Virginia Tech Class of 2018 Prospect Profile: Aidan Rafferty

On Wednesday, we profiled one of Virginia Tech’s top in-state targets in Keshon Artis. Today, we’ll take a look at an offensive lineman the Hokies are targeting — Aidan Rafferty.

Rafferty is listed at 6-foot-6, 280-pounds and is from Washington D.C. He’s a 3-star recruit, according to the 247Sports Composite. He’s ranked as No. 37 among offensive tackles in the country and is a top-500 player nationally.

Rafferty only has eight scholarship offers to this point, but seven are from Power 5 schools. Boston College, NC State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Virginia have all offered so far, as well as Maryland. Rafferty received an offer from Virginia Tech on Feb. 9.

Judging from his highlight tape, Rafferty blocks well in a phone booth. He shows solid technique and finishes strong. He doesn’t “bench press” guys at the line of scrimmage. Instead, he blocks them out of the play in running or passing situations. Rafferty has quick feet and if he is able to build onto his 6-foot-6 frame, he could easily get into the 310-320-pound range.

Rafferty does have a Virginia Tech connection, as his sister is currently a student. Rafferty’s mom, however, attended Maryland, who figures to be a major player in his recruitment. Rafferty’s high school teammate, Johnny Jordan, just signed with the Terrapins for the Class of 2017. Virginia Tech was able to get Rafferty on campus for an unofficial visit this past weekend, but by no means can count this as a win. Holmon Wiggins and Vance Vice are the lead recruiters for Rafferty.

Landing Rafferty would be huge for Vice, who struggled a bit with offensive line recruiting in the Class of 2017. Virginia Tech signed two offensive linemen in the Class of 2017 in Aiden Brown and Christian Darrisaw, who combined to hold one other Power 5 offer according to 247Sports. According to Rivals, neither has another Power 5 offer. Silas Dzansi was a member of the Class of 2016 who enrolled for this spring semester.

Because the Hokies had such a small offensive line class last year, Virginia Tech will likely take four-plus linemen in this year’s class. The Hokies have offered over a dozen offensive linemen to this point and will likely offer more in the coming months. Nana Asiedu, Richard Gouraige and Antwan Reed are some of the higher-profile targets for Virginia Tech, while John Harris, Casey Holman and Jordan McFadden are recruits flying under the radar.