If the Hokies are looking to “kick the portal’s [butt]” again this year, they seem to be off to a good start. Their first hit of the year is Johnny Jordan (C, #73), a graduate transfer from the University of Maryland. Jordan was recruited out of high school to be part of the Vice squad, and he knows Jafar Williams from when JW coached running backs at Maryland.

Centers spend the opening of every snap playing one-armed, so it’s a rare bird at the position who can be dominant, and at 6’1, 305, Jordan doesn’t quite have the frame to do that. Still, he’s a technician who plays with great leverage and hand-use, and he’s got the tenacity to bully bigger guys. He’s also smart and disciplined—over the past three years, he’s gotten a grand total of three penalties. The only weakness in his resume is that 2020 was his breakout season…unfortunately, that’s a COVID-hacked season where he played four of Maryland’s five games (he missed the opener with a positive COVID test.)

The main thing you ask of a center is that he doesn’t screw up, and along with those piddly penalties, he’s a clean snapper, he doesn’t miss blocks, and he sets his guys up for success:

This pressure by PSU is picked up easily by the UMD line, and I imagine Jordan did most of the ID’ing on this front. I also watched the Terps’ game against Indiana where Jordan was out, and they weren’t nearly as good as picking up these rushes.

...