Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 9 No. 5 | May 2017

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bigger to be able to hold up at defensive tackle.
“In looking at those two, Jarrod needs to
play with more knee bend, but he got better,”
Wiles said. “He started to play faster toward
the end of spring. We just need for him to get
a lot better quickly.
“Jimmie did some good things, but he
doesn’t run and move around well enough
to play at end. Can he get big enough to be
a three-technique [defensive tackle]? He’s
tough enough. He’s 249 pounds. He just needs
to get bigger, and hopefully, he can.”
At defensive end, the injuries to Mihota
and Hill—and both should be ready by
August—left Wiles rotating a group of Taylor
Raymon Minor, Emmanuel Belmar and
Xavier Burke, whom the staff moved from
tight end to defensive end before the start
of spring practice. Of those, Minor probably
progressed the most.
Minor came to Tech in the fall of 2014,
and the staff worked him mostly at whip
linebacker. He left the program for a brief
period, but asked to return, and Fuente
granted that request. The staff moved him to
defensive end, where they saw a need and felt
his skills could help.
Minor only weighs around 230-235 pounds,
but his speed and athleticism work well at the
defensive end spot.
“I was pleasantly surprised with Raymon,”
Wiles said. “I think we’ve got him in a good
spot—we probably should have moved
him sooner. We made the same move with
Emmanuel Belmar, and that was a good move
for him. They’re developing, but they’ve only
had 15 practices.”
Tech’s staff looked at Belmar, a freshman
last fall, at backer before moving him to
defensive end shortly before the bowl game.
Wiles likes his speed and quickness coming
off the edge, but said Belmar needs to get
stronger and become more familiar with the
scheme.
The same applies to Burke, who played in
six games at tight end as a redshirt freshman
this past fall.
“He needs reps, but he’s gotten better,”
Wiles said. “He moves around pretty well.
We need for him to become more instinctive,
but that comes with more practices and more
reps. He works hard.
“I could say the same thing about all of those
guys, really—reps, reps, reps. This summer is
big for them to get their bodies right and work
on their technique.”
Wiles expects continued development
from the group, but if they lack consistency
once practices resume in August, then he
won’t be afraid to play one or more true
freshmen—provided they progress enough
to warrant game reps. Tech’s staff signed five
defensive linemen in February, including
Robert Porcher IV, J’Bril Glaze, Zion DeBose,
Nathan Proctor and TyJuan Garbutt.
Somehow, some way, Wiles wants eight
quality defensive linemen in his rotation.
When the Hokies play their best on defense,
they usually rotate eight guys up front.
Last season, Wiles essentially rotated
seven—Baron, Williams, Ekanem, Settle,
Walker, Mihota and Hill—and the Hokies’
defense overall played well.
Entering summer workouts, Wiles feels
good about projected starters Mihota, Hill,
Settle and Walker, but he knows he needs for
players to emerge behind them.
“We’ve got to fill in behind them,” he said.
“We’ve got to see if we can find us a third and
fourth defensive tackle. We’ve got to find
eight defensive linemen—and hope that no
one gets hurt. It’s a different world now than
it was 10 or 20 years ago. Everyone wasn’t
trying to run 95-110 plays a game back then
like they are now. Everyone wasn’t trying to
speed it up on offense.
“But if we can stay healthy, I think the first
group is going to be pretty good, and then we’ve
got to fill in and find that second group.”