even be featured in the same backfield if the coaching staff decides to go that route. Fullback Not a lot happened here, which perhaps portends something about the future of the fullback position at Virginia Tech. Last year's starter, Jesse Allen, continues to hold down the top spot on the depth chart, over fellow walk-on Carlton Weatherford. John Kinzer has been moved back to tight end, his original position. The only scholarship fullback, true freshman Michael Green, enrolled in January but has a ways to go, including conditioning before he is ready to play, and Green is listed fourth on the depth chart with a couple of walk-ons. The fullbacks only played about half the offensive snaps in 2004, and 2005 will probably bring more of the same, if not less. As defenders get more and more athletic, more and more teams at both the pro and college level are moving away from using the fullback, and VT seems to be joining the crowd, with multiple one-back sets that utilize an extra receiver or tight end as the 11th player. Wide Receiver No worries here. The deepest position on the team this spring will be even deeper when Eddie Royal returns to the lineup this fall. Royal missed all of spring practice after having surgery on his leg, but that allowed other young receivers such as Justin Harper and Jeremy Gilchrist to get more reps. Just because there are no worries doesn�t mean there aren�t some battles going on. While Josh Hyman and Eddie Royal are the incumbent starters, that doesn�t mean there aren�t other guys looking to take their spots. Hyman is being pressured at split end by Josh Morgan, while Royal will fight it out at flanker with Justin Harper and David Clowney. Jeremy Gilchrist could figure in at flanker as well. Tony Ball can take his pick. This group is stacked. Tight End The Hokies return probably the ACC�s best tight end in Jeff King. King doubled as a center for the Tech basketball team this winter, and throwing elbows (at times, literally) with guys like Shelden Williams can�t but help him when he attempts to wall off defensive ends and linebackers from getting to the outside. He can also catch a pass or two when needed. Duane Brown will be the second tight end, and he showed a lot of promise and potential last year as a freshman. This spring he appeared to be a favorite target of Marcus Vick, particularly on the seam route. John Kinzer will make the move back to tight end after playing fullback for a year. Right now he is listed third on the depth chart. Offensive Line The offensive line was the biggest question mark of the spring for the offense. Established starters like Will Montgomery and Jimmy Martin have nothing to worry about, but there were other players fighting for starting jobs and a chance to make the two-deep. Right now it appears that senior tackle Reggie Butler has held off the challenge from r-freshman Nick Marshman. Expect that battle to resume this fall, however. Danny McGrath and John Shuman appeared to be able to handle the center position this spring, which would allow Will Montgomery to make the permanent move to guard. However, if the coaches decide that they still want Montgomery at center, they will probably feel more comfortable about the move with Brandon Gore�s apparent improvement this spring. Gore won the award for Most Improved Player on the offensive side of the ball, so there is hope that he can salvage his thus far disappointing career. He is currently listed as 2nd team left guard on the Beamerball.com depth chart, as well as co-first team right guard with Jason Murphy. DEFENSE
Defensive End Jason Lallis is the only player the Hokies lose at the defensive end position off the 2004 ACC Championship team. They return three ends in Darryl Tapp, Noland Burchette and Chris Ellis. Tapp has his starting "end" position locked down, but there will be a battle between Burchette and Ellis for the "stud" position come August. Burchette missed the end of spring practice with an injury. Meanwhile, Ellis spent most of his spring in the offensive backfield. The wildcard at defensive end could be walk-on r-freshman Orion Martin. Martin, the older brother of 2005 VT signee Cam Martin, is backing up Tapp at end. Martin has made a lot of plays this spring, most notable a seven-tackle, 3.5 TFL and two-sack performance in the spring game. If the season started tomorrow, Martin would be in the two-deep. Defensive Tackle The Hokies have an outstanding duo of starters in Jonathan Lewis and Carlton Powell. Lewis started every game last season and emerged as one of the top defensive tackles in the ACC. Powell was an outstanding backup as a freshman, and looks to have a breakout season in 2005. The main question at this position is who will back them up. Tim Sandidge looks to have the backup nose position in hand, with no other serious contenders to compete with. Lewis� backup at the tackle spot is another matter. Kory Robertson is the most athletic of the bunch, and probably has the most down-the-road potential. However, he is struggling to catch the mental part of the game, and Barry Booker has passed him on the depth chart. Linebacker The Hokies will have the most talented group of starting linebackers in school history this fall, and two of them are just sophomores. Vince Hall and Xavier Adibi were regulars in the Tech lineup last season, with Hall starting all but one game. Adibi has tremendous athletic ability and Hall has great instincts. The starting Whip linebacker spot returns rising senior James Anderson, a very solid player who started every game last season. Their backups are unproven and for the most part, inexperienced. Brett Warren saw a lot of time last season on special teams as a true freshman, and he will backup Hall at mike linebacker. Blake Warren, Brett�s older brother, will enter his senior season as Adibi�s backup. Unless either Hall or Adibi is injured, the Warren brothers will see their snaps on special teams, with very few coming on defense. At this point, it is unclear who will backup Anderson at whip linebacker. Last year�s backup, Aaron Rouse, has been moved to rover and is currently listed as the starter there. Converted wide receiver Robert Parker did not show the ability to pick up the position. However Corey Gordon, who moved from free safety to rover and now to whip, showed an ability to make plays in his limited time at whip this spring. Look for Gordon to continue to show potential this fall and win the backup job, which will allow the Rouse to stay at rover. Cornerback Despite the loss of Eric Green to graduation and the NFL, the Hokies have some serious talent at the cornerback position. Jimmy Williams returns at boundary corner, where he looks to become a team leader and continue his quest to be a first round draft pick. Williams is a huge corner who has the ability to shut down anyone. R-So. Roland Minor, who played a lot in 2004 as a nickel back, takes over Green�s spot at field corner. Minor has had an outstanding spring and there should be little dropoff. R-Fr. Brandon Flowers will backup Minor, and sources have told TSL that Flowers is at least as good as Minor. No worries there. Depth at boundary corner could become a problem if Jimmy Williams gets hurt. R-freshman Theo Miller has potential but appears to be a year away at this point. Free Safety Free safety was a big question mark for Tech coming into this spring, as the starting position was up in the air. Unfortunately the answer came in a painful way when one of the contenders, converted wide receiver/tailback Justin Hamilton, went down with a severe injury that required surgery during the spring. D.J. Parker, who was likely to win the job even without Hamilton�s injury, is now the default starter. Hamilton is expected back for the start of August practice. Parker played some as a true freshman for the Hokies last season as a cornerback. Parker�s biggest task will be calling defensive plays and adjustments in the secondary. How he handles that will determine how successful a season he has, and to some extent the entire defense. Competing for the backup job behind Parker will be Hamilton, Brenden Hill and Kent Hicks. Neither Hill nor Hicks is even close to being ready to be on the field. Rover Rover was another large question mark for Tech, especially after Michael Hinton was kicked off the team for the final time this winter after a brief, unpublicized return. So the Tech coaches decided to switch Aaron Rouse to rover to provide more competition and get the best 11 players on the field. Rouse had a rocky start, struggling somewhat to cover receivers, but steadily improved as spring practice went on. Cary Wade was the Most Improved Defensive Player this spring, and he is pushing Rouse for the starting job. He may even be better than Rouse right now, though the coaching staff continues to list Rouse first on the depth chart because of this superior size and athletic ability. SPECIAL TEAMS Kicker and Punter Placekicker Brandon Pace received no challengers for his starting job, and Nic Schmitt has stepped into the starting punting job with no other punters even listed on the depth chart. Pace was solid this spring, and Schmitt was at times spectacular, though he needs to work on his consistency and on getting the ball off quicker. Jared Develli and Jud Dunlevy are listed as co-starters at the kickoff position. CONCLUSION Overall, this was a pretty successful spring for the Hokies. They answered some questions in a positive way (namely Marcus Vick), found an unknown player who looks like he can help the team in Orion Martin, and had a couple of older players, who had previously left Tech fans wondering if they would ever amount to anything, play much better in Brandon Gore and Cary Wade. Naturally, there are still questions that will not be answered until the season begins. Will there be a fourth cornerback? Will there be any depth along the offensive line? Will Aaron Rouse hang onto the starting rover spot? Some of those questions will be answered after another summer in the weight room, while others will depend on the play of some talented incoming freshmen like Victor "Macho" Harris.
Every team has question marks going into the season, even teams such as defending national champion USC. The teams
that find the most answers are the teams that have the most success. Here�s hoping the Hokies can find those answers
over the summer.
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