More on the D-Line Shift

The (semi-questionable) move to place Graves at DE has been scrutinized by many, but here is a good article by Darryl Slater at the Richmond Times-Dispatch with more clarification on the move. I like the focus on Demetrius Taylor, who is one of my favorites. Enjoy, and here is an exerpt:

"He's got to be more of a playmaker for us, not just a guy who's winning his gap," Wiles said of Taylor, who made 12 tackles last season, though defensive tackles don't post gaudy stats (Graves had 26 tackles). "And I'm putting him in a position to make more plays."

Taylor still vividly remembers the moment last spring when he knew he'd found his home at tackle. He lined up in the "two technique" against left guard Nick Marshman, so Taylor's helmet was aligned with Marshman's inside shoulder. When the ball was snapped, Taylor was able to handle Marshman's "cut-off block," as he stepped right to impede Taylor's path. "I just felt right," Taylor said.

John Graves

Graves, as you well know, has been playing DE during the spring. Here is a pretty good article from Randy King at the Roanoke Times, who must have been reading this blog, because his updates have magically been more frequent!

"I'm not really thinking about down the road," Graves said. "It's about what's going on now. More of my focus is to just help develop the team. We've got a lot of good younger guys inside. And like Coach Wiles said this will help get a lot of the younger guys more experience at D-tackle."

With Tech loaded inside the trenches with vets like Cordarrow Thompson and Demetrius Taylor, plus young studs Kwamaine Battle, Antoine Hopkins, Courtney Prince and Dwight Tucker, Graves was more than willing to return to the old position he played at Meadowbrook High.

Spring Ball Update

From Beamer's Blog:

Davon is cleared for spring! Although a number of players will be limited this spring due to injuries and subsequent surgeries, Davon Morgan isn’t one of them. Davon, who suffered a season ending knee injury in the win over Nebraska, is now listed as “Full” for the upcoming spring practices. Once again, a great job by Tech’s medical team, and, Davon himself, for the speedy recovery. Congrats to Danny Coale and Cody Grimm for going 6-for-6 in the 6am workouts! But, that truly should be a threesome. John Graves would have been a perfect 6-for-6 but he showed up 10-minutes late for a workout, and showing up 10-minutes late for one of Dr. Mike Gentry’s sessions is just like showing up 10-minutes late for a game! We hate if for John because he’s a fantastic young man, but, late is late! Also, what's the head coach up to this weekend? Last weekend, Frank Beamer was racing at the Bristol Motor Speedway, this weekend, he’s getting in 36-holes at Augusta.