Virginia Tech will be without an important piece to their special teams and offense as kick returner/RB Keshawn King will be out for the Hokies against Pittsburgh as reported by Michael Niziolek of the Roanoke Times.
Virginia Tech's running back rotation could look a little different this afternoon, quick injury update before the game against Pitt https://t.co/gNMJDOWisS
— michaelniziolek (@michaelniziolek) October 16, 2021
King's absence will likely mean more carries for Raheem Blackshear and Jalen Holston first and foremost with Malachi Thomas seeming to be likely to gain some carries after receiving a few last week against Notre Dame. Of course, it'll be interesting to see if Tech sticks with one guy more especially given how Raheem Blackshear looked like the clear best back last week.
The bigger impact may be on special teams where King had been Tech's primary kick returner and had done quite well averaging 31.8 yards per return including a career long 56-yard return earlier this season. Given the injury concerns at QB with Braxton Burmeister, losing their top kick returner for a game where Tech faces the nation's top scoring offense isn't ideal.
Raheem Blackshear will likely be the primary kick returner today with Blackshear having also returned some kicks this season while other Tech RBs could factor in given James Shibest's preference to have RBs return kickoffs.
