Offensive coaching has been a hot topic amongst Tech fans all season. Today, we’re going to address something else: Virginia Tech’s lack of talent on the offensive side of the ball.

I’m not any different than most other Virginia Tech fans. I think changes need to happen on the offensive side of the ball, and I certainly hope they happen this offseason. This operation has been broken for far too long, and it needs to get fixed ASAP.

We’ve talked about that plenty of times this year, but what we haven’t touched on much is Virginia Tech’s lack of talent on offense. It’s true. Just look at the number of Hokie offensive players who earned All-ACC honors. You’ll see exactly zero on that list. Not one member of the Tech offense was named first team, second team, or even honorable mention All-ACC. That’s almost unbelievable for a program that has been so good for so long.

I think you can blame some of that on Virginia Tech’s offensive system and organization, which is a product of coaching. I think you can blame a lot of it on a lack of talent as well. And when I say talent, I mean good, natural football players, not athletes who can run and jump.

Let’s take a look at each position and see who the Hokies are losing, and who they will have returning next season. I’m going to list all returning players by their class in the 2013 season. For example, Mark Leal will be a r-junior next season, so he’ll be listed as such in this article.

Quarterback

The regression of Logan Thomas (r-Sr.) is one of the great mysteries of the season. I think a big part of his struggles stemmed from a lack of trust in his wide receivers. He couldn’t trust Marcus Davis and Dyrell Roberts to get open and be in the right spot at the right time. That lack of trust led to hesitation, which led to a breakdown in mechanics, which led to a lot of inaccurate passes. When he threw to Corey Fuller, who was usually in the right spot, he had no such hesitation because he trusted Fuller.

It wouldn’t be fair to suggest that Tech doesn’t have talent at quarterback. Thomas certainly proved in 2011 that he is a very gifted player. However, the production from this spot was inconsistent in 2012. Thomas was Tech’s top running threat, though, and that has to count for something.

Mark Leal (r-Jr.) has always impressed me with his passing ability. He might have done a better job in the passing game than Logan Thomas did this season, but he also wouldn’t have run the ball nearly as effectively as Logan did.

Thomas will be Tech’s starting quarterback next season, unless of course he’s not. I don’t think it’s out of the question that he’ll declare for the NFL Draft. I also think he’s open to returning to Virginia Tech. We’ll just have to wait it out.

Running Backs

Fullback Joey Phillips was Virginia Tech’s most consistent blocker this year. Unfortunately, he’s a senior and will be gone following the bowl game. Riley Beiro (r-Jr.) will likely be Virginia Tech’s starting fullback next season. Martin Scales is the only senior tailback on this year’s roster.

I thought Virginia Tech redshirted their most talented tailback this season. Trey Edmunds (r-Fr.) should start at tailback next season, if he plays up to his potential. He’s a big guy (6-1, 212), and you can expect him to be up close to 225 after a redshirt year. He has the best combination of size, speed, agility and acceleration of all of Tech’s running backs.

J.C. Coleman (So.), Tony Gregory (r-Sr.), Michael Holmes (r-So.) and Chris Mangus (r-Fr.) will also be a part of the competition in the spring. Holmes has been impressive in scrimmages, but he has

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