2020-21 Football Roster Breakdown: The State of Virginia Tech's Offensive Line
There really haven’t been any changes in the offseason that will affect the offensive line. The Hokies only lost one player up front (John Harris) that cracked their two-deep depth chart at any point in 2019. Much like at quarterback, the only impactful change towards offseason competition is the addition of a transfer player – in this case, Brock Hoffman.
Let’s start with a rundown of Virginia Tech’s presumptive starters across the line in the upcoming season, then dip into the backups and the potential of the entire unit.
Left Tackle: Christian Darrisaw
Through two seasons, Darrisaw has made 25 starts at left tackle. Perhaps un-coincidentally, the only game he hasn’t started since enrolling at Tech was the loss to Old Dominion, in which quarterback Josh Jackson suffered a season-ending injury. Athlon Sports named Darrisaw second-team All-ACC last season, and he’s one of their two top-rated offensive tackles in the conference entering this season.
He’s struggled through occasional rough patches on the field – although they’ve been few and far between – but the 6-foot-5, 311-pound true junior is already nearly-cemented as the Hokies’ best left tackle since Duane Brown (a former first-round pick entering his 13th consecutive season as an NFL starter). Every elite team has an anchor up front. Darrisaw is definitely that guy for the Hokies.
Left Guard: Lecitus Smith
This spot might not be quite as locked down, but that’s not saying much. There’s still absolutely no reason to move on from Lecitus Smith. He’s 6-foot-3 and 316 pounds and a converted tight end, which explains his exceptional mobility. His football intelligence would lead you to believe he’d made more than four collegiate starts entering 2019.
Smith started all 12 games he played as a redshirt-sophomore in 2019. There can be a debate about whether he’s the reason, but the offensive line has consistently performed better with him as a part of it. He’s been the biggest constant along the interior of the line since he took over as a starter, and he’s been rewarded for it, as Athlon recently named him a second-team preseason All-ACC guard.
Center: Brock Hoffman
The right half – or technically three-fifths – of the line consists of more unknowns, relatively speaking. No one truly knows how the line will play with Hoffman in the middle of it, but by all accounts, the redshirt-junior Coastal Carolina transfer (with an identical height/weight combo to Smith) should be an upgrade over Tech’s frequent rotation of centers in recent years. We certainly know he’ll carry a chip on his shoulder.
Whether Hoffman will take the unit from good to great remains to be seen, but as long as he found little ways to develop without taking the field in 2019, there’s little reason to expect him to not be the starter and hold onto the job throughout the season. If nothing else, he’ll add an edge and chippiness to the unit – although he’ll need to clean up spurts of over-aggression and overpursuit in his existing collegiate tape.
Right Guard: Doug Nester
Hoffman is certainly good, but perhaps there should be more excitement about Nester. Based on 247 Sports’ metrics, he’s tied for the 15th-best commit the Hokies have ever gotten into the program, and stealing him from Ohio State was equally notable.
Nester started 11 of the 12 games he played as a true freshman, and if any one player made the offensive line better in 2019 than the prior year – especially in the running game – it might’ve been the 6-foot-6, 315-pound star from Huntington, West Virginia. Stacking him, Hoffman, and Smith next to each other has a chance to render the defensive interior helpless, especially if Nester improves as a pass blocker.
Right Tackle: Silas Dzansi
This position is admittedly up for grabs, and that’s largely because Dzansi’s 2019 season was uneven at best. He inarguably looked better down the stretch in 2018 than he did last season – during which he started all eight games he played in. Still, the 6-foot-5, 325-pound behemoth seems like the most likely starter – at least for the season opener.
He will absolutely have to perform in order to stay in the lineup throughout the year, but incumbents are often difficult to unseat, and Dzansi has had positive performances – even if they don’t compare to Darrisaw. He’s also often a victim of simply being the weak link along the line, which doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t decent – the rest of the unit is just that talented.
Interior Backups: Bryan Hudson, Zachariah Hoyt, Austin Cannon, Tyrell Smith
Bryan Hudson actually has a slight chance to win a starting job. He was nearly as highly-touted during the recruiting process as Nester was, and he was arguably the more consistent player between the two of them in 2019. Center is his primary position – it’s where he started 10 games last season – but Hoffman has the upper hand for that job. It’s plausible that Hudson could transition to guard full time, or even right tackle. If not, he should be the first option off the bench at guard or center.
Zachariah Hoyt is tough to discuss. He was a starter for most of 2018, and he opened 2019 as the Hokies’ top center. He never established himself as indispensable, though, and Hudson catapulted him fairly easily. Now a redshirt-senior, Hoyt has a lot to prove if he wants to find his way back onto the field. Even so, the concept of playing major college football would be far from foreign to him, which can’t be said about many backup players.
Austin Cannon has less starting experience than Hudson or Hoyt, and he’s been in the program for as long as Hoyt, but his candidacy appears to be more promising than Hoyt’s. It’s still probably bad news if he’s in the game in a meaningful situation, but he seems to inspire more trust, especially at guard – whereas Hoyt has primarily been a center, now finding himself behind Hoffman and Hudson at that position.
Tyrell Smith can be considered the unknown of this group. He hasn’t started a game in his entire collegiate career, but he’s played in 44 of them, including four in 2019 before suffering a season-ending torn patella tendon. Now that there’s more talent along the offensive line, it’s tough to project a role for Smith, but he hasn’t missed a game that he’s been healthy enough to play in since he redshirted in 2015, so he’ll likely be a factor in some capacity – although his abilities are also uncertain, considering he’s coming back from a fairly major injury.
Backup Tackles: Luke Tenuta, Walker Culver, T.J. Jackson
Luke Tenuta started the five games that Dzansi missed last season, and he appeared to outperform the veteran. There’s a certain degree of loyalty that Dzansi seems to have built up among the offensive staff that Tenuta – a redshirt sophomore – has not, but that situation will likely remain fluid. At 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds, he certainly fits the mold as well as Dzansi does – in fact, he also has more length and less weight restricting his mobility. The Hokies will likely take a right tackle “by committee” approach early in the season, and Tenuta would definitely be part of the rotation.
Walker Culver has a chance to make a name for himself in 2020. He had a bit more growing to do than Tenuta did upon entering the program, but now that his 6-foot-6 frame has filled out to 300 pounds, the former four-star prospect is playable at the ACC level. Unless Darrisaw suffers an injury, there might not be many snaps available for Culver, but his name could very well be called upon sometime in the near future.
T.J. Jackson is nothing short of a massive human (6-foot-6 and 359 pounds). He hasn’t played a massive role in the Hokie’s offense, though – although he made the first two starts of his career in 2019. As a redshirt-senior, experience is on his side, but his days as a go-to backup lineman could be coming to an end, particularly now that Culver factors into the equation. With that said, Jackson is also serviceable at guard – although that’s also a more talented unit than it had been in the past.
Reserves: Jesse Hanson and Parker Clements
Strangely enough, only one returning offensive lineman seems to be out of the mix for meaningful reps, and it’s not even because he isn’t talented. Jesse Hanson was a high three-star recruit in the class of 2019. He redshirted last season and is now listed at 6-foot-5 and 301 pounds. There’s simply a limit on how many players can be handed opportunities in important situations, and Hanson had the disadvantage of not being able to showcase his value in 2019 like many other players did.
At tackle, true freshman Parker Clements will likely go through the same process Hanson did last year. He only weighs 270 pounds, and there are quite a few established bodies ahead of him. He does have the advantage of being an early enrollee into the university – unlike fellow three-star tackle Kaden Moore – which should benefit him going forward. Nonetheless, he’ll likely be redshirted in the upcoming season.
The Redshirt Equation
Even excluding the fact that true freshmen probably won’t have a chance to see the field, there seem to be too many talented bodies for too few snaps. The left side of the line – Christian Darrisaw, Lecitus Smith, and Brock Hoffman – has nothing to worry about. Within the context of this discussion, neither do the rest of the upperclassmen – or even Jesse Hanson, who just redshirted last year. This really comes down to Doug Nester and Bryan Hudson.
Unless there’s an unforeseen injury, one of these four-star interior linemen will almost certainly be benched in 2020. Both of them started 10 games as true freshmen last year, and both of them honestly looked like soon-to-be stars, but there’s only room for one of them. There isn’t a perfect remedy, especially since there are projected to be no seniors in the starting front five, but redshirting one of them could ensure that both have the opportunity to start for two years – although one of them would likely still have to be a backup in 2021, as well.
This situation actually needs to be monitored. There’s a real possibility that whoever isn’t named the starter this season will begin to explore the transfer market if they aren’t handled properly. The only easy fix to the problem is if a starting lineman declares for the draft. But that’s an issue for the future!
Overall Impact
Maybe Hendon Hooker’s mobility played a role, but the offensive line appeared to improve tremendously as the 2019 season progressed. Christian Darrisaw and Lecitus Smith are rightfully among the highest-rated lineman in the conference, and the younger contributors had great foundational seasons last year. If they can all carry that level of productivity into 2020 and Brock Hoffman provides the boost many people think he can, this unit’s ceiling is nearly limitless.
It’s not crazy to say the Hokies have a chance to boast the best offensive line in the ACC. More importantly, however, this unit’s performance will greatly impact the groups everyone’s eyes gravitate towards. Either the line gives Hendon Hooker and the quarterbacks good-to-stellar protection, or they’ll frequently be under siege by defenses. Either the front helps the relatively unknown (but talented) running backs acclimate to the offense, or the running game will revert to its typical impactless form. Either the wide receivers will be given time to run extended, tougher-to-guard routes, or Brad Cornelsen will have to turn to a dink-and-dunk aerial attack. And maybe more impactful than anything else, the tight ends – James Mitchell, above all else – will either be enabled to be legitimate receiving threats – don’t forget about Hooker’s success when throwing to tight ends – or be forced to help in the blocking game.
If there’s any group on offense that dictates whether Virginia Tech goes 7-5 or 10-2, it’s most likely the offensive line. That’s not the sexy pick, but every great team has stout hogs up front. Keep your eyes on Darrisaw and Co. in 2020.
