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Blacksburg, VA — It came as no surprise that Virginia Tech standout defensive end Jason Worilds declared for the NFL draft this week. The redshirt junior has played in parts of four season with the Hokies. He played in two games during his freshman season before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery, for which he was granted a medical redshirt.

As a sophomore in 2007, Worilds played in 13 games and then became a full-time starter during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. His best season, statistically speaking, came in 2008. He 62 tackles, 18.5 for losses and eight sacks. He is a two-time All ACC performer and while his numbers were down in 2009, it was because teams game planned to defend him after learning their lesson from 2008.

While his tackles and sacks were down, and despite frequent double-teams, Worilds had a career-high 32 quarterback hurries.

NFLDraftScout.com ranks Worilds as the 12th best defensive end in the April NFL draft. While he hasn’t said where the NFL draft advisory board expects him to go, Worilds says he expects to go on the first day of the draft.

“This is a bittersweet day for me,” Worilds said in a news release. “The Hokie Nation has been great to me and my family, but it’s time to close this chapter in my life. This is a new and exciting part of my life and I’m excited to see what the future holds.”

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