Hokies Football: Why 2017 P/K Jordan Stout Has Emerged As a Must-Get Recruit

The Virginia Tech Hokies have done a fairly good job in Justin Fuente's first full recruiting cycle as the Hokies' head coach with 15 commits headlined by four-star 757 WR Tahj Capehart. The Hokies have also shifted their recruiting focus at some position groups to purely maintaining their current class including at quarterback, wide receiver, tight end, and linebacker while focusing on adding linemen, Jalen Holston, and defensive backs. While guys like Devon Hunter, Tyjuan Garbutt, Jalen Holston, and Tyran Hunt are the top must-get targets, one under-the-radar walk-on has also emerged as a must-get with the Hokies need for depth at this spot. Punter/kicker Jordan Stout from Honaker High School in Honaker, Virginia recently received a walk-on scholarship offer, joining Morehead State in making the offer. Stout is ranked as the 21st best punter and 52nd best kicker by renowned special teams recruiting site Kohl's Kicking. However, Kohl's Kicking brief scouting report on Stout suggest that he may have one of the highest upsides of any punter or kicker in the Class of 2017.

Stout had strong showings at the 2016 UC Challenge and 2015 Dec Southern Showcase Camps. If you took out his lowest couple punts at the National Scholarship Camp, he'd have been in the top five. He has one of the fastest legs in the country and is developing into one of the top combo prospects in the country. Stout's talent is at the very top of the 2017 class. He hit 5.0 hang-times at the UC Challenge in the competition. His consistency needs to get a little better to match his leg talent.

Stout seems very likely to receive a lot more walk-on offers with some schools likely to also to consider offering Stout a full-ride scholarship if he continues to show that type of upside. Despite being a walk-on recruit and not one of the top targets still on the board in this class, Stout is actually a must-get even as a walk-on. One reason why Stout is a must-get recruit is the fact that Stout is from Southwest Virginia. While the 757 is absolutely an area where the Hokies must do well in, Southwest Virginia should be just about locked down by the Hokies given how little top talent traditionally comes out of Southwest Virginia. On top of that, the Hokies also have a cost advantage given that Stout's tuition will be significantly less than what Stout would have to pay to leave the state of Virginia. Former 2016 punter commit Brandon Nickle chose the Hokies over Tennessee before flipping back to the in-state Volunteers not too long ago. To think that cost didn't at least play some sort of role in that would be ridiculous given the traditionally large difference in the price of staying in-state compared to going out-of-state. The other big factor that makes Stout a must-get recruit is the fact that there are only two punters currently on the roster, Mitchell Ludwig and freshman walk-on Brian Johnson who may not have arrived yet. This lack of punter depth also has the Hokies using Joey Slye at punter in practice to develop some depth behind the junior Ludwig. If the Hokies were able to get Stout, they would immediately have their future at the punter spot after Ludwig while also having someone who could develop behind Ludwig for a year under talented special teams coach James Shibest who has coached a Ray Guy Award (top punter) winner while at Memphis. Jordan Stout may not be one of the top targets like Devon Hunter, Tyjuan Garbutt, Jalen Holston, and Tyran Hunt but like those four top must-gets, Stout has emerged as the must-get walk-on recruit from the Class of 2017.