Virginia Tech cornerback Jayron Hosley was drafted late in the third round by the New York Giants, who took Hosley with the 31st pick in the round, 94th overall. Hosley joins teammate David Wilson, who was drafted in the first round by the G-Men.
The pick helped Virginia Tech cement its status in college football as “DB U”. The Hokies have now had a defensive back drafted in 14 straight NFL drafts, dating back to 1999.
Hosley was projected to be a second or third-round pick, so from that standpoint, he wasn’t hurt by the fact that he failed a drug test at the NFL Scouting Combine. Giants General Manager Jerry Reese said of the failed drug test, “We’re aware of that, obviously. He’s not the first one to have a situation like that. He’s a young kid – he’s very young. He’s 20 years old. He’s an early-out junior. He knows that’s a bad decision that he made and we expect better from him.”
Reese also said, “He’s not a big man, but this guy has athletic arrogance. He plays like a big guy. … He runs in there kind of like a little linebacker. He throws himself in there. He has outstanding cover skills. He’s productive. He’s an interceptor, he can intercept the ball, so we expect him to be in our nickel packages. And a bonus is that he’s a punt returner. … He has a lot of good qualities that we like.”
Giants coach Tom Coughlin echoed Reese’s sentiments, praising Hosley’s athletic ability, toughness, hands, and special teams ability. Coughlin summed it up by saying, “We feel like we can accomplish a lot with this kind of an athlete. He’s not the biggest guy in the world. That was discussed. However, we do think he is a competitive, feisty guy and he’s one of those people that has not backed down from anybody.”
Hosley is the 18th defensive back drafted out of Blacksburg in the last 14 years.
| Date | Opponent / Result | Top Scorers | Top Rebounders |
| Sat., Nov. 10 WIN (H) | VT 80, ETSU 62 Record: 1-0 | Green 21 Eddie 17 | Eddie 10 Wood 6 |
| Mon., Nov. 12 WIN (H) | VT 69, Rhode Island 50 Record: 2-0 | Green 25 Brown 12 | Raines 12 Eddie 8 |
| Thurs., Nov. 15 WIN (H) | VT 95, VMI 80 Record: 3-0 | Green 23 Eddie 17 | Raines 10 Eddie 8 van Zegeren 8 |
| Mon., Nov. 19 WIN (A) | VT 96, UNCG 87 Record: 4-0 | Eddie 28 Green 26 | Wood 11 Raines 9 |
| Fri., Nov. 23 WIN (H) | VT 87, App. State 76 Record: 5-0 | Green 27 Eddie 23 | Wood 8 Barksdale 7 |
| Tues., Nov. 27 WIN (H) | VT 95, Iowa 79 Record: 6-0 | Green 24 Brown 18 | Barksdale 7 Eddie 7 |
| Sat., Dec. 1 WIN (H) | VT 81, #15 OK State 71 Record: 7-0 | Green 28 Brown 18 | Eddie 12 Green 7 |
| Sat., Dec. 8 Loss (A) | WVU 68, VT 67 Record: 7-1 | Green 23 Brown 21 | Barksdale 8 Raines 8 |
| Mon., Dec. 10 WIN (H) | Green 23 Rankin 10 | Eddie 10 van Zegeren 7 |
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| Sat., Dec. 15 Loss (H) | Green 28 Eddie 21 | Barksdale 9 Eddie 8 |
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| Sat., Dec. 22 WIN (N) | Green 31 Raines 16 | Beyer 9 Raines 9 |
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| Sun., Dec. 23 Loss (N) | Green 26 Eddie 10 | Green 5 Eddie 5 Barksdale 5 |
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| Sat., Dec. 29 Loss (N) | BYU 97, VT 71 Record: 9-4 | Eddie 17 Brown 13 | Beyer 11 Eddie 7 |
| Sat., Jan. 5 Loss (A) | Maryland 94, VT 71 Record: 9-5 (0-1 ACC) | Green 28 Brown 11 | Raines 13 Beyer 7 |
| Wed., Jan. 9 Loss (H) | BC 86, VT 75 Record: 9-6 (0-2 ACC) | Green 24 Eddie 21 | Beyer 8 Eddie 6 |
| Sat., Jan. 12 WIN (A) | VT 70, GT 65 (OT) Record: 10-6 (1-2 ACC) | Green 28 Barksdale 11 | Barksdale 10 Eddie 7 |
| Sat., Jan. 19 WIN (H) | VT 66, Wake Forest 65 Record: 11-6 (2-2 ACC) | Green 22 Eddie 18 | Raines 13 Eddie 9 |
| Thurs., Jan. 24 Loss (H) | Virginia 74, VT 58 Record: 11-7 (2-3 ACC) | Green 35 Eddie 9 | Green 9 Eddie 9 |
| Sun., Jan. 27 Loss (A) | Clemson 77, VT 70 Record: 11-8 (2-4 ACC) | Green 25 Eddie 19 | Barksdale 6 Four with 4 |
| Wed., Jan. 30 Loss (H) | Miami 73, VT 64 Record: 11-9 (2-5 ACC) | Green 30 Eddie 14 | Raines 8 van Zegeren 6 |
| Sat., Feb. 2 Loss (A) | UNC 72, VT 60 (OT) Record: 11-10 (2-6 ACC) | Green 16 Eddie 15 | Green 6 Raines 6 |
| Thurs, Feb. 7 Loss (H) | Maryland 60, VT 55 Record: 11-11 (2-7 ACC) | Green 29 Raines 14 | Raines 5 Eddie 5 Barksdale 5 |
| Sat., Feb. 9 Loss (H) | GT 64, VT 54 Record: 11-12 (2-8 ACC) | Green 28 Brown 10 | Raines 9 Green 5 |
| Tues., Feb. 12 Loss (A) | UVa 73, VT 55 Record: 11-13 (2-9 ACC) | Green 22 Wood 8 | Raines 8 Wood 5 |
| Sat., Feb. 16 Loss (A) | NC State 90, VT 86 (OT) Record: 11-14 (2-10 ACC) | Green 29 Eddie 17 | Wood 16 Raines 9 |
| Thurs., Feb. 21 Loss (H) | Duke 88, VT 56 Record: 11-15 (2-11 ACC) | Green 22 Barksdale 14 | Barksdale 8 Raines 5 |
| Sun., Feb. 24 WIN (H) | VT 80, FSU 70 Record: 12-15 (3-11 ACC) | Green 26 Barksdale 17 | Barksdale 9 Four with 4 |
| Wed., Feb. 27 Loss (A) | Miami 76, VT 58 Record: 12-16 (3-12 ACC) | Green 16 Barksdale 12 Brown 12 | Barksdale 7 Raines 5 |
| Sat., Mar. 2 WIN (H) | VT 69, Clemson 61 Record: 13-16 (4-12 ACC) | Green 29 Barksdale 14 | Barksdale 8 Eddie 5 Raines 5 |
| Tues., Mar. 5 Loss (A) | Duke 85, VT 57 Record: 13-17 (4-13 ACC) | Green 25 Eddie 13 | Wood 7 Eddie 7 |
| Sun., Mar. 10 Loss (A) | Wake Forest 90, VT 79 Record: 13-18 (4-14 ACC) | Green 35 Rankin 15 | Raines 7 Eddie 6 |
| Thurs., March 14 Loss (N) | Eddie 21 Green 15 | Raines 7 Barksdale 4 |
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Pierson Prioleau is one of my favorites. Not drafted that high or all-pro but worked hard to contribute and stay in the league for a very nice career.
Sorenson, played safety and carried as a back in nfl correct?
I thought he was special teams leader in the NFL.
He was listed as a Safey for the Browns, and did get playing time there at that position. But, yes, generally special teams leader.
If you go back further, there’s been more than 20 secondary from the Hokies drafted. And there might be two next year. Antone and Fuller… Keep them coming Torian and bud.
Correct. Under Beamer, here are the other DBs drafted – to me, the interesting thing has always been that the Vikings drafted Torrian and Antonio Banks two rounds apart, in the same year.
1997 Torrian Gray S 2 19 49 Minnesota
1997 Antonio Banks CB 4 17 113 Minnesota
1994 Tyronne Drakeford CB 2 33 62 San Francisco
1992 Damien Russell DB 6 11 151 San Francisco
1992 John Granby DB 12 26 334 Denver
1990 Roger Brown DB 8 22 215 Green Bay
1988 Carter Wiley DB 12 1 306 Atlanta
Don’t forget Al Young getting drafted by the Giants in 1985, but he was a Charlie Moir product, not Beamer.
Will,
Out of all of those, it seems that collectively most of those actually stuck around in the NFL for more than 1 and Done. Any idea what their longevity in the NFL was? I know, I could go check their individual NFL records and figure it out.
Sounds like an article idea to me, or a Q&A question.
Agreed. I’d be interested in reading that.
make it DB years – How many DB years (and counting) have we got in the NFL?
Make one of yur famous tables including all the key stats, teams played for, highest known salary, where are they now, etc.. There are probably some on this list who would be good interviews.
I’m not usually prone to be negative, but the article could include a column for how many stupid 15-yard personal fouls each one had – which reminds me that you could include undrafted free agents like Ronyell Whitaker. I love all our dbs, but I sure can remember quite a few stupid penalties that they racked up over the years.
What is Jimmy Williams doing these days? After being cut from the Niners is he playing professionally anywhere?
Wondered that myself. I emceed an event with some former players at the Holiday Inn after the (canceled) spring game, and Brenden Hill was there — I’ll bet he knows where Jimmy is, but I forgot to ask him.
that is basically a list of my all-time favorite Hokies 🙂