Barbeque Bonanza: Tavante Beckett commits to the Hokies

In another predicted move, Indian River Linebacker Tavante Beckett has committed to the Virginia Tech Hokies. Rumors had been coming in that he'd committed earlier this morning, but the official news wasn't out until this afternoon. Beckett is a former member of the Oscar Smith team that DeShawn McClease and Jaylen Bradshaw had been a part of; he will be joining his god-brother JC Coleman as well on the team.

Beckett had long been thought of to be a Hokie lean thanks to all of these relations, and in making it official, joins Emmanuel Belmar and Victor Greene as the third linebacker commit for the 2016 class. The Hokies, his childhood favorite team, beat out Wisconsin for his commitment.

Beckett might as well be called ‘Ragdoll', because it seems like someone goes sprawling in each of his highlight plays- either people he destroys, or him because he's flying at something. He shows great burst and incredible instinct, knifing into and behind plays to make plays of his own by hunting down ball-carriers. A good portion of his tape is dedicated to special teams coverage, so you know he takes pride in the down-and-dirty work that Tech prides itself on. He's a solid tackler with tremendous power for his size, and I like the aggression he brings to what can sometimes be a passive linebacking corps. This is met by his instincts and patience in coverage, and the way he gets under receivers is exactly how you want to cover the mid-range passing game that Tech struggles against so often- our linebackers have trouble staying with and under potential targets, especially tight ends.

Congratulations to Tavante, and welcome to the Hokies!