Virginia Tech Defensive Line Discussion: Not The First Time Hokies Have Lacked Depth

Virginia Tech
Bud Foster and Charley Wiles need more depth and experience on the defensive line. (Jeffrey Gamza)

Today I want to talk a little bit about Virginia Tech’s defensive line recruiting, how the Hokies got to the current situation where they have so much youth and so little proven depth, how I think defensive line recruiting has changed, and perhaps a few other thoughts on the position.

I’ll warn you in advance that this article is going to focus mostly on defensive tackle recruiting.  I think that’s been a bigger issue than defensive end recruiting.  After all, it was just two recruiting classes ago that Virginia Tech signed 4-star defensive ends TyJuan Garbutt and Nathan Proctor over 15+ offers from other Power 5 programs, including Penn State, Georgia, Florida, Notre Dame, etc.  Those guys were only redshirt freshmen in 2018.

So let’s start out with defensive tackle, and if I haven’t gone on for too long, then we’ll talk about the defensive ends as well.

This Has Happened Before

A blanket statement I’ve seen from some fans is that “Justin Fuente doesn’t prioritize defensive tackle recruiting.”  Or something like that. Just because Tech doesn’t have proven depth right now doesn’t make that statement true.  In fact, this isn’t the first time the Hokies have run out of quality defensive tackles.  Think back to the 2008 season.  Here was Virginia Tech’s defensive tackle rotation that year…

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