On a day where Virginia Tech landed a pair of major transfer commitments from promising young Baylor QB Kyron Drones and standout Old Dominion WR Ali Jennings, another top target's father announced that they will be visiting Virginia Tech this week.
Blacksburg📍@HokiesFB Visit This Wednesday‼️@757EliteDB🦃 @Bubblesdnf
— 🏈Coach Glove🏈 (@dhglover) December 13, 2022
North Carolina CB transfer Tony Grimes will be visiting Blacksburg this Wednesday per his father's tweet. Grimes is one of the best defensive back transfers available in the portal currently with suitors from all across the country.
Grimes was poised to likely be the top in-state recruit in the 2021 cycle prior to reclassifying to 2020 to enroll earlier at North Carolina. Grimes played in 32 games at UNC starting 4 games as a freshman in 2020 before taking over as a full-time starter for the Tar Heels in 2021 and 2022.
During those three seasons, he had 97 tackles including 3.5 for loss with 1 sack plus 1 interception, 19 pass breakups, and 1 interception. He also earned All-ACC Honorable Mention honors during the 2021 season.
There's no doubt that Grimes is a big time talent who has a massive ceiling which is doesn't feel like he has fully reached yet. There's a reason why there are loads of big time programs like Virginia Tech involved in his transfer recruitment with Grimes having visited Oregon this past weekend.
Now some may not see cornerback as a spot where Virginia Tech has great need with Dorian Strong and Mansoor Delane returning. However, Grimes fits is the type of talent where you absolutely pursue him and then if you land him, you sort things out later. While I would prefer Delane to stay at cornerback, it's easy to see that if they were to land Grimes, Delane may slide to safety with Jalen Stroman shifting back into the nickel role. That would also likely mean Delane working at the nickel spot given his man coverage abilities with Stroman sliding in at safety.
The home state factor usually isn't as strong for transfers as it is for high school recruits, but definitely is a boost for Virginia Tech that you can assume will be part of their pitch when Grimes comes to town on Wednesday.
Unlike the two transfer commitments today, it would be surprising if Grimes decides to shut it down after only 2 visits given the interest he has. Then again, we did see Jennings and Drones shut it down despite immense interest from elsewhere so there's no reason why Tech shouldn't be aggressive with their pitch to try to land him.
As soon as Tony Grimes entered the portal, everybody knew Virginia Tech would be interested given his talent and the 757 roots, the question was whether that interest would be mutual?
The answer: yes.
