Outside of Elijah Hughes, Virginia Tech's 2023 defensive tackle feels largely in flux at the moment with one player the Hokies are looking forward to evaluating in person being 757 DT Kaden Beatty.
WRs coach Fontel Mines and recruiting assistant Alex Jones have primarily been in contact with Beatty as he shared with us.
"He has come to my school and we were talking about visiting prior for a Junior Day. It didn’t work out but he invited me to camp and that’s all," Beatty said. "Alex Jones also texted me about coming up."
Though Beatty was originally supposed to camp and visit last weekend, that had to be rescheduled to this Sunday the 26th. Regardless, the Hokies will get him on camp right before the end of the current recruiting period which opens the door for an important evaluation opportunity.
Beatty has a decent offer list currently that includes 21 schools including Navy, Army, Air Force, Buffalo, Kent State, UMass, Harvard, Princeton, Penn, William & Mary, Norfolk State, and more. Additionally, the Hokies aren't the only bigger school showing interest in him as Beatty told us he's also receiving interest from UVA, Duke, East Carolina, and Liberty.
This shouldn't come as a surprise as he had 90 tackles including 45 for loss with 15 sacks plus 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 interception for Atlantic Shores Christian School. Though he may not have faced the toughest scheduled, that type of production shows his talent is legit regardless of competition.
He had this to say about the strengths and weaknesses of his game.
"My strengths would include my ball get off, a relentless motor, and the ability to run sideline to sideline and track down the ball carrier," Beatty said. "Personally, a weakness of mine would be when I am chop blocked. I tend to gain a lot of attention from opposing teams offensive coordinators, so they either triple team or chop block. As an undersized DT, I rely on my quickness and ball get off to blow by opponents but sometimes that’s exactly what they want when they chop block," Beatty said.
What's clear is that Kaden Beatty is an intriguing, under-the-radar defensive tackle out of the 757 who is a name worth watching especially as he camps at Virginia Tech hoping to earn an offer this Sunday.
