Welcome to Tunnel Talk, with all the latest on the Virginia Tech recruiting front.
Cole Nelson
Rivals.com Southeast Recruiting Analyst Chad Simmons shared on our board yesterday that Virginia Tech is the hot program for John's Creek (Ga.) DE Cole Nelson. That's been building for a few weeks now, but confirmation from boots-on-the-ground in the Peach State are certainly encouraging.
Nelson has long been high on Virginia Tech, but the realities of the emergency Dead Period in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic seemed to be a wrench in the works. His mid-March visit to Blacksburg had to be shelved indefinitely, and with Wake Forest and Vanderbilt his other favorites - and Vandy the only of those three he managed to see in-person before the Dead Period - the chance to climb against them was always going to be a slog. Credit to the staff for grinding through that adversity, though: hosting Nelson on FaceTime-enabled "virtual visits" made huge progress.
As the other contenders didn't work as hard to stay right on top of his list (it's actually Indiana that seems to be the other top option right now), the Hokies stand to benefit from their hard work. Nelson had always planned to make his commitment at some point in July - the timeline that made things look rough for the Hokies since he couldn't visit - and now that looks extremely positive for the Orange and Maroon. I would expect it within the next few days.
The 6-3, 230-pound three-star is a player that the staff likes a lot more than the recruiting industry does. I'm somewhere down the middle on him: a nice prospect, one who can be a solid piece for a VT team that can really use them up front. Not positive it's the pass-rush punch that the staff really needs.
Malachi Thomas
In touching base with folks around both the Hokies and the Peach State in pursuit of information on Nelson, it was only natural to ask about another player from Georgia who plans to make a decision in the not-so-distant future (Aug. 9) and has Virginia Tech near the top of his list: Hartwell (Ga.) Hart County running back Malachi Thomas.
Everything I heard back indicated positive things about the Hokies' prospects to hold off the likes of Kansas State and a few mid-major programs. If VT continues to push, they should be the recipient of some positive news in just over a couple weeks.
Where Thomas fits into the class is a different question for me. At 6-0, 182 pounds, he's no so physically different from commit Chance Black. He does have a more physical, between-the-tackles style to his running, but he'll have to build up physically to play that way in college. Your mileage may vary as to whether you think that's the right move with another player (New Jersey four-star Audric Estime, who has many more programs in pursuit) who is more game-ready but perhaps not as high-ceilinged also on the board.
OL movement?
It's been something of a surprise to me that offensive line - one of the few remaining positions of strong need - hasn't seen more recent movement. On the defensive line, you can observe the progress on the recruiting board and the development of the recruitments of players already on it, even if the Hokies have netted zero commitments (one commitment and one decommitment) since early April.
A relatively recent offer on the OL - Western Maryland two-way player Christopher Adams - seems like a solid bet to eventually end up in the class, but beyond that... there hasn't been a lot going on. The established targets are remaining quiet (Andrew Canelas) or fading away from Virginia Tech (Diego Pounds). In that regard, I do expect the staff to continue evaluating new targets, and potentially issue some new offers. A combination of true sleepers and/or guys who have mostly lower-level (i.e. upper-tier mid-major programs or lower-tier Power-5 programs) offers to date look likely.
Of course, if it gets closer to Signing Day and there's still strong need on the line, don't forget that a few "gettable" players were slow-played by the coaching staff to an extent (Thornton Gentry to NC State, Jaden Lindsay and Try Everett to Appalachian State, and you could possibly even throw recent Vandy commit Delfin Castillo into this pot). A late run with a serious amount of earnest interest could potentially shake one or more free.
The staff is currently counting on that not being necessary.
As always, thanks for visiting HokieHaven.com. Feel free to use this thread for discussion of the information herein.
Cole Nelson
Rivals.com Southeast Recruiting Analyst Chad Simmons shared on our board yesterday that Virginia Tech is the hot program for John's Creek (Ga.) DE Cole Nelson. That's been building for a few weeks now, but confirmation from boots-on-the-ground in the Peach State are certainly encouraging.
Nelson has long been high on Virginia Tech, but the realities of the emergency Dead Period in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic seemed to be a wrench in the works. His mid-March visit to Blacksburg had to be shelved indefinitely, and with Wake Forest and Vanderbilt his other favorites - and Vandy the only of those three he managed to see in-person before the Dead Period - the chance to climb against them was always going to be a slog. Credit to the staff for grinding through that adversity, though: hosting Nelson on FaceTime-enabled "virtual visits" made huge progress.
As the other contenders didn't work as hard to stay right on top of his list (it's actually Indiana that seems to be the other top option right now), the Hokies stand to benefit from their hard work. Nelson had always planned to make his commitment at some point in July - the timeline that made things look rough for the Hokies since he couldn't visit - and now that looks extremely positive for the Orange and Maroon. I would expect it within the next few days.
The 6-3, 230-pound three-star is a player that the staff likes a lot more than the recruiting industry does. I'm somewhere down the middle on him: a nice prospect, one who can be a solid piece for a VT team that can really use them up front. Not positive it's the pass-rush punch that the staff really needs.
Malachi Thomas
In touching base with folks around both the Hokies and the Peach State in pursuit of information on Nelson, it was only natural to ask about another player from Georgia who plans to make a decision in the not-so-distant future (Aug. 9) and has Virginia Tech near the top of his list: Hartwell (Ga.) Hart County running back Malachi Thomas.
Everything I heard back indicated positive things about the Hokies' prospects to hold off the likes of Kansas State and a few mid-major programs. If VT continues to push, they should be the recipient of some positive news in just over a couple weeks.
Where Thomas fits into the class is a different question for me. At 6-0, 182 pounds, he's no so physically different from commit Chance Black. He does have a more physical, between-the-tackles style to his running, but he'll have to build up physically to play that way in college. Your mileage may vary as to whether you think that's the right move with another player (New Jersey four-star Audric Estime, who has many more programs in pursuit) who is more game-ready but perhaps not as high-ceilinged also on the board.
OL movement?
It's been something of a surprise to me that offensive line - one of the few remaining positions of strong need - hasn't seen more recent movement. On the defensive line, you can observe the progress on the recruiting board and the development of the recruitments of players already on it, even if the Hokies have netted zero commitments (one commitment and one decommitment) since early April.
A relatively recent offer on the OL - Western Maryland two-way player Christopher Adams - seems like a solid bet to eventually end up in the class, but beyond that... there hasn't been a lot going on. The established targets are remaining quiet (Andrew Canelas) or fading away from Virginia Tech (Diego Pounds). In that regard, I do expect the staff to continue evaluating new targets, and potentially issue some new offers. A combination of true sleepers and/or guys who have mostly lower-level (i.e. upper-tier mid-major programs or lower-tier Power-5 programs) offers to date look likely.
Of course, if it gets closer to Signing Day and there's still strong need on the line, don't forget that a few "gettable" players were slow-played by the coaching staff to an extent (Thornton Gentry to NC State, Jaden Lindsay and Try Everett to Appalachian State, and you could possibly even throw recent Vandy commit Delfin Castillo into this pot). A late run with a serious amount of earnest interest could potentially shake one or more free.
The staff is currently counting on that not being necessary.
As always, thanks for visiting HokieHaven.com. Feel free to use this thread for discussion of the information herein.
