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Draft Scout College Football Player News: Virginia Tech
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Fuente said it would be a long shot for wide receiver Changa Hodge to return this season. Hodge suffered a torn ACL midway through spring camp, but the Villanova transfer was as engaged as any of his medically cleared teammates. Hodge followed the receiv ers group around as if he was still practicing. He mimicked the drills off to the side, talked with his teammates about technique and intently watched the coaches as they critiqued players during various drills. The 6-foot-1, 199-pound sixth-year senior certainly hasn't given up on the season, and could be an asset for Tech as it tries to bring along a large group of young receivers. - Roanoke Times
rSr/2022  WR Changa Hodge, Virginia Tech
News Source: Roanoke Times
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Payoute just needs to make it through fall camp unscathed. The receiver was on track to be a key contributor last year before he suffered a season-ending leg injury at the end of fall camp. He practiced once in the spring before the training staff decide d Payoute should have a follow-up procedure in hopes he could put the injury completely behind him.Quarterback Braxton Burmeister said Payoute is back to his old self in the player-led workouts this summer. Burmeister also made it clear that Payou te is about as gifted of an athlete as there is, a common opinion amongst the team. They still marvel at the video posted to social media of him leaping from a standing position into the bed of a pickup truck. Tech desperately needs more production out o f receivers not named Tre Turner and Tayvion Robinson, and Payoute is the one to watch. - Roanoke Times
rJr/2024 WR Jaden Payoute, Virginia Tech
News Source: Roanoke Times
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Virginia Tech landed a pair of players on the 2021 All-Atlantic Coast Conference preseason football team that was announced on Tuesday morning as voted on by 147 media members. Tech starting tight end James Mitchell (77 votes) and defensive end Amare Bar no (63 votes) were selected. Barno's selection comes on the heels of his breakout 2020 season. He led the power five with 16 tackles of loss and was sixth in the league with 6.5 sacks. He earned All-ACC honorable mention honors last season. The 6-foot-6, 235-pounder switched from linebacker over to defensive end - a position he had never played in his career - right before fall camp, and has quickly established himself as Tech's top playmaker. - Roanoke Times
rSr/2022 OLB Amare Barno, Virginia Tech
News Source: Roanoke Times
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Virginia Tech senior tight end James Mitchell and junior defensive end Amare Barno and Virginia junior linebacker Nick Jackson were all named to the ACC's preseason all-conference football team, the league announced Tuesday. The 6-foot-3, 242-pound Mitch ell, who is on the Mackey Award watch list as one of the nation's top tight ends, has 47 career receptions for 796 yards in 36 games for the Hokies. He's caught six touchdown passes, including a team-high four last season, and has rushed for five more sc ores.A highly-regarded NFL prospect, Mitchell opted to return to Tech for his senior season. Since then, he's worked to improve his route-running and added about 10 pounds of muscle, he said, without sacrificing speed. "I'm running well. I'm as st rong as I've ever been," said Mitchell. "That was a huge part of me coming back, was continuing to get stronger. I play down there in the trenches. Continue to be able to block those guys on the line." - Richmond Times-Dispatch
rSr/2022  TE James Mitchell, Virginia Tech
News Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch
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The ACC released the conference's 2021 preseason poll on Monday morning with Virginia Tech picked by reporters to finish third in the Coastal Division. Tech closed out last season with a 33-15 win over Virginia in the team's season finale to go 5-6 (5-5 ACC) on the season after players elected not to accept a potential bowl bid. It was the first time since 1992 the program finished the season with a losing record. UVa, meanwhile, is picked to finish fifth in the Coastal Division. The Cavaliers finished 5-5 (4-5 ACC) in the 2020 season. Clemson received 125 of the 147 total votes to win the ACC title. The Tigers made the College Football Playoff last season for a sixth straight year going 10-2. It was the fourth straight year they were picked to win the ACC title in the media preseason poll. - Roanoke Times
rSr/2022 OLB Amare Barno, Virginia Tech
News Source: Roanoke Times
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Just over one year ago, Marshall quarterback Grant Wells started his climb to becoming the Thundering Herd's starting quarterback. Wells was thrown into the situation with the sudden departure of two-year starter Isaiah Green, but Wells successfully made the transition, throwing for 2,091 yards and 18 touchdowns with nine interceptions in 10 games. Those numbers made Wells a first-team All-Conference USA selection and the league's Freshman of the Year in a season in which the Herd climbed to as high as No. 15 in national rankings. The accolades did not come without their share of speed bumps, though, especially at the end of the year, when the Herd dropped three straight games and Wells struggled with accuracy issues.Since the end of the season, Wells has used those struggles as motivation, and teammates rave that Wells has elevated his game from both physical and mental standpoint to be a much better leader for the Herd in 2021. "You can tell that Grant's grown up a lot," Marshall receiver Tal ik Keaton said. "Last year he was a redshirt freshman and he had the jitters and stuff, but now he goes about the day like he's been doing it - not a big-head type of way, but he's just more confident." Marshall offensive lineman Alex Mollette agreed tha t Wells seems different. "He's not a freshman anymore," Mollette said. - Charleston Gazette
rSr/2024 QB Grant Wells, Virginia Tech
News Source: Charleston Gazette
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Wake Forest football coach Dave Clawson announced the team will be without three players -- two of which were returning starters -- for the 2021 season. The Deacons will be without wide receiver Donavon Greene and right tackle Je'Vionte' Nash, as well as reserve linebacker Chase Monroe, due to offseason injuries. "These three young men will play a key role off the field this season as they work towards a speedy and safe recovery," Clawson said in a statement provided by the athletics department.G reene, a Mount Airy alumnus, started eight games last season and averaged 20.1 yards per catch. He enrolled at the school in 2019, appearing in four games to preserve his redshirt status. Nash started all nine games in 2020 and has 38 career appearances for the Deacons. He's been with the program since the 2016 season, opting to return for the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA to student-athletes. - Winston Salem Journal
rSr/2026 WR Donavon Greene, Virginia Tech
News Source: Winston Salem Journal
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Last season, Marshall quarterback Grant Wells impressed as a freshman, earning Conference USA accolades along the way. This season, Wells' accolades are starting on a more national scale. On Monday, the Charleston native and George Washington High School graduate was named to the watch list for the 2021 Maxwell Award, given to the top player in college football. Wells earned Conference USA Freshman of the Year and all-conference first-team honors for his performance in 2020, which had the Thundering Her d ranked No. 15 at one point of the season. For the year, Wells finished 165 of 270 for 2,091 yards and 18 touchdowns with nine interceptions. - Charleston Gazette
rSr/2024 QB Grant Wells, Virginia Tech
News Source: Charleston Gazette
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Before arriving at Nebraska in the spring of 2020, the 6-foot-3, 260-pound defender recorded nine sacks in two seasons at Lackawanna (Pennsylvania) College. Last season at NU, he appeared in all eight games, finishing with 21 tackles, with two tackles fo r loss, one sack and a pair of pass breakups. He showed a relentlessness that made an impression on fans. Payne this coming season will likely end up playing standing up at times and with his hand in the dirt at others with the way defensive coordinator Erik Chinander and company roll through different fronts and personnel groups. The defensive line rotation is a deep one, and at outside linebacker the heavier group includes players such as Garrett Nelson and Damian Jackson.They help Payne with t he learning process, as does outside linebackers coach Mike Dawson. "I've learned a lot," Payne said. "I thought football was just X's and O's and just going, but you can learn stuff from the line pre-snap, after the snap and little movements from the li nemen." With a full spring of practices under his belt, Payne feels better prepared to make a bigger impact. "This will be a great year for him," Chinander said during the spring. "He's been through the program now, he's healthy. He's been in the weight room and he's got a lot of reps this spring." "I expect to do a whole lot better because now I know the system and how things run," Payne added. "I can just play. I can run to the ball and make plays. - Lincoln Journal Star
rSr/2024 DT Pheldarius Payne, Virginia Tech
News Source: Lincoln Journal Star
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Virginia Tech announced Tuesday that safety Devon Hunter has been reinstated to the football team. Hunter was suspended in September after he was arrested on charges of felony strangulation to cause wound or injury and misdemeanor assault against a famil y member. The felony was amended to a misdemeanor when Hunter pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Circuit Court on May 4. He was convicted of the two misdemeanors and sentenced to 24 months in jail, but the jail time was suspended to one day on each char ge, and two years probation. According to Tech's student-athlete code of conduct, an athlete with a felony charge can't be reinstated until, "until the charges are dropped, dismissed or otherwise resolved." The athletic department also needed Hunter to g et through the discipline process outlined in the university's code of conduct for the general student body before weighing in. - Roanoke Times
rSr/2022 SS Devon Hunter, Virginia Tech
News Source: Roanoke Times
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Virginia Tech safety Devon Hunter accepted a plea agreement on Tuesday with the Montgomery Circuit Court. Under the plea agreement, both charges were amended to assault and battery misdemeanors (Class 1 misdemeanors). Hunter was facing charges of felony strangulation to cause wound or injury and misdemeanor assault against a family member. He was sentenced to 24 months jail time, but the jail time was suspended to one day on each charge, and two years probation under New River Community Corrections. If he violates his probation or faces other charges during that time, that suspended sentence could be revoked. - Richmond Times-Dispatch
rSr/2022 SS Devon Hunter, Virginia Tech
News Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch
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The Chicago Bears drafted former Virginia Tech running back Khalil Herbert with the No. 33 (No. 217 overall) pick in the sixth round on Saturday afternoon. Herbert is the first Tech running back drafted since David Wilson was drafted in the first round o f the 2012 draft by the New York Giants. There were only four running backs taken in the first three rounds and only two - Alabama running back Najee Harris (No. 24 by Pittsburgh) and Clemson running back Travis Etienne (No. 25 by Jacksonville) - went in the opening round. Herbert was the 14th running back taken overall. He led the ACC with 1,791 all-purpose yards last fall and had 1,182 yards with eight touchdowns and ranked second in the conference averaging 7.68 yards per carry (sixth nationally). - Roanoke Times
rSr/2021 RB Khalil Herbert, Virginia Tech
News Source: Roanoke Times
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It isn't often you'll see a freshman in his second year as a starting quarterback. Nor is it often that said freshman has three years' experience within the system with his offensive coordinator. That is the situation with Marshall quarterback Grant Well s, however. Wells, Conference USA's all-conference first-team quarterback in 2020, returns as a third-year freshman due to an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA because of the COVID-19 pandemic.This season will be very different for Wel ls, however, as he lines up behind center in the schemes of first-year head coach Charles Huff. "I mean, geez, what has stayed the same?" Wells said. "My [position] coach has stayed the same, but other than that, that's about it. We have a lot of new fac es around here." Wells' role is enhanced under the new staff, with Huff emphasizing the quarterback position and running an aerial-based offense that will have the Thundering Herd taking downfield shots and allowing athletes on the outside to make plays. Wells, a former George Washington High School standout, benefits from being in the only group on the team that returns its position coach from the 2020 staff. - Charleston Gazette
rSr/2024 QB Grant Wells, Virginia Tech
News Source: Charleston Gazette
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The 2020 football season didn't proceed normally for anybody, but when Nebraska defensive coordinator Erik Chinander fielded a question last week about players who might have particularly needed this spring, his mind went first to Pheldarius Payne. The j unior college transfer built a good reputation as a pass-rusher at that level, verbally committed to North Carolina State and played with Lackawanna (Pennsylvania) Community College all the way to the juco national title game on Dec. 5, 2019. He flipped his commitment to Nebraska and signed his national letter of intent two weeks later, but wasn't set to arrive on campus until May 2020. Midway through that period, of course, the coronavirus pandemic arrived in the United States and threw pretty much eve rything off-kilter. Payne did arrive at NU on schedule, but he dealt with more than just the pandemic."At first when I came in, I had shoulder surgery, so as soon as I came in, I rehabbed for about two months," he told reporters Monday. "And I had to hurry up and lift weights and bench (press) and I was benching, I don't think 135 (pounds). I was benching like 25 on each side." The original plan was for Payne to play on the defensive line for Tony Tuioti. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 270 pounds, he was built a little bit more like, say, Deontre Thomas than some of the behemoths in the room such as Ty Robinson, Jordon Riley, Damion Daniels and other 300-plus pounders. Tuioti thought Payne could provide some pass-rush punch with a quick get-off and diff erent repertoire of moves. "Then I got COVID and I had to sit out and I lost weight," Payne said. - Lincoln Journal Star
rSr/2024 DT Pheldarius Payne, Virginia Tech
News Source: Lincoln Journal Star
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Virginia Tech safety Tyree Rogers has entered his name into the transfer portal, a source with knowledge of the information confirmed. Rogers was one of the six super seniors on the team who took advantage of the extra year of eligibility the NCAA grante d in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The veteran defender opted out of the 2020 season after playing in Tech's opener. Coach Justin Fuente said he wanted to focus on academics at the time. Rogers was working at free safety this spring along with Keont a Jenkins and Jalen Stroman as the Hokies look to replace Divine Deablo, who was a three year starter at the position. Rogers was a mainstay on Tech's special teams units throughout his career, but he did make three starts at free safety in the 2018 seas on. - Roanoke Times
rSr/2022 FS Tyree Rodgers, Virginia Tech
News Source: Roanoke Times
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