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So...what happened in the draft?

hokiemtc

Hokie Hall of Fame
Mar 29, 2002
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Bucky Hodges - 201st pick, 6th round
Isaiah Ford - 237th pick, 7th round

Jerod Evans - undrafted

These three guys gutted one of the best offenses in school history by going pro early...and for what, exactly? Are VT players getting really poor draft advice? Are the players ignoring sound draft advice? There seems to be a disconnect here somewhere, and I can't imagine how good the 2017 offense would've been if all 3 of these guys had stayed put. But now they're gone and VT is facing a major rebuilding job...and for what, exactly?
 
Bucky Hodges - 201st pick, 6th round
Isaiah Ford - 237th pick, 7th round

Jerod Evans - undrafted

These three guys gutted one of the best offenses in school history by going pro early...and for what, exactly? Are VT players getting really poor draft advice? Are the players ignoring sound draft advice? There seems to be a disconnect here somewhere, and I can't imagine how good the 2017 offense would've been if all 3 of these guys had stayed put. But now they're gone and VT is facing a major rebuilding job...and for what, exactly?

Agree completely. There are agents out there who prey on players who have a good year and convince them that they should leave early to enter the draft. For some kids like Trebiski who I feel is way over-rated, it works out. But for most like Evans, it does not.
Everyone lost by him deciding to leave early, no doubt because of he was swayed by some agent looking for the quick buck rather than what was best for Evans.
Congrats to the 4 Hokies who were drafted, especially Clark and Rogers who did it the right way.
 
I'm a Dolphin fan....can't believe we got Ford that late in draft. Definitely seems like some guys got some bad advice.
 
I agree fully with you guys in that these kids were given bad advice.

Yeah Evans you took a beating your one year at VT but you didn't even get drafted! Our coaches know they have to place less emphasis on you running the ball. The one good thing about you leaving early was that more kids are coming to town sooner to try to replace you with the 2 transfers and the 2 kids in the '18 class.

Ford and Thomas have to beat out kids with more experience that graduated from college AND/OR displace mature men that already have experience as professionals. You don't stand much of a chance my friends and you should have stayed at the Burg.

I hope I'm wrong and good luck to you and all the other Hokie players invited to camps.
 
Most agents (not all), are among the lowest scum of the human race. Players leaving college without a degree, should not be allowed contact with an agent.
 
I am not surprised that no one wanted Evans. It seemed like most of his completions were either from short passes, or "jump balls" to Ford or Hodges. We saw very little 15-20 passes across the middle or at the sidelines, which is what NFL teams have to have in a QB, and when he did throw those, I did not see a strong arm or accuracy.

Why blame agents for Evans' decision? This was his decision and the result is his doing. Players can get a pre draft grade, and every coach out there tells players about agents. There were other QBs that had good stats like Evans, and were considered better NFL prospects, but still stayed in school, so it is not like it is an agent can just tell a college kid to go pro and he will listen.

The bottom line is Evans had a good year last year, and I appreciate everything he did for us, but, had he stayed, he very well might have lost the starting job anyway. We have some good talent at the QB position, and we very well might see a QB next year that can do even more than Evans did in Fuente's system.
 
I am not surprised that no one wanted Evans. It seemed like most of his completions were either from short passes, or "jump balls" to Ford or Hodges. We saw very little 15-20 passes across the middle or at the sidelines, which is what NFL teams have to have in a QB, and when he did throw those, I did not see a strong arm or accuracy.

Why blame agents for Evans' decision? This was his decision and the result is his doing. Players can get a pre draft grade, and every coach out there tells players about agents. There were other QBs that had good stats like Evans, and were considered better NFL prospects, but still stayed in school, so it is not like it is an agent can just tell a college kid to go pro and he will listen.

The bottom line is Evans had a good year last year, and I appreciate everything he did for us, but, had he stayed, he very well might have lost the starting job anyway. We have some good talent at the QB position, and we very well might see a QB next year that can do even more than Evans did in Fuente's system.

Evans proved his worth by taking the team on his back in the Clemson game and the 2nd half of the Arkansas game. We haven't had a QB like that since Tyrod. He is not the prototype NFL QB but he could have taken Tech a long way next year had he stayed for another year. Don't know much about the new kids but I hope one of them has the leadership intangible that Evans had.
 
Evans was told by many close to him, and also by talent evaluators, that he was likely looking at late-7th to undrafted and his best chance was likely free agency. I have no clue why he was so bent on going, but some have suggested he had made up his mind prior to the season's start. I don't know the details, so I won't conjecture any further, but seems like there has to be more to it.

Ford "under-performed" at his NFL combine. It's dumb, but his 40 speed hurt him quite a bit. Because he's slight of build and shorter than most big-time NFL receivers, scouts over-emphasize the importance of a blistering 40 speed. Speed is important, but most receivers don't spend their careers running full-stride for 40 yards. I think Ford will be fine, and a lot of evaluators think the Fins got an absolute steal at 7.

Hodges is somewhat of a surprise, but not really. He's got all the physical tools, but he's still pretty raw, and really would have benefitted from another year under Fuente's tutelage.

But hey, what the hell, maybe this is just a testament to Fuente's coaching ability?
 
Evans proved his worth by taking the team on his back in the Clemson game and the 2nd half of the Arkansas game. We haven't had a QB like that since Tyrod. He is not the prototype NFL QB but he could have taken Tech a long way next year had he stayed for another year. Don't know much about the new kids but I hope one of them has the leadership intangible that Evans had.

People forget that even Logan Thomas was a record-setting QB at VT. I think Tyrod is the best all-around QB I've watched at VT, but we've had some good ones. Obviously, Logan's numbers were a byproduct of the offense being 90% him to some extent, as well as the much longer schedule these days, generally being 14 games for bowl-bound teams, but not just anyone can put up those numbers.

At any rate, proving yourself to be a competent, or even exceptional, college QB is often not even half the battle. Just ask Tim Tebow, Troy Smith, or Jason White to name a few. Even highly-drafted QBs often flame out. The NFL uses a whole panoply of "metrics" to project a QB to the next level, and while I'm not sold on many of them in terms of relevance (the Wunderlich is bullshit, for instance, and I think the combine can be a total crap shoot), it's not an easy job. Projecting ANY position to the NFL is difficult, but QB talent and offensive line talent, in particular, are extremely difficult.
 
The results of the draft speak to exactly what I have said for years.

1. We have an offensive talent problem at VT that was caused by Frank Beamer and when we get an offensive player that has NFL talent, he appears to the common VT fans eyes as "all world" because we are so used to poor offensive production. I wrote on this board back in September, Ford is no way a top 3 round draft pick and Bucky is no NFL player and will not go in the top 5 rounds. Bucky will be out of the league in 3 years. I said the same about L. Thomas. Bucky can't catch the ball and runs poor routes He is not "raw." He's been in the program for years. He is an upper classmen who can't catch the ball compared to TEs in the first 5 or so rounds.

2. The above speaks to the job that JuFu did. We have a modern day offense with mediocre talent, but to us, the talent looked all world because of what we are used to. No worries, that is changing because JuFu can recruit.

I will go a different route on Evans. The draft folks missed on him. He WILL make a team and he will be a long time number two guy in the NFL. Mark that down and we will revisit in 5 years. I warned u about Hodges and I remember the bitching and moaning about how he was a 1st or 2nd round pick on this board over the past two years. He can't catch the ball, period. Forget about stupid words like "raw, intangibles, etc."

The future is good for VT.
 
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The results of the draft speak to exactly what I have said for years.

1. We have an offensive talent problem at VT that was caused by Frank Beamer and when we get an offensive player that has NFL talent, he appears to the common VT fans eyes as "all world" because we are so used to poor offensive production. I wrote on this board back in September, Ford is no way a top 3 round draft pick and Bucky is no NFL player and will not go in the top 5 rounds. Bucky will be out of the league in 3 years. I said the same about L. Thomas. Bucky can't catch the ball and runs poor routes He is not "raw." He's been in the program for years. He is an upper classmen who can't catch the ball compared to TEs in the first 5 or so rounds.

2. The above speaks to the job that JuFu did. We have a modern day offense with mediocre talent, but to us, the talent looked all world because of what we are used to. No worries, that is changing because JuFu can recruit.

I will go a different route on Evans. The draft folks missed on him. He WILL make a team and he will be a long time number two guy in the NFL. Mark that down and we will revisit in 5 years. I warned u about Hodges and I remember the bitching and moaning about how he was a 1st or 2nd round pick on this board over the past two years. He can't catch the ball, period. Forget about stupid words like "raw, intangibles, etc."

The future is good for VT.
I like your VT football thinking even though you're a rightwingnut and a putin's agent
 
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The results of the draft speak to exactly what I have said for years.

1. We have an offensive talent problem at VT that was caused by Frank Beamer and when we get an offensive player that has NFL talent, he appears to the common VT fans eyes as "all world" because we are so used to poor offensive production.

Help me out here. So, are you really saying because we only had 3 offensive guys drafted, and none in the first 5 rounds, this means we have an offensive talent problem that was caused by Beamer? Even though we only had one defensive guy drafted, and that was also after the 5th round? Does this also mean we have a worse defensive talent problem here that Bud has caused?

If anything, the offensive guys had a tougher situation because they started their careers under one system, and finished their careers under a completely different one, while the defensive guys have played under Bud and his system their whole careers.

Shouldn't the defense have had more draft picks? I noticed 3 of them signed free agent contracts, and the best of luck to them, but instead of getting on Beamer, is it fair to ask why weren't they drafted?

So, unless the goal of your post was to criticize Bud, I think you might want to rethink getting on Beamer for where the offensive guys were drafted.
 
I think that we can all agree that recruiting had been on the decline the last few years of Beamer's coaching career. It is likely that diminished recruiting resulted in lower drafts. This was a systemic problem that plagued Beamer the last few years. Lower performance on the field, lowered recruiting, lowered drafts. This impacted not just offense but defense as well. We lost a lot of good Virginia young men to other schools outside of Virginia.

I am anxious to see if Justin can turn the recruiting around and get the program going in the right direction again. My expectations are lowered this year so it will be really fun to see what Justin does with a rebuilding year.
 
I am anxious to see if Justin can turn the recruiting around and get the program going in the right direction again. My expectations are lowered this year so it will be really fun to see what Justin does with a rebuilding year.

I am also looking forward to seeing what Fuente does with recruiting. I think in one year he has already gotten the program going in the right direction again, and my expectations are actually a little higher this year.

If our QB play will be as good as I think it will be, I think we will be even better this year. I do not see us in year 2 for Fuente having 3 stinkers like we did last year against Tenn., GT, and Syracuse. Maybe one, because no team plays flawless football every game, but not three. I realize I said "if" regarding our QB play, and that is a big if since we will have a new QB who has never taken a snap, but I think many are going to be pleasantly surprised at how good our QB play will be.

I see us winning the Coastal again, and having a very good chance at an ACC title since Deshaun Watson, who should have been drafted #1 overall and will be the NFL's next great QB, is gone.
 
I am also looking forward to seeing what Fuente does with recruiting. I think in one year he has already gotten the program going in the right direction again, and my expectations are actually a little higher this year.

If our QB play will be as good as I think it will be, I think we will be even better this year. I do not see us in year 2 for Fuente having 3 stinkers like we did last year against Tenn., GT, and Syracuse. Maybe one, because no team plays flawless football every game, but not three. I realize I said "if" regarding our QB play, and that is a big if since we will have a new QB who has never taken a snap, but I think many are going to be pleasantly surprised at how good our QB play will be.

I see us winning the Coastal again, and having a very good chance at an ACC title since Deshaun Watson, who should have been drafted #1 overall and will be the NFL's next great QB, is gone.

Agree. Offense will actually be better this year. So many Tech fans have become accustomed to the talent on the offensive side of the ball completely dictating what the offense does without giving a thought to how offensive coaching also has a major impact on offensive output. Why? Because we never had offensive coaching, so the variable of offensive production was pretty much directly effected by talent on offense. This is why the former poster that you responded to had lower offensive expectations. He is looking at talent only and making an assessment directly by who is lost and who returns because that's the mode of thinking for years. It will take a while for some Tech fans to truly realize that coaching matters and can play a huge role in output. It mattered in year one of CoachFu as our offensive talent was average. In 2017, we will actually be MORE talented offensively and with Coach JuFu, the O will actually be better. Maybe after year two, some will finally realize just how poor our offensive coaching was for well over a decade.
 
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Because we never had offensive coaching, so the variable of offensive production was pretty much directly effected by talent on offense.

I think our offensive production in past years had more to do with Beamer's style of play than coaching. As good as Fuente is, he would not have been able to put up flashy stats with a "ball control, field position, defense first, play it safe and don't turn the ball over when ahead in the 2nd half" offense. I remember numerous games when a 250+ yard 1st half turned into a sub 400 yard game because we were protecting a 2 or 3 TD lead.

Like it or not, it was hard to disagree with the incredible success Beamer had from the all important wins and losses standpoint. It is fine to have different opinions on this, but put me down for someone who appreciated both Beamer and his style because it led to so many wins, top ten finishes, and big time bowl games, and also Fuente and his style, which will put more points on the board and hopefully lead to similar or better success.
 
Good point about Beamer's O. One cannot argue against so many 10-win seasons playing conservative, ball control O. And we had our share of talent come to Tech. But Fuentes' style of play is what kids want to do. My hope is that Foster will recruit even better and get more arse-whipping kids on D now with an O that puts points on the board.
 
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I am also looking forward to seeing what Fuente does with recruiting. I think in one year he has already gotten the program going in the right direction again, and my expectations are actually a little higher this year.

If our QB play will be as good as I think it will be, I think we will be even better this year. I do not see us in year 2 for Fuente having 3 stinkers like we did last year against Tenn., GT, and Syracuse. Maybe one, because no team plays flawless football every game, but not three. I realize I said "if" regarding our QB play, and that is a big if since we will have a new QB who has never taken a snap, but I think many are going to be pleasantly surprised at how good our QB play will be.

I see us winning the Coastal again, and having a very good chance at an ACC title since Deshaun Watson, who should have been drafted #1 overall and will be the NFL's next great QB, is gone.

Whoa. What?? I'm a glass half full guy myself, but on my sunniest day I couldn't have dreamed up a better scenario than this.

First of all, an "if" on the QB position for a QB who has never played a down is a very long shot indeed. Remember that Jerod was brand new to us, but had a full season in junior college, and still didn't hit his stride for three games or so.

So we will have a baby at QB, one proven receiver, having lost three of our top four, a new fullback, and new TE, some new linemen, probably a new primary running back.........

I hope for the best, and have a lot of faith in Fu, but at this point the season could end up 6-6 a lot more probably than another division title. In my mind, the only way we get back to the ACC CG is if Bud's defense puts the team on its back and carries us for 4-5 games, and the offensive guys develop better than can be expected. And if we have turnovers at the rate we did early last year, even Bud can't save us.

I hope you're right, but I don't think so......
 
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Whoa. What?? I'm a glass half full guy myself, but on my sunniest day I couldn't have dreamed up a better scenario than this.

First of all, an "if" on the QB position for a QB who has never played a down is a very long shot indeed. Remember that Jerod was brand new to us, but had a full season in junior college, and still didn't hit his stride for three games or so.

So we will have a baby at QB, one proven receiver, having lost three of our top four, a new fullback, and new TE, some new linemen, probably a new primary running back.........

I hope for the best, and have a lot of faith in Fu, but at this point the season could end up 6-6 a lot more probably than another division title. In my mind, the only way we get back to the ACC CG is if Bud's defense puts the team on its back and carries us for 4-5 games, and the offensive guys develop better than can be expected. And if we have turnovers at the rate we did early last year, even Bud can't save us.

I hope you're right, but I don't think so......

I am with you. I do not think we will duplicate last year's results which is why I had lowered expectations. I think we may win 7-8 games and that is not bad considering a rebuild year.
 
Whoa. What?? I'm a glass half full guy myself, but on my sunniest day I couldn't have dreamed up a better scenario than this.

First of all, an "if" on the QB position for a QB who has never played a down is a very long shot indeed. Remember that Jerod was brand new to us, but had a full season in junior college, and still didn't hit his stride for three games or so.

So we will have a baby at QB, one proven receiver, having lost three of our top four, a new fullback, and new TE, some new linemen, probably a new primary running back.........

I hear you, but think back to 2011. We lost a lot of talent after Tyrod and company won an ACC title for us in 2010, but Logan, in his first year, led us to an 11-1 regular season. Also, you mentioned last year with Evans, when we won the Coastal with a new QB. I can agree a new QB is always a question mark, but certainly not a long shot to do well, and these are only two of many, many cases where a team with new starting QB had a great season.

I know what Evans' stats said last year, but I do not think it is that crazy to think we will get better QB play this year. I also think Ford and Hodges can be replaced, and I am not at all concerned about losing a FB and a few OL guys. That happens to every team every year.

So, don't forget that while we will lose some guys that did good things for us last year, so will every team we are competing against. Miami, UNC, and Pitt, arguably our 3 toughest Coastal opponents, will all be starting new QBs as well, so our QB in his 1st year could turn out to be the best in the Coastal.
 
I'm optimistic because we have new QB's worst nightmare- Bud Foster. And this year's team has ton's of talent coming back and new speed in town. Our D and special teams are going to be awesome.
 
I hear you, but think back to 2011. We lost a lot of talent after Tyrod and company won an ACC title for us in 2010, but Logan, in his first year, led us to an 11-1 regular season. Also, you mentioned last year with Evans, when we won the Coastal with a new QB. I can agree a new QB is always a question mark, but certainly not a long shot to do well, and these are only two of many, many cases where a team with new starting QB had a great season.

I know what Evans' stats said last year, but I do not think it is that crazy to think we will get better QB play this year. I also think Ford and Hodges can be replaced, and I am not at all concerned about losing a FB and a few OL guys. That happens to every team every year.

So, don't forget that while we will lose some guys that did good things for us last year, so will every team we are competing against. Miami, UNC, and Pitt, arguably our 3 toughest Coastal opponents, will all be starting new QBs as well, so our QB in his 1st year could turn out to be the best in the Coastal.

Good point on new QBs in the ACC. On the schedule are only two ACC teams returning a QB, Duke and Virginia, according to Phil Steele. But looking at returning starters, VT is tied for the fewest on offense, at 5, with Clemson and UNC. And on defense we return 7, with only Pitt returning fewer.

Again, I hope for the best, but I certainly think that all the cards will have to fall our way to get back to the ACC CG.
 
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