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The Virginia Tech Hokies are 20 days away from opening their spring practice session in preparation for the 2010 college football season. Going into the spring schedule, running back David Wilson and cornerback Rashad “Rock” Carmichael have established themselves as the fastest Hokies on the team. Wilson and Carmichael ran the 40-yard dash in 4.29 seconds.

Wilson, a rising sophomore running back with a ton of talent, is likely to begin spring practice at No. 2 on the depth chart. Ryan Williams, who broke virtually every rushing record (both ACC and Tech) last season as a redshirt freshman, is the clear No. 1, followed by, in our opinion, Wilson and then redshirt junior Josh Oglesby.

What about Darren Evans, you ask? Well, he will likely sit out spring practice rehabbing his knee. But, he should be back and 100 percent for the season opener against Boise State on Sept. 6, at which point, he could move back up to No. 2 depending how he performs in summer practice.

In the mean time, it’s Williams, Wilson and Ogelsby. The gap between Wilson and Ogelsby isn’t as much as most people think, either. Wilson is obviously fast and an incredibly dangerous kick returner, averaging nearly 20 yards per return. He also has bigger rushing numbers – 59 carries, 334 yards, 5.7 ypc, 4 TDs – but needs to improve his blocking skills if he wants to be more involved in the offense.

Oglesby is more of a bruiser, third-down back that can pound it up the middle and get short yardage, but also has some jets when he hits open field. Josh had 78 carries for 335 yards, for 4.3 ypc and 2 TDs last season.

Articles on the running back log jam for the Hokies are plentiful. There have been questions about whether or not one of the four will transfer, but at this point, we have no reason to believe that any of them are considering leaving the team. In fact, all four have, at some point, publicly stated that they are sticking around.

And after last season, when Evans, fresh off a record-setting season, blew his knee out before the season, these guys know they are one play away from being the starter. The question is, can the offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring spread the carries around in a such away that doesn’t disrupt the flow of the offense.

Williams, Ogelsby and Evans have all burned a redshirt year, so they can’t sit the 2010 season, but there is the remote possibility that Wilson could redshirt. The question is, can the Hokies afford to lose him as a kick returner? If Williams has another year similar to what he had last season, he’ll probably bolt for the NFL in 2011. That would leave the Hokies with Evans and Ogelsby, both redshirt seniors, and Wilson, a redshirt sophomore going into the 2011 season.

The bottom line is… who knows? For now, the Hokies have one of the most talented group of running backs in the country and to quote Tech running backs coach Billy Hite, “It’s a good problem to have!”

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