Virginia Tech defensive end Jason Worilds has declared for the NFL draft. Worilds would have been a rising r-senior and played his best football in 2009. This is a bit of a stomach punch for the Hokies because we are also losing our other starting defensive end, graduating senior Nekos Brown. This leaves only 3 Hokies with game experience at defensive end. R-senior Steven Friday registered 3.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss this season. Converting from tight end in 2008, r-junior Chris Drager really flourished in 2009 at his new position of defensive end, coming on strong late in the season and registering 2.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss. R-sophomore Isaiah Hamlette also had a couple snaps at defensive end, but did not register a tackle. The loss of Worilds means that 3 out of the starting 4 players on the defensive line are leaving after this season, with only John Graves remaining.
At first glance, this one might send a lot of people into panic mode. Now before we all start taking our cyanide pills, I'd just like to remind everyone that Bud Foster has always been able to produce good defensive ends. From John Engelberger, to Corey Moore, to Nathaniel Adibi, to Darryl Tapp, to Chris Ellis, to Jason Worilds, we have been stacked throughout the years, so it's crazy to think that we don't have upcoming talent just waiting to shine. Will that talent be as dominant as Jason Worilds for this next season? No, absolutely not. But that doesn't necessarily translate to losses for the Hokies. On the contrary, I think we will be just fine and I think we should still be expected to be the best team in the ACC next season.
As I see it, here are the players that the Hokies are losing next season and the level at which we will miss them...
Key Losses:
Jason Worilds
Cody Grimm
Tough Losses:
Greg Boone
Ed Wang
Sergio Render
Stephan Virgil
Brent Bowden
Matt Waldron
Easily-Replaceable Losses:
Kam Chancellor
Dorian Porch
Cordarrow Thompson
Cam Martin
A lot of you might give me crap for putting Kam Chancellor in the "Easily-Replaceable Losses" category, especially considering he's our top-rated NFL draft prospect, but I really could care less. I think he was possibly the most overrated player we have ever had at Virginia Tech. He has incredible size and decent top end speed, yes. He could hit harder than just about any free safety we've ever had. The one thing he lacked was the ability to read a play quickly (which is why he never put up good interception numbers) and he failed so many times on gap-responsibilities this season it'll make your head spin. And the cherry on top is the number of times he was beaten deep for long touchdown throws. When you're the free safety, that is the number one thing you CAN'T give up. I would take Willie Pile over Kam Chancellor 10 times out of 10 and Pile was nowhere near the size of Chancellor. I think that whoever replaces him can do equally well if not better, so that's why I listed Kam in that category.
I really am looking forward to the draft though. It's not so tough to believe that Cody Grimm is being listed as a late round draft prospect since the NFL is enamored with speed and size rather than ability, but I have no doubts that Grimm will eventually become a starter at strong safety in the NFL (and before that happens, a pro-bowl-level special teamer). Making others believe in him is the challenge Grimm has faced all his life, and we can't expect it to be any different in the athleticism-crazy NFL. Good luck Cody. Go get 'em, tiger. Er... Hokie.
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