Our scouting report series on Virginia Tech's 2020 recruiting class continues with three-star RB Jordan Brunson. Below are the players that we have already covered in this series of scouting reports.
- 3* WR Tyree Saunders
- 3* RB Marco Lee
Virginia Tech was the first Power 5 school to really get involved with Brunson early in the summer landing the talented Georgia running back in late June and holding onto him even while other Power 5 programs continued to pursue him.
The Hokies have prioritized the state of Georgia for high school recruiting of running backs landing Jalen Holston and Tahj Gary in previous classes. Holston was among the Hokies' main backs to start this season before suffering injury while Gary definitely showed potential in limited reps while redshirting this season. Tech will now be hoping that Brunson can be a contributor like Holston has been at times and Gary has shown the potential in limited reps to become.
Here's a look at Jordan Brunson's senior year tape.
The first thing that stands out is the toughness and hard-running mentality that Brunson brings to the table. Every time Brunson gets the ball, you can see he goes as hard as he can until the referee blows the whistle that he's down or till he's in the endzone.
Additionally, Brunson has good strength for a high school running back running through some players with ease at times and shedding other weak tackle attempts from the side. That combination of great mentality and good strength is a big reason for success and does project fairly well to the next level though there's no doubt that Brunson will need to continue to get stronger.
Brunson is at a good weight currently at 210 pounds but his 6 foot tall frame should allow for him to put on another 10-15 pounds without losing much in terms of speed or athleticism. That will be important for Brunson reach his maximum running potential as a between the tackles guys first.
Jordan Brunson has solid speed with a 4.55 40 time according to his Hudl that his tape seems to back up fairly well in terms of his actual game speed. Brunson may not be the fastest in terms of top end speed or initially, but after a second, Brunson can find that extra burst of speed that can help him explode through holes. It may not be an insane amount of burst, but it's definitely the type that can make a consistent difference.
Brunson also shows some good patience and vision in those moments being ready to adjust during that first moment he has the ball to wherever the best hole is.
Brunson shows some agility as a runner, but he isn't someone who exactly shows a lot of shiftiness and isn't exactly a guy who is going to make you miss in space. While that isn't a necessity for a running back in Virginia Tech's offense, it does seem to be a preference given the priority on putting athletes in space with one-on-one matchups whether running backs or wide receivers.
As a receiver, Brunson's reps are mostly screen plays where he does have some comfort getting to where he needs to and then turning downfield. While Brunson may not be a big play machine off screens, he does show the comfort to be a steady presence. Overall though, Brunson probably has some work to do on his receiving skills to become a more well-rounded player in a Tech offense that loves to use running backs in the passing game.
Like the Hokies did with Marco Lee, it's clear that Virginia Tech prioritized adding power-running backs to their backfield with Brunson being a young power back that the Hokies can develop. Given the presence of Lee and Jalen Holston, expect the Hokies to redshirt Brunson this year to allow him to develop more in the weight room as that power back.
Overall, Jordan Brunson gives Virginia Tech that long term power back to add power-running depth that the Hokies sorely missed this past season and hope to never miss again.
