Brandon Dorlus adds to Hokies’ Florida Contigent, Joins #EnterNight19

Well, so how about that defensive line depth chart, then? Looks like the Hokies decided to load up. The most recent addition to this year’s recruiting class is yet another Florida-based defensive lineman, Brandon Dorlus. Dorlus decided for the Hokies over Florida, Nebraska, Clemson, Kentucky, and others. The long list of overall offers included NC State, USF, Tennessee, Auburn, Louisville, Missouri, Ole Miss, Pitt, and Virginia with many other schools stacked in there. Dorlus is listed as a strongside defensive end, but I’d expect him to get kicked inside to tackle much like Pollard and Kendricks. Listed at 6’-3” and about 260lbs already, it wouldn’t be a big change to get him up to 300-310lbs with a college weight training program. Dorlus joins Pollard, Kendricks, and running back Keshawn King as the Sunshine State imports for this class- a reasonably normal number (Tech has recruited 3-4 kids from Florida each year since 2015). 247 has his primary recruiter listed as Charley Wiles. Currently in terms of rank, he’s a consensus three star but where he rates is somewhat up for debate. ESPN rates him the highest as a 79 overall, which is pretty much on the border between three and four stars (66^th DE, 77^th State, N/A National). 247 pegs him as a reasonable 86 (65^th DE, 135^th State, 1059^th National). And Rivals comes in the laggard, pegging him with not much overall ranking and sticking him at a 5.5 as a defensive end. Dorlus is the 15^th commitment to the class and likely the last defensive lineman assuming everyone sticks to their commitment. Dorlus came up for the barbeque bash this past weekend and obviously the staff and Blacksburg left an impression on him.

Let’s see what kind of impression the tape leaves on me, shall we?

Brandon Dorlus (Deerfield Beach, FL. 6’-3”, ~260lbs. Defensive Tackle)

From what I can see, Dorlus has pretty decent field awareness and can move somewhat quickly, but he’s miscast as a defensive end, ergo the reason why I think the coaches are going to kick him in to the DT slot. He comes out of his stance with some alacrity, but his first move is frequently up rather than out. His tackling skills are pretty solid and at defensive tackle he’d be more than athletic enough to handle that role. But that’s becoming a frequent refrain around here- kick this oversized defensive end inside and give him a couple years in the weight room to fill out and adjust to the new position. After Cam Goode apparently flopped, the last time that the Hokies recruited and played a purposeful defensive tackle is Jarrod Hewitt, and before that you’re looking at Tim Settle (gone) and Ricky Walker (Redshirt Senior). Hopefully these three- Dorlus, Kendricks, and Pollard- all work out, since the defensive tackle position has become so thin.

Welcome to the Hokies, Brandon!