Virginia Tech had a good defensive season in 2016, for the most part. However, once the injuries started popping up at defensive end, you could see that the team lacked depth at that position. It also lacked depth at other positions, such as cornerback, but those issues weren’t exposed because Tech was able to stay relatively healthy at all spots other than defensive end.

On the whole, it’s fair to say that the 2016 defense wasn’t quite as talented at a spot or two, and wasn’t quite as deep at a spot or two. The coaching staff has put a major focus on recruiting all three levels of the defense for the 2017 class. They are just about finished with linebacker recruiting, but they’ve got a great chance to close strong on the defensive line and in the secondary. If they can close with enough of their top targets, on paper this has a chance to be one of Virginia Tech’s strongest efforts on the recruiting trail, at least as far as the defensive class is concerned.

Let’s take it position by position, starting with the defensive line…

Defensive End

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