Spring review: Can an older offensive line be a strength for this Hokies offense?

Today: Offensive line

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Burning question

Can an older offensive line be a strength for this Hokies offense?

Depth chart best guess

We'll do this one a little different than the others, listing a pair of potential starting fives and some potential backups, since it was so tough to get a read on a starting lineup on the o-line this spring and the Hokies shuffle guys around so often:

LT: Yosuah Nijman, Sr.

LG: D'Andre Plantin, r-Jr.

C: Kyle Chung, r-Sr.

RG: Braxton Pfaff, r-Sr.

RT: Tyrell Smith, r-Jr.

OR

LT: Silas Dzansi, r-Fr.

LG: D'Andre Plantin, r-Jr.

C: Kyle Chung, r-Sr.

RG: Braxton Pfaff, r-Sr.

RT: Yosuah Nijman, r-Sr.

Backup tackles: Christian Darrisaw (Fr.), T.J. Jackson (r-So.), Patrick Kearns (r-So.)

Backup guards: Jackson, Austin Cannon (r-So.), Lecitus Smith (r-Fr.), Thomas Hopple (r-So.), Aiden Brown (r-Fr.)

Backup centers: Zachariah Hoyt (r-So.), Daniel Bailey (r-Jr.)

What we learned

That Tech seems to have a lot more options on the offensive line than in any time in recent memory. The group has three seniors, which helps, but there's just a lot of linemen in the program right now. The Hokies had 14 scholarship linemen here during spring ball, with a full complement of walk-ons helping round out all the different units. Three more freshmen will arrive this summer, making this an offensive line room as flush with just sheer bodies as the Hokies had in a long time. That helps at a position where development takes a long time and the attrition/bust rate is so high, relative to other positions. It takes a while to get these guys up to the proper size to be able to compete in college, and their bodies take a pounding over the course of their careers, so having a huge pool to choose from is a big boost. Now, getting all those guys ready to play is a different matter.

Biggest surprise

There wasn't much news on Dzansi last fall, as is the case with most players who are redshirting and spend their time on the scout team. And the fact that he prepped at Fork Union in 2016 after not being the highest-ranked recruit coming out of high school didn't necessarily put him on anyone's radar coming into college. But by April, there was the redshirt freshman, starting at left tackle in the spring game and at the very least holding his own. That's quite a leap for a guy who arrived at prep school at 242 pounds. He's bigger now. Much bigger, weighing in at 312 pounds and standing 6 feet, 5 inches. But he's worked hard at keeping up his conditioning too. Justin Fuente said when he arrived from Fork Union, he could barely get through one of the offseason workouts. This year, he turned some heads in those workouts and carried that over to the spring. "If he continues to work hard and continue to do the things we’re asking him to do, I think he has a chance to play a big role on our team," Fuente said.

Wild card

Tech has some options on the line at tackle, depending on who continues to progress the most. Nijman's a senior who has practiced on both sides. As a two-year starter, he figures to be a safe bet to start again this fall. But his versatility gives the Hokies some flexibility in the other starting tackle spot, If it's Dzansi, who has played mostly left tackle his entire life, Nijman could wind up on the right side, making a move similar to what Jonathan McLaughlin did as a senior in Fuente's first season in Blacksburg, a move that made room for a young Nijman in the starting lineup. If Smith winds up being the other best option at tackle, he'd most likely play on the right side, with Nijman sticking on the left. Smith all but won the right tackle job last spring but suffered an injury in August that opened the door for Chung to seize the job all year. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility to see some kind of rotation at tackle this fall.

Arriving soon

Three more freshmen signees will arrive this summer, with Luke Tenuta, Walker Culver and John Harris enrolling at Virginia Tech. Tenuta's the biggest of the three, standing 6-foot-7, 275 pounds. The 6-foot-5, 275-pound Culver was a late commitment who was committed to Colorado and picked the Hokies after Clemson flipped Jordan McFadden. Harris is a 6-foot-4, 278-pounder from Georgia who's another powerful option up front. As is usually the case with linemen, they're probably in line for a redshirt year as they pack on some size in a college weight room. The last Hokies lineman to start as a true freshman straight out of high school was Sergio Render in 2006. 

Odds and ends

Chung seems to be full speed ahead at the center position, where he moved after playing last year at right tackle. He kept getting injured when he played on the interior earlier in his career but says that's all in the rearview mirror. ... Plantin played tackle at the end of last year, rotating with Parker Osterloh when Nijman got hurt, but seems right at home playing at guard, where he's projected as the starter on the left side. ... Smith is now an offensive linemen for good. He was recruited as a tight end with blocking on the edge of the line in mind, but he just kept growing. A 260-pound signee in 2017, he's now up to 309 pounds. ... Jackson spent some time at tackle this spring but also played some guard, including during the spring game. At 6-foot-6, 335 pounds, he's massive, especially for a guard. ... Though not very forthcoming with the media after the spring game, Fuente said a little bit more in his post-game conversation with Mike Burnop, when he reportedly said Dzansi, Smith and Darrisaw are the best group of young linemen he's been around as a coach. ... Freshman Joe Kane was recruited as a d-lineman but immediately switched to o-line upon arriving in Blacksburg. 

They said it

"One thing I can guarantee you when I get guys out of there is they’ve seen hard. They’ve been through tough."

-- O-line coach Vance Vice on guys who prep for a year at Fork Union

Just the facts

The Hokies' returning linemen have 51 starts among them (Nijman with 22, Chung with 16 and Pfaff with 13). That's lower than the previous two years, when Tech had 73 and 89 starts from the linemen it had coming back.

Last word

There's a little bit of reloading going on the offensive line, with long-time mainstays Wyatt Teller and Eric Gallo gone, but the Hokies still have some guys who have been in the program for a while ready to replace them. It's possible Tech could go into the season with three redshirt seniors and two redshirt juniors on the offensive line. That's plenty of age, even if the experience is lacking for a couple of guys. It's also possible that a redshirt freshman like Dzansi is talented enough to crack that starting lineup. However it shakes out, it doesn't appear as though the Hokies have to force anyone into the lineup who isn't quite ready for it.

And that's the key for Tech going forward on the offensive line. After years of trying just to field a lineup and stealing players from the defensive line room, the Hokies seem to have their o-line recruiting humming. Fuente mentioned the younger players he really likes, and they're showing that promise despite not really being big-time recruits. Both Dzansi and Darrisaw went to Fork Union as two-star guys, emerging as much more physically ready options, and Brown was a three-star recruit whose athleticism stood out for the coaching staff. They're in the pipeline. This year's signing class was a big one (both in physical size and in numbers) and next year's is shaping up to be pretty good too, with commitments already from a pair of well-regarded linemen in Jesse Hanson and Bryan Hudson.

In the present, Tech's not in bad shape considering it lost a pair of guys who started 81 combined games in their careers. Offensive line has always been a sore spot for Hokies fans, and the production there has been one thing consistently over the years that has been a hindrance to the offense taking the next step. But Virginia Tech seems to be fixing things there, slowly but surely.