During his weekly press conference, Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry announced that starting safety Jalen Stroman will be out “a couple of weeks at least” due to an injury suffered during the Hokies’ 34-27 loss at Vanderbilt.
Brent Pry says Jalen Stroman will be out for "a couple of weeks at least" with an injury he sustained at Vanderbilt. #Hokies
— Raza Umerani (@RazaUmerani) September 3, 2024
This is a continuation of injury issues for Stroman after he missed two games in 2023 due to injury. With Stroman out, Jaylen Jones had slid into his starting spot on the depth chart while Devin Alves slides into the two-deep as a backup.
Pry noted during his press conference that Mansoor Delane will get more work at safety going forward while Quentin Reddish will also take on a larger role as the top backup.
Pry said that Mansoor Delane could see some work at safety, and that Quentin Reddish's snap count could go way up as well. #Hokies https://t.co/MqRkUea9dC
— Raza Umerani (@RazaUmerani) September 3, 2024
This week could prove a good opportunity to test out using Delane more at safety, with Dante Lovett likely to get a lot more reps at cornerback along with possibly Thomas Williams. The good news is that not having Stroman may prove to not be much of an issue with Marshall and ODU being the next two opponents, though you’d like to have him back for Rutgers and certainly by the Miami game.
This will put the primary safety load on Mose Phillips and Jaylen Jones who weren’t great against Vanderbilt but also looked clearly improved enough to be adequate at safety compared to last year. Overall though, this gives the Hokies’ less experienced depth in the secondary as they look to young guys like Reddish, Lovett, and others to step up and fill those gaps.
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