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A Very Hokie 2016 NFL Season

The 2016 NFL season schedule has been released, and several former Hokies will meet in key professional matchups!

By jayjohnson09
Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

There are so many Hokies in the NFL that it would be inefficient to list all the matchups of the 2016 NFL season in which all former VT alum will participate.  The following list consists of matchups where there are Hokies in an immediate position to have a significant impact on the matchups.  Many major former Virginia Tech Hokies will assemble during the 2016 NFL season.  Some of them for the first time!  Former teammates that are now antagonists – directly facing off against one another! Here are the highlighted games that we have identified featuring Hokies in key positions!

Week Three: Buffalo Bills versus Arizona Cardinals.  The Hokies that will be meeting on Sunday, September 25, will not necessarily be meeting directly on the field, but it is still a clash of former Hokie titans.  Bruce Arians is the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals and a two time NFL Coach of the Year winner who also happens to be one of the highest profile Hokies in professional sports.  Coach Arians’ Cardinals will meet the Bills and the newest hot NFL QB, Tyrod Taylor.  This will definitely be a game that all the Hokie faithful will want to attend.  Regardless of where their NFL loyalties sit, all Hokies can appreciate and celebrate the high level of execution both of these gentlemen have demonstrated.

Week Nine: Buffalo Bills versus Seattle Seahawks.  Yin and Yang.  Jedi versus Sith… or maybe just offense versus defense?  Who does not want to watch Virginia Tech and Pro Bowl alum, Kam Chancellor, face off against another Virginia Tech and Pro Bowl alum, Tyrod Taylor?  For the majority of their college careers these two Hokie stalwarts were on the same team, but now… now… these two will meet for the first time, as opponents, in the NFL regular season.  This is one of the harder games to watch during the upcoming NFL season!  How can you choose?!  Is there a way for both of them to win?

Week Seven: Seattle at Arizona.  As far as the NFC West is concerned these two teams have been battling it out for the division championship for the last three years.  Last year the Cardinals were able to win the West.  In 2014 and 2013 the Seahawks were able to pull the division. What will happen this year?  This is the first of the two regular season matchups that Coach Arians and Kam Chancellor will have.  There have already been changes in Seattle.  What else is to come during the remainder of the offseason and the NFL Draft to influence this game?

Week 13: Washington at Arizona.  It seems like all the DBU Hokies want a run at Coach Arian’s Arizona Cardinals!  Could this game have playoff implications?  It is entirely possible.  The NFC East is in flux and it is difficult to make any sort of prediction about the division.  Undeniably, this matchup of Hokies v Hokies could easily influence the playoff picture.

Week 16: Arizona at Seattle.  It is no accident that this matchup is late in the season.  It is entirely realistic that this game of the 2016 season will have a significant impact on the NFL post season.  Regardless of how it plays out, let us hope that we again see both teams in the playoffs!

Week 16: Chicago at Washington.  The Redskins certainly appreciate the defensive secondary that the Hokies have provided to the professional level.  Kyshoen Jarrett and DeAngelo Hall of the Redskins will meet up against Kyle Fuller and the Chicago Bears!  It is certainly too early to tell, but there has already been some discussion that Kendall Fuller could be targeted by Washington in the NFL Draft!  Could we potentially see a brother versus brother situation?  Time will tell, but this will certainly be a matchup to watch.

What do you think?  Are there some match ups that were missed or that you think are particularly interesting?  Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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