Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 11 No. 5 | May 2019

inside.hokiesports.com 27 Wide Receivers 6 Hezekiah Grimsley (6-0, 185, Jr.) 8 Phil Patterson (6-2, 202, r-Jr.) 11 Tré Turner (6-2, 187, So.) 14 Damon Hazelton (6-2, 222, r-Jr.) 19 DeJuan Ellis (5-11, 171, r-Fr.) 34 Tink Boyd (5-10, 172, r-Fr.) 40 Travis Williams (6-3, 204, r-Fr.) 45 Jacob Van Landingham (5-11, 194, r-Fr.) 80 Kaleb Smith (6-2, 206, r-Fr.) 81 Darryle Simmons (6-2, 212, r-Fr.) 86 Keondré Banks (5-11, 170, So.) 88 Elijah Bowick (6-1, 213, Fr.) For sure, the Virginia Tech football team entered spring practice with a young roster and a lot of question marks at any number of positions. The receivers, however, appear to be among the exceptions. In fact, the normally stoic Justin Fuente got excited after the Spring Game when talking about the depth, talent and overall potential of his receivers. “I’m excited about what it can be,” he said. When Fuente took over in November of 2015, he inherited a team with three talented receivers in Isaiah Ford, Cam Phillips and Bucky Hodges. Ford departed as the school’s all-time leader in receptions and yards, records he held for a year until Phillips surpassed them. All of the trio eventually were drafted by NFL teams. But the roster featured little behind those three, and Fuente and his staff spent a chunk of their recruiting capital over the past two years on replenishing the group. As a result, the head coach played a bunch of true freshmen over the past two seasons, including Sean Savoy, Eric Kumah, Hezekiah Grimsley and Tré Turner, and he added a transfer in Damon Hazelton. Savoy and Kumah transferred in the offseason, but the other three give Tech a strong nucleus heading into summer workouts and preseason practices. All three played well in 2018, and their talent and playmaking skills create a sense of optimism among the staff. In short, the coaches believe that the receivers may be the strongest part of this team. Turner and Hazelton both put their skills on display in the SpringGame. Turner caught a 62- yard touchdown pass from Ryan Willis, using his speed to sprint open. Hazelton, looking healthier by the practice after struggling with injuries toward the latter part of last fall, made a tough 3-yard touchdown catch from Quincy Patterson, using his size to his advantage. Fuente pushed spring practice back a couple of weeks to allow some of the injured players, including Hazelton, a little extra time to heal. By the end of spring, Hazelton looked more like the guy who caught 35 of his 51 receptions in the Hokies’ first seven games. “It’s been nice to get him full speed,” Fuente said. “He’s still getting back to that level of practice on a consistent basis, and that’s what we’ve been pushing him toward, so that he can continue to improve. “You know, he didn’t hardly have any summer time [last year] in terms of preparing for fall camp. He had offseason surgery last year, and he’s missed quite a bit of it [offseason strength and conditioning] this year. Having a great spring, and in turn, having a great summer is going to be really important for him.” Turner became a threat toward the end of last season. He caught 16 passes in the final five games, with four of those catches going for more than 40 yards. A more experienced offense figures to be able to take advantage of his deep-threat skills this upcoming season. Turner possesses the ability to be an All- ACC receiver, and Grimsley should be a nice weapon out of the slot. The Hokies also feature talent behind the trio of Hazelton, Turner and Grimsley. Phil Patterson shows flashes of greatness, and he made the play of the game in the Spring Game with an incredible one-handed grab despite the tight coverage played by Caleb Farley. Patterson caught just 12 passes in 2018 and has just 21 receptions for his career. He potentially could double that number this season. “He’s got to continue to get consistent,” Fuente said. “I thought he’s made strides, and I think it’s important to him. This is a great opportunity for him. I think he understands that—to kind of take that next step in his career in his development that he wants to do. HEZEKIAH GRIMSLEY He’s got size and natural talent. He’s just got to put it all together on a consistent basis.” Others in the mix include redshirt freshmen Darryle Simmons, Kaleb Smith and DeJuan Ellis, who recorded the Spring Game’s longest rush with a 48-yard burst on a jet sweep. Also, true freshman Elijah Bowick enrolled at Tech for the spring semester. All of them bring varying degrees of size, speed and talent. The group receives an additional influx of speed, size and talent when three signees enroll at Tech during the second summer session in early July. Their enrollments will push the number of scholarship wide receivers on the roster into double digits—close to the number where Fuente wants to be. “We’re getting there,” he said of the receivers situation. “I like it.” For sure, the group has come a long way from where it stood when he took over. After a good spring, hopefully that depth and talent produces in a big way this fall.