Virginia Tech Football Recruiting Notes 5/5/20

Photo Credit: Harley Taylor

The coronavirus pandemic has forced the college football recruiting world to adapt, but has not stopped it whatsoever with plenty of news and rumors emerging around recruits across America. Here's some of the latest on what we've been hearing in regards to a few prominent Virginia Tech recruits.

4* QB Dematrius Davis

There has been plenty of speculation surrounding Dematrius Davis and his commitment status to Virginia Tech. After reaching out to multiple contacts in and around Davis and the Houston area, I've heard absolutely nothing to suggest that Davis is wavering from his commitment to Virginia Tech at all.

Now things can change quickly in recruiting and it's harder for people to stay as connected as usual with larger groups of people during these crazy times. However, the speculation that seemed to be launched by a simple and common Twitter bio change seems to have no traction whatsoever which shouldn't really be a surprise at all to anyone.

For example, there are plenty of other long-time, high profile commits who don't mention the school they are committed to in their Twitter bio including Auburn 4* DT commit Lee Hunter, Texas 5* ATH commit Ja'Tavion Sanders, Florida 4* DL Tyreak Sapp, and UNC 4* LB commit Power Echols among many others.

Now there's no doubt that Davis, who is usually busy on social media, has been quiet on social media but this is a high schooler that is going through being a high-profile player in a time where recruiting has never had this much of a spotlight and where fans are constantly on him.

Can you blame him for taking a much lower profile for a little bit especially when fans are putting ridiculous pressure on him to be this program savior when Tech already returns a talented team that can win the Coastal this fall and rise higher next season and beyond?

Of course, this is recruiting and things can change quickly as recruits continue to learn, grow, and figure more about what they are really looking for in where they want to go for the next steps in their lives. However, at this point, I've heard nothing to suggest that Davis is going to be anything but committed to Virginia Tech for the foreseeable future till he can officially sign with VT.

5/6 Update

Dematrius Davis announced on Twitter this morning that he has decommitted from Virginia Tech to the surprise of many. He did say that he plans to still take an official visit to Virginia Tech.

3* OL Jaden Lindsay

Virginia Tech looks like the team with the most momentum currently for three-star OL Jaden Lindsay after the Hokies offered him in April and made his top 5 yesterday. Lindsay added that he has a virtual visit scheduled with Virginia Tech for this Friday afternoon.

Lindsay projects as an interior offensive lineman for the Hokies and seems to be quickly rising the Hokies' interior OL board alongside guys like four-star OG Jaeden Roberts, teammate of Dematrius Davis, and three-star local OL Troy Everett.

At this point, it seems pretty clear that the Hokies have Lindsay as a priority on the interior especially with Tech being in regular contact with him led by Vance Vice. That also showed when Lindsay told us yesterday that VT was one of 2 schools recruiting him the hardest along with Appalachian State.

Now Lindsay hasn't visited Virginia Tech in person and he did tell us that he wants to get to Blacksburg in person once he has the opportunity to do so. There are some things that Lindsay can't experience on a virtual visit that he would in person but the fact that he has a virtual visit set up with VT is another good sign that the Hokies have momentum and Lindsay wants to learn a lot more about VT quickly.

More signs are pointing towards Virginia Tech being the favorite for Jaden Lindsay with this virtual visit being a great opportunity to build more momentum and potentially make a big push for a commitment given the chance to show him Virginia Tech from a distance.

3* DE Ozzie Hoffler

Virginia Tech is in contact periodically with three-star DE Ozzie Hoffler with Darryl Tapp taking the primary lead with Hoffler at this point in time. Hoffler did tell us that he has a "pretty good" relationship with Tapp, a good sign that the Hokies do have some traction with Hoffler.

Hoffler also told us that Boston College and UCF are the schools currently recruiting him the hardest. Both of those schools provide different challenges as BC has equal footing as an ACC school, but UCF is closer to home for Hoffler and also has had their fair share of success in recent years anyway.

One of the interesting things with Hoffler is they are recruiting him as a pass rusher primarily whether that's at DE or OLB. That versatility could leave some doors open for Tech to pick up their pursuit of him depending on how they see his potential fit at LB.

The Hokies are staying involved in Hoffler's recruitment, but he doesn't appear to be too high on the board at the moment based on how much VT has been in contact with him. However, things can change quickly in recruiting as evaluations and other factors change so Hoffler is definitely a pass rusher worth keeping an eye on.