Virginia Tech starting center Braelin Moore announced that he will enter the transfer portal on Monday
Moore broke into the starting lineup in 2023 at guard before moving to center this past season. He was expected to be anchor of the offensive line for the next two years alongside starting left tackle Xavier Chaplin who also has entered the transfer portal.
He will have two years of eligibility remaining and will certainly be one of the more popular interior offensive linemen in the portal given his multiple years of Power 4 experience and his versatility to play either center or guard.
After developing into a solid center and emerging as one of the better parts of a struggling offensive line, Moore now heads elsewhere leaving a massive vacancy at center. With Lance Williams also entering the portal, the Hokies are left with a true freshman in Tommy Ricard and a walk-on in Caleb Nitta, making a center a top priority for the Hokies.
Of course, there's no reason why the Hokies should give up on Moore either and see if they can find a way to retain him. While those type of retentions aren't that common, they are definitely possible.
Beyond his talent and upside, Moore was also set to be an important leader in the offensive line room. Him and Chaplin exiting creates a leadership void in that room that will be hard to replace in short term. The offensive line is the one group that no one has had success in building through the portal, with the Hokies being on the verge of having to kind of do that if they can't find a way to pull at least one of Moore and Chaplin back in.
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