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Wiles' top five right now at tackle is Luther Maddy, Corey Marshall, Woody Baron, Nigel Williams and Steve Sobczak.
"We can’t rep any more than that," Wiles said. "Now if something happens, based on who got hurt and all that, then we’re going to get our best four guys out there for the football game. We’re going to plug them in like playing Vinny[Mihota] at defensive end right now because he’s in our top eight. He can fit a couple places. So just depending on who got hurt, how we would move forward.
"But the future is now, and I told Ricky that. If the wrong guy got hurt, you’re coming out there. You’re going to move in there and start playing. We just need to stay healthy. But we’ll move forward with five tackles and really four ends right now."
Walker played as a true freshman while another fellow 2014 signee, Sobczak, did not. Wiles said there's not a ton of difference in performance right now from Williams, Walker and Sobczak, so redshirting Walker makes sense.
"As we move forward, you’re getting ready to lose Luther and you’re going to lose Woody … so you’ve kind of got to be smart a little bit," Wiles said.
2. Walker had a good attitude about redshirting.
Some guys say the right things but are clearly putting on a brave face. Walker seemed genuinely all about redshirting. In fact, he had thought about it ahead of time, simply from looking at the depth chart.
"It’s what’s best for the team," Walker said. "It’s not definite, because guys can get hurt, so if guys get hurt, then I guess I’m going to come down to it. But I feel like it’s a good thing. I’m not mad at all. It just takes time for me to get stronger, get healthy, a couple aches there. Definitely what’s best for the team. We’ve got Corey and Luther of course, the big two studs, so it’s what’s best for the team."
Walker was a highly-recruited guy in 2014, so some outsiders might look at this as an ego blow to someone who played in his true freshman year, albeit only once injuries forced the Hokies to abandon burning their redshirt of him in Week 3. He ended up playing 160 snaps.
"That’s what people always ask me, they go, ‘You know, you came in and played as a true freshman. You played a certainly amount of snaps and you was highly recruited,'" Walker said. "Umm, not at all. It’s a good thing. Being that I’m competitive, it’s a going to kind of suck not playing on Saturdays, but when it comes down to it, it’s worth it, man. I’m perfectly fine with it. ... When I talk to people about it, they agree with me. It’s a good thing and a smart decision and it’s going to be worth it."
Walker said he'll use the season to get stronger and further adjust to being slimmer. He's down to about 281 pounds right now after playing up around 290 in the spring. He did so by starting to eat better.
"I stopped eating at D2, because D2 will put weight on you," he said.
3. Settle's redshirt you could probably see coming.
Although Settle made a big first impression with the interception in the first scrimmage, coaches always talked cautiously about whether or not he could get on the field this year. And for a reason. They'd like him to slim down some from his 350-pound frame and get better with his technique.
As with Walker, there's also a matter of reps.
"Right now, how do you get Tim enough reps to get him ready to play?" Wiles said. "We’re not in a position right now that you have to play him. And if you have to play him, and if you had to pour every single play, every single rep into him, you could probably get him ready to play.
"[It's] a combination of getting into good shape. A combination of getting his body weight down just a tad. Tim’s not going to be 300. Now, we can get away from that. Those days are in his rearview mirror. But let’s get him down to three and a quarter. Let’s get him in some kind of shape where he looks like quick, athletic guy where he can do it all the time. Now, he does at times. The kid has got some tools, but just can’t get him enough reps right now to get him to play. You’re just robbing Peter to pay Paul. Just ain’t no way."
It doesn't diminish Wiles' opinion that Settle can be a long-term impact player at Tech.
"Kid’s liable to be a three-year starter for us," he said. "I’ll be disappointed if he’s not, really."
4. The freshmen defensive ends look like they'll all redshirt.
Wiles just doesn't think the group, which includes Darius Fullwood and Houshun Gaines, is ready. (Trevon Hilltore his ACL in March and is a definite redshirt.)
"Yeah, they ain’t ready to play, man," Wiles said. "I ain’t going to say they got worse as it went on, but they certainly got a little bit more overwhelmed. They were pretty good today. And they showed flashes through camp of being pretty good prospects. But as it went on, just not physical enough. And it just kind of wore on them mentally. Not mentally tough enough, but good prospects, though."
5. Baron's continued his push for the No. 3 spot, while Sobczak has turned a corner.
Wiles said Baron has continued to separate himself as the third defensive tackle and would be the next guy in the game if someone were to get hurt.
"It’s about making plays and turning plays and production in this business," Wiles said. "And Woody’s made a lot of plays for us."
Sobczak, a 6-foot-1, 309-pound redshirt freshman, has stood out enough in camp to push Williams, an All-ACC honorable mention pick last year after filling in for an injured Maddy, for the fourth tackle spot.
6. Dadi Nicolas and Corey Marshall are both on the mend.
Nicolas continues to deal with a hand injury from early in camp. He's had his hand wrapped for a while and probably will continue to do so, although defensive coordinator Bud Foster said he won't have a club or anything like that.
"He’s going to have it," Wiles said of the wrap. "I don’t know how many fingers he’ll have and all that. So there’ll be some limitations, but it shouldn’t be a problem. We’re not going to let it be a problem."
Marshall tweaked his ankle in last weekend's scrimmage and sat out the rest of that day, but coaches said he's been out there this week. It's unclear if it was the same ankle he had surgery on last offseason, although Wiles didn't sound too concerned about it.
"He didn’t miss any practice because of it," Wiles said. "It was just a little basketball turn. Wasn’t anything high."
