Virginia Tech football: Hokies land massive offensive lineman

The summer of fun continues for Virginia Tech football. Late Monday night, the Hokies landed their 17th commitment for the 2022 recruiting class.

This time, it is Xavier Chaplin, a 6-foot-6, 370-pound offensive lineman from Whale Branch High School in Seabrook, South Carolina.

Much like some of Virginia Tech’s other commitments in this class, this one came out of left field. There had previously been no buzz between Chaplin and the Hokies, but he was on campus last month for a workout when he landed an offer from offensive line coach Vance Vice.

In watching a brief portion of Chaplin’s highlights, you see a massive young man who can move. He actually looks like he could be more comfortable on the defensive line than on the offensive line. He also has a track background and a wrestling background. I love finding players in the trenches who have a wrestling background. They have the size, but, most importantly, they understand the leverage game.

Chaplin isn’t yet rated by 247Sports, but that will not be the case for long. Like a pair of recent commits, they were ranked shortly after committing to the Hokies as 247Sports went back to the film and talked to various coaches. Chaplin will be ranked. He plays at a rural high school, which means he hasn’t had a lot of attention on him. That could change this fall.

Perhaps Vance Vice has found his latest diamond. I trust his vision here.

Welcome to Blacksburg, Xavier.