Virginia Tech had a second backup offensive lineman enter the transfer portal as John Harris has decided to move on from Blacksburg.
#Hokies OL John Harris has put his name in the transfer portal. The redshirt freshman started against ODU and appeared in 6 games this year. Joins fellow OL Joe Kane in the portal.
— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) December 4, 2019
Feels like this was inevitable with everybody coming back on the OL and Hoffman entering the mix.
Harris is a Georgia native and will have three years of eligibility left. He is the second offensive lineman to enter the transfer portal along with Joe Kane while being the third interior offensive line loss for Tech after Will Pritchard announced his retirement from football.
After receiving limited opportunities while preserving his redshirt during the 2018 season, Harris fell down the depth chart behind younger interior linemen including starters Bryan Hudson and Doug Nester. Harris also was unable to break through the two-deep this season as another sign of how far he fell down the depth chart.
While Harris' depth chart shouldn't have a big on the field impact, it does open the door wider that the Hokies could try to bring in an interior offensive lineman this cycle to provide a little more depth. If not, it seems likely that the Hokies will make the interior of their offensive line a higher priority than they may have previously planned.
Harris' departure also clears up another scholarship for a 2020 recruiting class where numbers are going to be tight with the class size likely to be around 15-17.
