Fall camp is here for Virginia Tech with the season opener against Old Dominion roughly a month away.
As fall camp arrives, there are a few Hokies who are under pressure looking to either reclaim larger roles and/or stay ahead of younger players on the depth chart. Here's a look at 3 guys under pressure entering fall camp for Virginia Tech.
WR Da'Wain Lofton
This list starts with Da'Wain Lofton who seemed poised for stardom this time two years ago as one of the most talked about true freshman during fall camp that year. Since then, Lofton had a small role in 2021 before earning a starting job in 2022 with mixed success during that season.
Then, Lofton missed the spring in any full capacity due to injuries. This came just months after the Hokies added a trio of receivers out of the portal in Ali Jennings, Jaylin Lane, and Da'Quan Felton with Jennings and Lane basically certain to start this fall. Additionally, the Hokies brought in a strong freshman WR class and saw a couple guys take steps forward in their development in Stephen Gosnell and Tucker Holloway.
Now, Lofton enters fall camp with the work to do to earn the second outside WR spot with Jennings certainly claiming one and Lane set to start in the slot this season. Lofton has shown the potential to be a very productive receiver especially with the speed he offers, but this is a critical camp for him to beat out the competition and earn a significant role.
There's plenty of competition for him to battle thiugh with it seeming like he'll have ground to make up on Gosnell and Felton. Additionally, Tucker Holloway feels like a sleeper to watch while true freshmen Chance Fitzgerald and Ayden Greene are both big time talents who could earn immediate playing time.
Will Da'Wain Lofton be able to regain his starter job? If not, Lofton's long-term future may be away from Virginia Tech.
RB Chance Black
Chance Black has always impressed coaches in practice showing a great work ethic, but he's never been able to translate that to having a lot of on-field success. He had another good spring and impressed in the Spring Game but after, speculation already began about Black's RB playing time prospects with Bill Roth wondering if Black should even make a position change to DB.
Black has an important battle for the RB3 job this fall against Bryce Duke with Malachi Thomas and Bhayshul Tuten comfortably being RB 1A and RB 1B. Black does have the same amount of remaining eligibility as Thomas so he's already behind one player his age.
However, falling behind Duke would be even worse as Duke may have the same 3 years of eligibility remaining, but he also has a redshirt and could even jump Black while being used in a limited to preserve his redshirt or just outright blow by the South Carolinian.
Tech also has a pair of true freshman in Jeremiah Coney and Tralon Mitchell who could try to push their way into the RB3 competition though both seem to be on a redshirt competition.
Bryce Duke has shown lots of acceleration and plenty of big play potential when he got the chance as a freshman while Chance Black hasn't necessarily shown those same glimpses. Black does bring versatility as a passing game threat but the concerns about his big play ability remain.
This is an important fall for Chance Black to win the RB3 battle because if Bryce Duke gets ahead of him on the RB depth chart, his path to significant playing time will most likely either be at a different position or at a different school.
S Jaylen Jones
After not finding enough traction at WR combined with an overhaul of that room, Richmond native Jaylen Jones may the shift this spring from WR to safety. Jones had some experience in high school playing defensive back helping him make the transition this spring.
He also is in a safety room that had plenty of questions about depth behind projected starters Nasir Peoples and Jalen Stroman. The Hokies looked at bringing in a true safety in the portal to go with the addition of CB/nickelback Derrick Canteen, but chose not to in the end.
Jones is the oldest of those competing for backup safety spots with Devin Alves and Nyke Johnson being the top returning competition. Tech also has a pair of intriguing true freshman safeties in Mose Phillips and Braylon Johnson who is starting out at CB but has worked at S.
There's been plenty of excitement about Mose Phillips after he impressed during spring practice while Devin Alves had plenty of talk around him last fall prior to suffering a season-ending injury. Nyke Johnson showed some potential after shifting from CB to S this past season and seemingly worked as a backup at times for the Hokies in 2022. Braylon Johnson has had tons of hype around him with many believing he can be a quality backup as a true freshman though him starting out at CB may shift the conversation slightly.
There's no doubt that Jones has a great opportunity to earn a backup job and potentially put himself in line to replace Peoples in 2024.
The question is can Jones build on a solid spring transition and become the next WR to move to and eventually start at S like Divine Deablo? If not, his future likely will be elsewhere with Jones needing to stay ahead of the younger competition to give himself a chance at being a starter in 2024.
