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Hokies Football: Brandon Facyson Must Stay Healthy In 2015 to Build His Legacy and Draft Stock

Expectations were high for both Kendall Fuller and Brandon Facyson entering their second seasons in Blacksburg. Both cornerbacks shined as true freshman and had fans excited about how they could end up being the best duo of cornerbacks to ever play for Virginia Tech football. Fuller was able to blow past all expectations and is on his way to becoming one of the two or three best cornerbacks to ever play for the Hokies. Meanwhile, 2014 was not a good year for Facyson largely due to injuries. Facyson dealt with a lingering shin injury that caused him to struggle in games against Ohio State and East Carolina. After those two bad games, the Hokies decided to pursue a medical redshirt for Facyson and bench him for the rest of the season due to the shin injury unless other injuries forced him to play. Then, Brandon Facyson suffered a broken leg in practice in December, ruling him out for all of spring. However, the cornerback from Georgia will be healthy in time for fall practice with everybody expecting him to take his starting job back for the 2015 season across from Kendall Fuller. The importance of Facyson staying healthy for all of 2015 has already been stated many times, but this isn't so simple as just saying that he needs a healthy season after injury cost him in 2014. After 2013, Facyson seemed like one of the top cornerback prospects for the 2016 NFL Draft behind Fuller and Florida's Vernon Hargreaves. However, the injuries have destroyed his draft stock for next year's draft, but that can change if he can have a fully healthy 2015 season. There are plenty of players who have seen injuries prevent themselves from being first round picks and another injury-riddled season would make it just about impossible for Facyson to be a first round pick in a future draft. If Brandon Facyson can stay healthy in 2015, it wouldn't surprise me if he has a great season that puts him in the conversation of being a late first round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. A healthy 2015 season should also allow Facyson to show that he has the skills to be a great cornerback. When Facyson was trying to play through his shin injury, fans didn't realize that he was dealing with an injury still and thought that he should move to safety due to what seemed like below-average speed to go with great ball hawking skills. Facyson also still has the potential to leave a legacy of greatness instead of one with fans wondering how good he could have been if it wasn't for injuries. After the 2013 season, many fans were talking about how Facyson and Kendall Fuller had the potential to be the best duo of cornerbacks to ever come through Virginia Tech. That is definitely still possible, especially with the Hokies having a great chance to have a renaissance year in 2015 along with facing defending national champion Ohio State at home to start the season. Facyson has the talent to be an All-ACC first team cornerback with Fuller this season, but his health is the concern still. However, another injury-riddled season for Facyson would make fans start to wonder if he could ever reach his potential. Facyson's legacy would start to become one of "what if he stayed healthy" instead of being about him and Fuller forming one of the best duos of cornerbacks in program history. It would also be extremely unlikely that he would go in the first or possibly second round due to his injury history. Staying healthy is a must for Brandon Facyson in 2015 not only for the sake of his career, but also with the great chance for him to rebuild his NFL Draft stock and build his legacy at Virginia Tech this upcoming season.
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