Not even a week into preseason camp, the Virginia Tech coaching staff is
already moving players around. After displaying impressive athletic ability in
freshman testing, Kam Chancellor has been moved from quarterback to cornerback,
where his size (6-4, 217), closely resembles that of Jimmy Williams. Chancellor
is playing the boundary corner position for the Hokies.
Chancellor is currently listed behind Brandon Flowers and Jahre Cheeseman at
boundary, but ahead of Kent Hicks. It might not be the last position Chancellor
plays over the course of the month.
There have been a lot of position changes along the offensive line. First of
all, defensive tackle Hivera Green has been moved to offensive tackle. He is
currently listed at left tackle. Matt Welsh has been switched from guard to left
tackle as well. Brandon Gore has been moved from right tackle to left guard,
where he is backing up Ryan Shuman.
Virginia Tech’s depth at left tackle is somewhat surprising. Besides
Brandon Frye, they have Aaron Brown, Matt Welsh and Hivera Green. At right
tackle they have just Duane Brown, Richard Graham and Clark Crum. Crum will
redshirt this season. One of the left tackles could end up at right tackle
before the preseason is over.
Banged Up Hokies
Many of the position changes have come because of injury. Here is a list of
Tech players who are currently out with an injury, or playing hurt:
| Injured Hokies |
|
| Name | Injury |
Brandon Frye |
Hamstring |
Sam Wheeler |
Toe |
Andrew Bowman |
? |
Roland Minor |
Car Accident |
Stephan Virgil |
? |
Brandon Flowers |
Groin |
Jahre Cheeseman |
“Gimpy” |
It isn’t clear how Jahre Cheeseman and Stephan Virgil are injured, but
Cheeseman has been described as “gimpy”. No one in the media has mentioned
an injury to Andrew Bowman, but he is listed in the “Injured” column on the
BeamerBall.com depth chart.
The secondary is the most banged up, thus the move of Chancellor to
cornerback. Flowers is expected to be back to full speed very soon. Minor will
miss 6-8 weeks because of a recent car accident, in which he injured a wrist and
a knee. Cheeseman has been in and out of practices. Except for Minor, it doesn’t
appear that any of the players will be out for an extended period of time.
Glennon Taking Over
Judging by the fact that Cory Holt and Ike Whitaker were splitting time
running the scout team earlier in the week, and that Holt is being tried out as
personal protector on the punt team, it seems fairly obvious that Sean Glennon
is pulling away in the race to be Virginia Tech’s starting quarterback.
The r-sophomore from Westfield High School stayed in Blacksburg all summer,
spending quality time in the weight room and getting his timing down with the
wide receivers. Coach Beamer will probably let things shake out through the
scrimmage on Saturday, and then will announce Glennon as the starting
quarterback, barring a comeback by Holt or Whitaker.
Other ACC Injuries
Two of Virginia Tech’s Coastal Division rivals received bad news this week
on the injury front. Starting UNC strong safety Trimane Goddard, a junior, is
likely lost for the season because of a fractured fifth metatarsal in his left
foot. He is undergoing surgery in Chapel Hill today. Last season Goddard posted
53 tackles. He also had three interceptions, which tied for the team lead.
Back in February, Goddard suffered the same injury to the same foot. He
missed spring practice after having surgery.
Virginia has lost their #1 receiver, senior Deyon Williams. Williams has a
stress fracture in his foot and will have surgery to repair it. UVA head coach
Al Groh said Williams will be out for an unknown length of time. Williams led
the Cavaliers in receiving last season, catching 58 passes for 767 yards and
seven touchdowns. With Williams out of the lineup, UVA’s leading returning
receiver is Fontel Mines, who caught 28 passes.
Neither Goddard nor Williams have taken a redshirt in their college careers,
so they are both eligible to redshirt in 2006.
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