Virginia Tech has added some more linebacker depth after landing a commitment from Temple LB Antwone Santiago.
He is the sixth transfer portal addition this spring joining North Dakota State DT Kody Huisman, West Virginia OL Gavin Crawford, Hawaii CB Caleb Brown, Georgia Southern DT Elhadj Fall, and Iowa State LS Drew Doyle.
The 6'3'' Santiago comes to Virginia Tech after spending three seasons at Temple with his biggest role coming this past season. He was a rotational linebacker and regular special teams player on all units, having 25 tackles in 12 games. Over the course of his 145 defensive snaps, he earned a 69.4 PFF grade including an 81.8 tackle grade and a very low missed tackle rate of 3.6%.
He has two years of eligibility remaining.
Santiago should be able to come in and immediately make an impact on Tech's special teams units while providing increased depth at linebacker. However, anyone expecting Santiago to be able to push Jaden Keller and Kaleb Spencer for a starting linebacker job should go ahead and lower their expectations as of now.
He is an intriguing prospect at 6'3'' and 225 pounds, and it will be interesting to see how Brent Pry, Sam Siefkes, and company can develop him over the next couple years.
We will have more as this story develops.
