The Hokies' big week will continue, the question is how many of the high-profile commitments end up being in favor of the Orange and Maroon? Let's take a closer look at two of them...
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Caleb Woodson will make the call on his social media channels at 6 p.m. tonight. The in-state hybrid is down to Vandy, UVa, Wake, and West Virginia along with the Hokies, though this has long felt like a Hoos/Hokies battle (
for reasons I've pointed out before). After his second visit to campus, I put in a Rivals FutureCast in favor of the Hokies based on some of the things Caleb himself told me. In the time since, VT has offered his younger brother, hosted him on an official visit, and begun to build an impressive 2023 class.
The only question for me has been whether there was a firm spot for him in the class - not because I didn't know if the Hokies were willing to take him (they always have been), but rather if he saw a bunch of linebackers and decided to go to a place where the path to the field was a little clearer. Virginia Tech giving him a plan for how they'd see his career playing out has been important.
In touching base with VT sources, they feel like they've done a very good job pointing out that he wouldn't be the third
linebacker commit, he'd be the first at his hybrid position (which, while a little more linebacker-y than under the previous staff, is pretty similar to what Chamarri Conner's already been doing - and Mook Reynolds before him - in Blacksburg). His skillset as a converted DB is unlike those of the two guys already committed, one of whom is a potential DE. There's no reason to expect that Woodson has been anything less than receptive to that plan, particularly because he was already high on the Orange and Maroon. The Hokies feel good about landing him tonight, and I won't be changing my FutureCast (even though picking one of his other finalists isn't outside the realm of possibility).
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The situation around VT legacy Braylon Johnson is a little murkier. I think I've alluded to some of this stuff in the past, but the prospect himself has told me on a couple occasions in non-interview settings that while he appreciates what Virginia Tech has always represented for his family (given his dad was a letterman in O&M), that's not necessarily a pressure to be a Hokie, but rather almost something that inspires him to go in another direction. He's an independent-minded kid who doesn't want to be Loren's Son, he wants to be Braylon. It's not a
deciding factor by any stretch, but it's worth keeping in mind when assuming he'll follow in Dad's footsteps.
The other thing that has always given me pause is something else that he's mentioned when we've chopped it up in every day conversation: he feels like the atmosphere around South Carolina and Wake Forest, in particular, fits his vibe a little more than the idyllic mountain surrounds in Blacksburg. He's a city kid from Richmond, and the comfort of those places - the familiarity of the environment - is something that has appealed to him. As with the legacy factor, it's not something that
disqualifies VT by any stretch of the imagination. But the assumption that location is a boost for VT has always been wrong (and if anything is a slight negative).
Those two important things said, VT has always been very confident in landing him - and even when passed those fairly crucial pieces of intel, has shrugged them off as easy to overcome. That applied before the staff put mega effort into repairing, building, and maintaining the relationships in the Richmond area that they were able to do during the Winter and Spring, and certainly applies even more so now that the prospect has seen the world a bit. They haven't wavered in their confidence, and that combined with the shined-up reputation of VT in Richmond (and at Highland Springs specifically, even though the staff cut Rashaud Pernell loose - there was an appreciation for the fact that they went above and beyond to place him at Liberty when they didn't want him) has me feeling like the Hokies will win out for Johnson, as well.
With other announcements in the coming days, that's just a little intel on the next two big ones, but it's positive news from this end. I wouldn't call either a done deal, but I also haven't seen enough to pick against VT in either case.
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