With much of Virginia Tech's recruiting put to bed by the December Signing Period, the Hokies don't have a lot of action to look forward to today. Here are some situations to keep an eye on.
Jakob Bradford
Junior College prospect Jakob Dodge from Fort Dodge (Iowa) Iowa Central is probably the Hokies' best chance to land a new commitment today. The 6-5, 290-pound offensive tackle would obviously fill a position of need in the class. His unranked status is not necessarily something the coaching staff would worry about anyway, and definitely not in the situation they're in with numbers up front.
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With two Juco years under his belt, he still has four to play three at the FBS level, thanks to the silver lining of this year not counting eligibility-wise for many players (he'd come in as a true junior nonetheless, but with that year thanks to the eligibility freeze an option down the road). He's from the Minneapolis area, and has a number of suitors. He's taken virtual visits to a number of those programs - including one with the Hokies that he kept a little quieter, after his offer from VT arrived Sunday.
It does seem like the Hokies are playing from behind here, and while he's not necessarily married to the idea of making his commitment
today, he'd prefer it since he extended his recruitment already in an attempt to get bigger offers (given that his options were all mid-majors had he signed in December, that certainly seems to have worked out for him). Syracuse is the favorite, but the Orange are dealing with some coaching vacancies on their staff right now. From Bradford's perspective, that can either be totally immaterial to his final choice (which would be Syracuse), push him to VT, or inspire him to slow things down just one gear. We should find out today what he ultimately picks from those options, with one of the first two the most likely.
Other jucos? Surprises
The Hokies have also looked around other areas of the Juco ranks, and it's possible that they throw out more offers (they've kicked the tires on former Alabama CB Jeffery Carter, now playing in the competitive Juco league in Mississippi, for example). For the most part, though, any new commitments would be Oscar Bradburn-like Signing Day Surprises: a player that was pretty much unknown entirely, that the staff has kept off the radar of
my industry in order to keep him off the radar of other schools, as well.
Thanks to that, you'll likely see the McDonald twins sign as scholarship players today. They were sort of fence-sitters (from the staff's end of things) during the December signing period. Thanks to their desire to be Hokies, they were willing to wait until February to see how the numbers shook out. Sources close to the family indicate they were willing to arrive at VT at preferred walk-ons (who'd almost certainly receive scholarships before starting camp, with offseason attrition anyway), as well. With scholarship options not really coming through as serious options to this point, it makes sense to have them sign today.
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The fluidity of scholarship numbers (not just in Blacksburg, but around the country) makes it a little more possible to get right up against - and even over - the 85-man scholarship limit this year, AD budgets allowing. Virginia Tech certainly isn't one of those in the best shape around the country, but going to 86-90 scholarship guys
should be the goal for the coaching staff if they can get those pursestrings open: this is the one year where you can give yourself that advantage, and it'd be unwise not to take advantage.
Going forward
On that note, today's action - or the next few days, if any prospects extend past Signing Day proper - should let the staff put the 2021 class to bed, but it doesn't mean the roster is set for next year. There'll be additional comings and goings from the Transfer Portal. The staff will continue to monitor it and hopefully land some players out of it.
VT only had 80 scholarships spoken for on the December Signing Day. Add the McDonald twins, and it's 82. If you take into account incoming transfers Tae Daley and Jordan Williams, and it's 84. Both of those guys technically shouldn't count against the 85 (much like Da'Shawn Crawford and Emmanuel Belmar) because they're seniors using the eligibility freeze year. The Hokies will have additional outgoing transfers when guys see the roster composition after Signing Day. From a pure "traditional" recruiting perspective (landing high school players), it's probably for the best to wash the hands of the 2021 class and let the new-look staff put its efforts into 2022 and beyond.
That's all to say that we'll wait for the dust to settle to see what the roster looks like after Signing Day. But it'll continue to build up into the Summer as the Transfer Portal remains as active as ever, with the staff in Blacksburg as active a participant as any.
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