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When rumors became fact yesterday surrounding Jerod Evans’ future at Virginia Tech, I started looking at the depth chart. If I had to assemble some sort of pecking order, it would look like this:
- Joshua Jackson 6’2” 207
- Jack Click 6’3” 216
- Chase Mummau 6’2” 183
- Hendon Hooker* 6’4 204
- Malik Zaire** 6’0 207
The reason Hooker get the *, is that he HAS to enroll early, just waiting to see if he has the grades to get to Blacksburg this January. The reason Zaire has the **, is that I’m not convinced he will end up at Virginia Tech. It has been pretty interesting watching the Zaire news on twitter.
Justin Fuente's most recent follow is ND grad transfer QB Malik Zaire. Just throwing that out there.
— Chris Coleman (@ChrisColemanTSL) December 31, 2016
If one tries to read the tea leaves, one knows Fuente likes polished guys (think Evans) to run his offense. One of the problems Virginia Tech has had in recent years is not producing program guys at the position. I’m not against “hired guns” like Evans, or even Michael Brewer, I just want to see some talent in the pipeline. If Hooker qualifies academically that will only help matters. Getting adjusted to classes and football obligations are a big part of the maturation process. Getting Hooker on campus would be huge.
.@DBoyzFootball QB Hendon Hooker (@HenBoss2) will enroll early @VT_Football and look to start for @CoachFuente https://t.co/GajxHeUfen
— Spencer D. Turkin (@Turkin35) January 3, 2017
Keep in mind that during Spring camp last season, there was a ton of stuff around saying that Jackson was pushing Evans for the starting job. I’m not sure how much of that was to keep Evans honest, but competition is good for the program. If Jackson feels he has a legit threat, he will perform better. Having Hooker, and possibly Zaire in camp would do just that. Buckle up Hokies. It’s going to be an interesting spring.