Defense is the name of the game in Blacksburg and one again, Virginia Tech should be in great shape heading into 2017. All Things ACC recently spoke about the defensive line, which could make some noise with new starters.
But the bread and butter on defense will come at the linebacker positions and in the secondary, where they return almost every starter from a group that ranked 3rd in the conference in passing yards allowed.
Linebackers
Tremaine Edmunds will be a name that will gain national recognition heading into the season, as the rising junior should be part of a special group of prospects at the position. Edmunds is coming off a season in which he recorded 18.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. He will be a force once again but certainly won’t be the only one. Andrew Motuapuaka led the team in tackles and was fifth in the ACC with 114 tackles, while Mook Reynolds is an excellent player in coverage and effective hybrid player.
Chase Parker, from Collegiate Times, spoke more about this group of linebackers, including another guy to keep an eye on this season.
“This will be the anchor of the team,” Parker said. “The linebacker unit is top-notch. Tremaine Edmunds is a guy that will be getting a lot of national recognition this season. He's an incredible edge rusher and is disciplined. His game really doesn't have any short comings. He's an incredible football player.
Motuapuaka is an experienced middle linebacker who is the commander of the unit. He's a leader and he's good at what he does. He can drop back into coverage, he can blitz, and he can pretty much do it all.
Another guy that may pop up from time to time is Tavonte Beckett, who is pretty much Motuapuaka's backup at middle linebacker. He delivered a few huge hits in the spring game.”
Secondary
The secondary will be the second part of this defense that not only returns talent but experience.
At cornerback, the Hokies bring back two seniors in Brandon Facyson and Greg Stroman, along with back-up Adonis Alexander. These three corners should bring physicality on the outside, as well as a lot of experience.
The only whole that was needed to be replaced was from free safety Chuck Clark and the Hokies could be in great position to do so.
“The only hole that needed to be filled was the free safety Chuck Clark,” Parker said. “What they've done is move Terrell Edmunds back from rover to the free safety spot. Now they're trying to fill the rover spot which will likely be handed to their biggest recruit of 2017 Devon Hunter when he arrives in August.
But if he's not quite ready, it could be between Ozzie Newsome and Divine Deablo for the spot, but my money is on Hunter just based on how highly-touted he is out of high school.”
Edmunds broke out last year as a sophomore, recording four interceptions in 2016 and should have no issue sliding into that free safety position. If Hunter can deliver on the high expectations (came in ranked as a highly-touted 5-star prospect from Virginia), this defense could be even scarier.
Not only does this secondary have talent, they have depth in several positions, and they have experience. Heading into the season, this could be not only one of the best groups in the conference but in the nation.
This group of starters were able to create 16 interceptions in 2016, a number that could be easily matched in 2017.
