Other than the loss of All-American cornerback Jimmy Williams and free safety
Justin Hamilton, the Virginia Tech secondary will return virtually intact in
2006. The Hokies regularly place defensive backs in the NFL, and there will be a
lot of future NFL talent on display in Tech’s secondary this fall. Despite the
loss of Williams and Hamilton, this group could end up being even better than
2005.

The biggest change in the secondary will be new coach Torrian Gray. Gray, a
former All-Big East performer at Virginia Tech, replaces Lorenzo “Whammy”
Ward, who moved on to the Oakland Raiders. The transition is not expected to be
a difficult one. Gray has six years of coaching experience, including stints at
Maine, UConn and the Chicago Bears.

Gray will have a good mixture of youth and experience to work with. Here is
our projected depth chart for the spring.

2006 Defensive Backs Depth Chart
Cornerback	Free Safety	Rover	Cornerback
Roland Minor (r-Jr.)	D.J. Parker (Jr.)	Aaron Rouse (r-Sr.)	Brandon Flowers (r-So.)
Jahre Cheeseman (r-Fr.)	Cam Martin (r-Fr.)	Dorian Porch (r-Fr.)	Victor Harris (So.)
Cory Price (Sr.)	Robert Parker (r-Sr.)	Cary Wade (r-Sr.)	Ryan Hash (r-Sr.)

After taking a quick glance at that depth chart, it looks like the Hokies
recruited very well at defensive back in the 2005 recruiting class. That class
has four players (Cheeseman, Martin, Porch, and Harris) projected to be second
string in just their second season in Blacksburg, and all of them have a chance
to see a lot of playing time.

...