Hokie Blog Swap...

So, a little while ago I posted some answers I provided to a Virginia Tech Blog about the Falcon's upcoming season.  They returned the favor, and answered some questions about their team, which are contained below.

These are both pretty good guys with good solid blogs you should check out.  They are true college football fans and I look forward to checking in with them again in the week before the game in Blacksburg.  They are @hokieguru and @vtechfanblog

Anyway, without further ado, let's see how they feel about the Hokies heading into the 2012 year.

1.  You might have the best QB in college football that no one has heard of. Logan Thomas has a huge body and great numbers. Two questions. Is he the best QB in the ACC? What did the Spring show you about him?

@vtechfanblog: Although I’m a bit biased, I do think Logan Thomas has the most potential of anybody in the ACC this year. Obviously, this is a deep league for quarterbacks with guys like E.J. Manuel (FSU), Tajh Boyd (Clemson), Sean Renfree (Duke), Bryn Renner (UNC), and Mike Glennon (NC State) all being guys who will have the opportunity to play on Sundays. But, Logan is a tank and is built very similarly to that of Cam Newton, although I think Cam was a little more gifted athletically than Logan is.

As for this spring, it wasn’t a great showcase for the Hokies offense. Tech only had two open scrimmages and it took the offense a few weeks to warm up. Then the spring game was stormed out so it was tough to really get a read on the offense.

@HokieGuru I think Logan Thomas was not as well known last year, but I don’t think that’s the case this year. Many NFL draft boards have Thomas as a top 5-10 pick. Plus, he got a lot of exposure this summer with George Whitfield, who has trained Cam Newton, Ben Roethlisberger, and Andrew Luck. Yes, I agree with @vtechfanblog - we’re bias, but we think he is the best. When you have a big guy (6’6”, 262 lb) that can survey the field and pass like Logan (with a 4.6 40 yard dash!!!), well, let’s just say we’re pretty happy with that. @vtechfanblog is right about the spring question - we’re going to know a lot more in the fall.

2.  The Hokies don’t seem to bring much back at RB. Did anyone emerge in the spring to take command?

@vtechfanblog: I think the Hokies have a good mix of youth and talent in the backfield but this group is going to be a far cry away from the previous thoroughbreds Tech has possessed back there in recent years. Redshirt freshman Michael Holmes is being penciled in as the starter and I think that’s a fair assessment. He’s not quite explosive as our previous backs but he has a good blend of speed, power, and vision.

The depth chart behind Holmes though is still wide open. True freshman J.C. Coleman showed some flashes this spring but he’s still adjusting to the speed of the game. Plus, going up against Tech’s first string defense is no easy task for even the best running backs out there. There are a few other guys in the mix as well including converted fullback Martin Scales, true freshman Trey Edmunds, true freshman Chris Mangus, and redshirt junior Tony Gregory, who is returning from his 2nd ACL surgery.

@HokieGuru Well @vtechfanblog done a terrific job above - and I don’t have a lot to add - unless a big star emerges before our very eyes, I have a feeling that this year we’re going to have a running back by committee sort of situation (like a few years ago when we had Mike Imoh, Cedric Humes, etc.) with Holmes, Coleman, et. al. This is a good thing because we are a run-first team - and with the amount of carries our running backs get, someone could get injured (it happens all the time). Therefore, we need to get 2-3 involved. Each of these guys bring talents. Holmes is the power back; Coleman is the speedy back. I can’t wait to see how it plays out.

3.  Your o-line hasn’t had a lot of playing time with 17 collective starts. How did the look the spring and do they have enough to protect Thomas and open holes for your neophyte runners?

@vtechfanblog: If you read any preseason magazine (and I pretty much have them all) they’ll mention our offensive line being a weakness. I disagree with that to an extent. Our starting offensive line is physically impressive and should be a solid group once they establish some chemistry. Starting left tackle Nick Becton has been a contributor since his sophomore season and will do fine in his first year as a starter. He honestly has a higher ceiling than Andrew Lanier, who graduated last season. At left guard, David Wang has been impressive and is our most consistent lineman. We return Andrew Miller at center, who I believe had 14 total starts last year. If he stays healthy he’ll be an All-ACC performer this fall.

The right side of the line is where things get a little iffy. Our penciled in starter at right guard is Georgia transfer Brent Benedict. Benedict was a top 100 recruit back in 2009 but he completely blew out his knee at UGA and transferred to Virginia Tech last year. If his knee holds up, he could be our most talented lineman. But, I still don’t think he’s back to 100-percent yet. At right tackle, we have Vinston Painter who’s been slow to develop. However, he’s a man-beast at 6’6”, 304 lbs. If he can put it all together this year, he’ll be a 1st round pick in next year’s NFL draft.

@HokieGuru I can’t add a lot to what @vtechfanblog has said above (he’s done a very good job talking about the individual players), although I do disagree with him a bit. Here’s the deal - it’s going to take a while for this unit to be cohesive because they have not played together. We basically will have four new starters, but some do have experience. But that seems to be what I’ve seen with our offensive line for several years now - even if they have played together, the cohesion hasn’t necessarily been there for the first couple of games - it always seems like they are ready when the ACC play starts, though, so hopefully that’s the case this year. If you ask some Hokies, they’ll tell you that if we had an elite offensive line, this program might take the next step and compete at a higher level.

4.  The defense looks pretty good, starting up front. Did you see anything in the spring that made you doubt this?

@vtechfanblog: No. If anything this spring showed some flashes of just how good this unit can be. The even scarier part about that was starting MIKE linebacker Bruce Taylor, starting BACKER Tariq Edwards, and potentially starting defensive tackle Antoine Hopkins all didn’t participate this spring as they recovered from injuries.

As for the defensive line, this could be one of our best units since that 1999 foursome that led us to the National Championship game. We don’t have a Corey Moore this year but James Gayle has increased his weight up to 269 (according to his Instagram account) and could play his way into being an early draft pick next year. Our defensive tackles will be a position of strength now that Derrick Hopkins has a year of starting under his belt and Luther Maddy has surpassed his true freshman season. With the oldest Hopkins brother returning, Tech will have three starting caliber tackles this year. I, personally, love this group and I think you’ll be hearing a lot from them this fall.

@HokieGuru I’m with @vtechfanblog on this - I can see a similar defense in 2012 that we had in 2007-2008 (it is that good). If anything, this spring told me that I think we could find ourselves in the top 10 in most defensive categories. We don’t have the depth we had last year in the secondary, so if there is an injury or two, we’re a little “green” back there. But I think you’ll see a return to the solid defenses we’ve had in the past - our run defense will be stout.

5.  Any new guys emerge-expecting any contributions from players we aren’t thinking about?

@vtechfanblog: I’ve mentioned J.C. Coleman at tailback. I think he’s one that’s going to play the most out of anybody from our 2012 recruiting class. Another true freshman to watch will be Joel Caleb, who was ranked in the Rivals100 this past year. Caleb will need some time to transition from high school quarterback to division one wide receiver but he has a ton of raw talent. He’ll be special in time.

On defense, I think you’ll see true freshmen cornerbacks Donaldven Manning and Davion Tookes play a lot. Tech doesn’t have a lot of depth in the secondary so these guys will be counted on to come in this fall and play right away. Manning actually enrolled in January and went through spring practice. For a kid who was listed at 155 pounds coming in, he certainly plays with an attitude. I think he’ll be the next great Virginia Tech cornerback.

@HokieGuru I’m looking forward to those opportunities when we can get J.C. Coleman in space - I think he can be our Percy Harvin (albeit, he doesn’t have that size) in terms of getting him all over the field. J.C. Coleman has terrific speed - and will be fun to watch this year. Joel Caleb will get a chance to play - if anything, he’ll need to get reps for next year - and he’s going to be a good one.