Hokies have bevy of candidates to replace Herbert in backfield
Two months after Khalil Herbert took his last carry in his only season in a Virginia Tech uniform, Hokies offensive coordinator Brad Cornelsen knew the list of candidates in spring practices vying to replace Herbert would be long.
Too long.
Nine players in a backfield that features Raheem Blackshear, Jalen Holston, Keshawn King and Marco Lee means there’s a lot for Cornelsen and Virginia Tech’s coaching staff to evaluate this spring and not many carries to go around to all the running backs. By the start of preseason practices in August, Tech will add three or four more running backs.
“That’s not ideal,” Cornelsen said in mid-February. “When numbers get skewed by position, which happens within the course of the program, it’s not just an easy fix. It takes time.”
While it’s inevitable players who entered spring at running back will be moved, or at least tried, at other positions, there isn’t any obvious heir apparent to help fill the void left by Herbert, whose 1,182 rushing yards ranked second in the ACC last season.
“Every rep or mistake in terms of knowledge is a critical error because it is going to be highly competitive,” Tech running backs coach Adam Lechtenberg said regarding the pecking order of backs in spring practices. “We have a bunch of guys in that room that can make plays with the ball. We got to continue to find out who can play without the ball. We are going to put in a couple of things with two backs. We are going to see how that looks. We’ve done a little bit of that over the years (at Tech), so we can get more guys on the field at times.”
Blackshear, who had 255 rushing yards and 154 receiving yards last season, is one of Tech’s best options. The transfer from Rutgers waited until September to earn an eligibility waiver from the NCAA, so he took a little longer to emerge than Herbert, who arrived from Kansas.
Blackshear did end up being a versatile piece of the Hokies’ offense who spent a lot of time at slot receiver late in the season because of coronavirus issues and injuries within Virginia Tech’s receiving corps. He’s sure to continue shifting positions in Cornelsen’s offense.
“I feel like towards the end, (I was) starting to figure out what I need to do,” Blackshear said. “What do I need to do at running back? What do I need to do at receiver? I feel like that was starting to connect for me, start clicking and it just started elevating my game.”
Blackshear is working on getting more patient in the backfield. In video sessions with Lechtenberg, Blackshear discovered he let opportunities to find running room slip past him last season because he didn’t let plays develop long enough.
“I was missing a lot of open gaps,” Blackshear said. “I was hitting a lot of stuff too fast . ... So, by me slowing down, now I’ve got a chance to make my reads and make my right cuts.”
While Lechtenberg said Blackshear will be with the running backs this spring in video sessions, Lechtenberg added there are aspects of other players’ games he wants to get a better look at this spring. He likes Lee’s inside running ability, Holston’s change of direction and
King’s ability to catch out of the backfield along with his physical running style.
After recovering from a broken ankle that robbed him of all but one game in 2019, Holston is looking to carry over the momentum he built late last season when he had 14 carries for 58 yards in a 33-15 season-ending win against Virginia. Holston wasn’t ready for the season to conclude.
“I really didn’t want the season to end like that,” Holston said. “I was hungry to play, other guys were hungry to play, but we just ended it the right way. Everybody was excited.
“I’ve really been focusing on toning my body down, being able to take hits, give out hits and, really, I want to be able to catch out of the backfield more and do whatever I can to help my team out.”