Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Arguably the top-rated recruit in Virginia Tech's 2016 football recruiting class is having fun these days.
Healthy, taking advantage of an opportunity to work with the first-team defense and excited because of a position change, rising sophomore Devon Hunter finds himself smiling a lot these days, as he learns the nickel position that is becoming more prevalent within Virginia Tech's scheme these days.
"It's pretty fun," Hunter said at a news conference Tuesday. "I get to go around and fly around, cover slot receivers, play in space and help my team as best I can."
The football program held the sixth of its 15 NCAA-allotted spring practices Tuesday evening, and the 6-foot, 218-pounder could be seen flying around the practice field. Hunter, who worked at rover this past fall, continues his progression at the nickel spot, while Mook Reynolds remains on the sideline with an injury.
Hunter's play this spring marks a bit of a contrast to his play this past fall. Not that he played poorly by any means, but many expected the Chesapeake, Virginia native – a four-star recruit –to take the ACC by storm.
But minor injuries slowed him in August practices, and Tech's scheme on defense differed drastically from what he played in high school, so he wound up playing in 10 games – with only an assisted tackle to show for it.
"I wouldn't say it was difficult," Hunter said of his transition. "Every player goes through that. I just take it all in and learn what I can, and when it's time for me to make a play, I make the play. I'm just ready to play and help the team. That's all I need to do."
"I would caution everyone on true freshmen walking in and playing a lot," Tech head coach Justin Fuente said. "It's just really hard. It's tough for guys to do. I think last year was very productive for Devon, though, to get on the field and play and help this team win and then now be prepared to take on a bigger role this year. I think that's helped prepare him for this spring."
Hunter did play on several of Tech's special teams, seeing action, for the most part, on four of those units. That at least enabled him to get a feel for the speed of the game.
"The good thing about Virginia Tech is that it's big here," Hunter said. "Special teams is big. Me playing on special teams is an honor. I just learned and did what I had to do. I learned behind the guys that were in front of me, so they kind of led the way, and I just did what I needed to do."
He also learned from being in position meetings, from traveling with the team, and from listening thoughtfully to guys like Reynolds, Reggie Floyd and Terrell Edmunds. All of that has enabled Hunter to feel more comfortable on the field this spring.
"They were like, 'Just learn and be patient. When you be patient, great things happen,'" Hunter said. "I knew coming in for camp that I was going to sit a little bit because Reggie knew a lot more than me, but learning from him was great. I had no problem with learning everything. The game started to slow down for me when I started progressing during the season."
Given Reynolds' expected return, Hunter may not necessarily be in a starting role when the Hokies open the upcoming season at Florida State. But for sure, he'll play a prominent role as one of the young, talented players on an inexperienced defense.
"He's handled everything very well," defensive coordinator Bud Foster said. "He's a grounded kid, and he looks forward coming to work every day. I'm excited about his future.
Here are some other notes from Tuesday's news conference:
• Speaking of Hunter, Foster indicated there were no plans to move him back to rover or free safety. Obviously, situations can force change, but Foster views the nickel position as the best spot for Hunter.
"We could move him back depending on Mook's situation," Foster said. "But right now, we're trying to develop that next guy at that position. That's really, really important, and I think he's handled things very well."
• Foster laughed when asked if his young linebackers – none of whom have played a meaningful snap in a collegiate game – were keeping him up at night this spring.
"I'm as green as I've ever been," he admitted. "But at the same time, that's what coaching is all about … that's part of what we do. Part of it is development, and I'm excited about this opportunity to develop that next group of linebackers, like I have in the past. This is the next group in line.
"Keep me up at night … not now. But in the fall, maybe. We'll see. Right now, I look forward to coming to work each day and working with these guys."
• In addition to speaking highly of his linebackers, Foster likes how the young defensive ends continue to progress. Certainly, Trevon Hill, Houshun Gaines and Emmanuel Belmar rank ahead of Tyjuan Garbutt, Zion Debose and Nathan Proctor on the depth chart, but the latter three look like different players from when they enrolled last summer – and play like different ones, too.
"Physically, they look totally different," Foster said. "You're taking a guy like TyJuan Garbutt, who came in about 212 pounds and is now about 242 or 246, something like that. I think [Nathan] Proctor is about the same way. Zion [Debose] was a little bit bigger coming in, but has gotten bigger, stronger, faster, leaner. Even though they've gotten bigger, they've gotten leaner if that can happen.
"They are where they are, as far as they've had five practices. Obviously, you do some things with them in the fall. We didn't need them in the fall to play a game. You did some things with them, but they're kind of like the linebacker position. You see some abilities. You see so much room for them to grow and improve and develop, and that makes you really excited because they're the same caliber kids."