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Defense Not So Experienced in 2008
by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com

Last year at this time we were talking about how experienced Virginia Tech's defense would be heading into the 2007 season. This year it's the opposite. The Hokies lost a lot of very good players, and they'll have to replace them with guys who mostly have no experience in the starting lineup. Despite their inexperience, expectations are still high. That comes with the territory when you're a defensive player at Virginia Tech.

The 2007 Hokie defense had six seniors, as well as a junior who declared for the NFL Draft. Four of them were drafted, and three of them were signed as free agents. They are all currently on an NFL roster. That's a massive talent exodus.

The following table shows how much starting experience the 2007 defense had, and how much the 2008 defense has, going into each season.

That's a 3-to-1 starting experience edge for the 2007 defense. When we dig even deeper, we see that things are weighted in 2007's favor even more than that.

While 2008 does have five years of starting experience returning, only two years are returning at the same position. Macho Harris, who started two years at field corner, will now play the boundary corner. Kam Chancellor, who started at rover last year, moved over to free safety in the spring.

Only the Martin brothers, Orion and Cam, have a year's worth of starting experience at the position they will be playing in 2008. Everyone else is either moving to a new position, or starting for the first time. One player, Stephan Virgil, is starting for the first time and moving to a new position (boundary corner to field corner).

Not only did the 2007 starting defense have three times the starting experience, but those all of them were at the same position. None of the guys in 2007 on the table above had started at a different position before that season.

What's particularly disturbing is that Virginia Tech only has a grand total of two years of starting experience in their front seven. No defensive tackle on the current roster has ever started a game, and only one defensive end has started a game. At linebacker, Purnell Sturdivant is a first year starter. Brett Warren started four games for an injured Vince Hall last year, and did a fine job, but this is still his first year as a full-time starter.

Despite all that turnover, Virginia Tech is still expected to put a good defense on the field this fall. Based on recent results, it's likely that Bud Foster will do just that.

After the 2005 season, the Tech defense lost Darryl Tapp, James Anderson, Jimmy Williams, Jonathan Lewis and Justin Hamilton to the NFL Draft, as well as Tim Sandidge to a free agent contract. Those are very similar losses to those suffered this offseason. All the 2006 defense did was finish #1 nationally in total defense, despite all that turnover.

Look for Bud Foster to have another solid unit this fall. Maybe not one of the top five in the nation like the last few years, but this group should still be one of the best in the ACC.

Peter Rose Arrested

WSET 13 has reported that 2008 Virginia Tech football signee Peter Rose has been arrested as part of a drug bust at Amherst County High School. Seven students have been charged, and five were arrested at the school this morning.

This is the end of a 10-month long investigation. An undercover police officer has posed as a student at the high school, and all seven students who have been charged allegedly sold the officer drugs. Those drugs include marijuana, prescription pills and imitation cocaine. Virginia Tech has yet to comment on the arrest.

Rose ranked #28 on TSL's postseason Top 30 list, and was the #16 player in the state according to The Roanoke Times. He was expected to be a defensive back for the Hokies, after leading Amherst to the state championship the past two seasons as their starting quarterback. He was named A.P. Group AA Player of the Year for his senior season.