Virginia Tech Hokies Preview 2022: Offense
Offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen comes in after years of being a part of the Penn State coaching staff and working last year with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and now he’s got a whole lot of work to do for an offense that was 12th in the ACC and had the second-worst scoring attack in the league.
Step One is figuring out the quarterback situation with leading passer Braxton Burmeister leaving for San Diego State. Grant Wells comes in from Marshall with a whole lot of talent and experience, but he needs to prove he can keep the interceptions to a minimum with 22 – to go along with 34 touchdown passes – over the last two seasons. He’ll battle with South Carolina transfer Jason Brown for the gig.
Leading targets Tre Turner and Tayvion Robinson are gone. Kaleb Smith is the leading returning receiver with just 20 catches for 260 yards and two scores, but Jadan Blue is a dangerous playmaker from Temple and Nick Gallo is a decent short-range receiver.
The offensive line that was decent in pass protection and paved the way for 185 rushing yards per game needs an overhaul. It lost three good parts to the NFL, but it gets back a strong right guard in Kaden Moore and Parker Clements at tackle.
Leading back Raheem Blackshear is done, and Burmeister was the second-leading rusher, but Malachi Thomas should be ready after running for 440 yards and three scores, and Jalen Hoiston is a decent-sized veteran in the rotation.
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Virginia Tech Hokies Preview 2022: Defense
The defense was relatively consistent. It wasn’t amazing, and there wasn’t enough happening in the backfield, but it didn’t get gouged all that often – there were missing parts in the bowl loss to Maryland.
There’s enough experience in place to work around, starting with leading tackler Dax Hollifield in the middle of the linebacking corps, and with a good one in Alan Tisdale – second on the team behind Hollifield in tackles for loss – next to him.
The defensive front has to do more to get behind the line, but there’s enough depth to form a decent rotation in the interior. TyJuan Garbutt is the team’s leading returning pass rusher on the end, and on the way is Pheldarius Payne coming in from Nebraska to work on the other side.
Leading pickoff man Jermaine Waller is gone from the secondary, but the safeties Nasir Peoples and Chamarri Conner should be able to combine for over 170 tackles again. Returning corner Amari Chatman led the team with seven broken up passes, but no one other than Waller came up with more than one pick.
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