What is the impact of Jerod Evans going pro on the VT football program?

Baltimore Hokie: In 2016, VT’s offense was transformed literally overnight into a high-performance racing machine (by our standards, anyway).  Despite having a mediocre running game, our total offense went from 381 YPG in 2015 to 449 YPG this season.  And our red zone attempts shot up from 52 to 68, as red zone scores rose from 45 to 60.  Offensive effectiveness dramatically transformed in 2016.

Fans continue to debate, however, if our level of performance was mainly due to the car (Fuente’s new offensive system) or the driver (Evans).  I think that’s the crux of the whole ‘impact’ issue.

There’s no doubt that our offense would have been far less effective without Evans at the helm.  He earned the starting role and never looked back.  At times his weaknesses showed – lack of long ball accuracy, and failing to go through read progressions.  But when the OC tuned the offensive gameplan to his strengths – and the defenses cooperated – Evans could take command of a game.  He ran with authority and drive, and he displayed short to midrange passing accuracy.

...