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Virginia Tech had one of the youngest football teams in the country last year, and they still managed to win the ACC and go on to defeat Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl. The Hokies will be much more experienced this season, but when spring practice opens next week, they will still have a lot of youth on the field.

In this week's TSLMail, we'll break down Tech's two-deep by class. Players who are currently injured and not participating in spring practice are not included, while some positions have players tied at certain positions on the depth chart.

31 players are either freshmen or sophomores, while there are only 17 juniors and seniors in the two-deep. Those numbers will change as guys like Sergio Render and Andre Smith return from injury in August, but the Hokies will still have a very young football team this spring.

Take a quick glance at the number of sophomores and r-freshmen that are in the two-deep. That's 19 total players who are still only 18-19 years old. These players, for the most part, were part of the 2008 recruiting class. Early on, it appears that class is going to produce a number of very good players.

The following members of the 2008 recruiting class are listed in the two-deep.

That's a total of 16 players from the 2008 class that are already in the two-deep. Alonzo Tweedy and Courtney Prince are r-freshmen who are also listed in the two-deep, but they were originally members of the 2007 class.

Let that sink in for a moment. Those 16 players in the 2008 class have only been on Virginia Tech's campus since practice began in August. In less than a year, they've moved up the depth chart far enough to contend for significant playing time. Jarrett Boykin and Dyrell Roberts have already seen starting time, while Jake Johnson, Quillie Odom, Bruce Taylor, Eddie Whitley and Lorenzo Williams saw some action last year as well.

There are only a handful of 2008 recruits that aren't in the two-deep at this point. Three of them, Peter Rose, Kendrick Pressley and Derrick McCoy, never enrolled.

Ben Barber, Eric Martin and Tony Gregory greyshirted and are in the middle of their first semester at Virginia Tech. Marcus Davis is the third string quarterback, but he has the physical ability to contribute at other positions. Randall Dunn is injured and will miss spring practice. Lydell Gibson is #3 at backer, but he'll have a chance to move up. Joe Jones missed all of the fall with an injured shoulder, and Xavier Boyce could easily be in the two-deep by the time the season rolls around. Finally, Allen Stephens left the program in the offseason.

This will be a big spring for many players on the list above. Ju Ju Clayton has a chance to lock down the backup quarterback position, and Ryan Williams can challenge for heavy playing time at tailback. At linebacker, guys like Jake Johnson, Qullie Odom, Bruce Taylor and Lyndell Gibson will be competing for starting positions. Eddie Whitley could end up starting at cornerback as well.

It's much too early to predict greatness for the 2008 class, but it's off to a very successful start.

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