With a stable of wide receivers and running backs that would make any coach salivate, the Hokies appear to be set – barring injuries, of course – in the backfield and at wideout for the foreseeable future. And that’s why 2009 recruit Nubian Peak is transferring out of Blacksburg.
After redshirting the 2009 season, the short, but speedy high school running back-turned-wide receiver and kick returner didn’t see a future for him at Virginia Tech, so he asked for and received his release in July 2010.
Today, on Texas Tech’s official athletics website, it was announced that Peak was transferring to the Red Raiders. Peak’s younger brother, Tahrick Peak, is a true freshman linebacker at Virginia Tech. Tahrick signed with the Hokies last February, but asked for and received his release in July as well, opting to head to Lubbock, Texas to play for the Red Raiders and new head coach Tommy Tubberville.
The older Peak told the Roanoke Times that he did not feel he fit into the Hokies’ system and was frustrated that veteran players in front of him probably would keep him out of the starting lineup until his junior year.
Former Virginia Tech hard-hitting stud strong safety (rover) Aaron Rouse signed with the Arizona Cardinals on Tuesday. It is his third NFL team in less than a year.
Rouse was a third-round draft pick in 2007 by the Green Bay Packers and played two seasons with the Pack before they cut him unexpectedly two games into the 2009 season. He was immediately picked up by New York Giants and played the remaining 14 games of the ’09 season, including eight starts. The Giants cut Rouse last March.
Rouse was notorious for devastating hits as a college player at Virginia Tech. His outstanding leadership and play-to-the-whistle mind set on the field led to a reputation for delivering late and/or illegal hits. The reputation was based mainly on two plays in one game against Duke in 2006.
Rouse was flagged for a personal foul, late hit on the quarterback Thaddeus Lewis. Despite the reputation, Rouse continued to play hard and drew the attention of NFL scouts.
Rouse joins the Cardinals for his fourth NFL season. In his career, Rouse has four interceptions, one sack, 109 tackles. He has one career interception that came at the expense of Peyton Manning. Rouse returned the pick 99 yards for a touchdown.
Former Virginia Tech Hokies linebacker Cody Grimm signed a 4-year contract with Tampa Bay
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their seventh round draft pick Cody Grimm agreed to a four-year contract on Thursday according to the Associated Press.
Grimm played collegiately at Virginia Tech where he went from walk-on to defensive captain and first team All-ACC linebacker in four seasons. Considered undersized for a linebacker, the Bucs will likely use Grimm as a safety and on special teams.
To make room on the roster for Grimm, Tampa Bay cut undrafted free agent safety Dennis Rogan.
Grimm led the Hokies with 99 tackles last season, which ranked third in the ACC. He also led the ACC and the nation in forced fumbles with seven, three of which came in the first four defensive plays against N.C. State.
Grimm is also the son of former Washington Redskin great Russ Grimm, who is not an assistant coach with the Arizona Cardinals.
The National Football Post reported today that former Virginia Tech standout defensive end Jason Worilds has signed a four-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Worilds, a standout defensive end at Virginia Tech, was the Steelers’ second-round pick in the 2010 NFL draft.
Worilds played four seasons at Virginia Tech, though his freshman season was cut short after only two games due to a shoulder injury that led to season-ending surgery. In his three full seasons, he played in 41 games and started 25 of those.
His redshirt sophomore season (2008) was by far his best. He registered 62 tackles, 18.5 for a losses and eight sacks. By his redshirt junior season, opposing offenses showed a little more respect, which diminished his numbers, but allowed other Tech defenders to step up and make plays.
Worilds, who changed his last name in 2007 from Adjepong, will likely play outside linebacker in the Steelers’ 3-4 defense (three down lineman, four linebackers). But barring an injury to incumbent and established starting OLBs LeMarr Woodley and James Harrison, don’t expect Worilds to start any time soon.
In the days following the 2010 NFL draft several Hokies who went undrafted signed free agent deals with various NFL teams. Among the former Hokies to sign such as deal was tight end Greg Boone.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted punter Brent Bowden and linebacker Cody Grimm and then signed offensive lineman Sergio Render and Boone after the draft had ended. However, no record of Boone exists in the official NFL transactions wire. Nowhere was he listed as having been signed or cut from any NFL team.
A source inside Virginia Tech’s athletics department said that Boone failed his physical with the Tampa Bay Bucs and was sent home. There’s been no word on what caused the failed physical.
Boone always seemed to be a little banged up because of his aggressive style of play, but he averages 13 games a season for four straight years totally 52 games played and 41 starts.
Former Hokie tight end Greg Booned reportedly failed his physical with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Former Hokie cornerback Stephan Virgil wasn’t selected in the 2010 NFL draft, but he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Buffalo Bills. Less than two months later, they cut him.
Virgil was let go on June 8 after failing to impress. It looks like he hasn’t been able to fully recover from the knee injury that kept him out nearly half of the 2009 season. He was slow at the combine, running a 4.69 forty-yard dash and then an even slower 4.73 at his pro day.
At this point, it would be surprising to see Virgil get picked up by another team, but we’ll keep an eye out on the transaction wire. Perhaps he needs more time to rehab and try and get his times down.
BeamerBall.com reported Thursday that former Virginia Tech linebacker-turned-defensive end Jake Johnson will transfer to the University of South Alabama, which only began playing collegiate football last season. USA will join the Sunbelt Conference in 2013.
Johnson, a rising junior, was a highly touted linebacker coming out of high school, but struggled to adjust to the college game. After starting eight games in the 2009 season, he was replaced by redshirt freshman Lyndell Gibson and never regained his starting job. During the off-season, he was moved to defensive end, but the experiment was short lived and Johnson later announced he would transfer.
South Alabama played a seven-game schedule last season against Hargrave Military Academy, Army Prep, Georgia Military Junior College, Louisburg (N.C.) Junior College, Fork Union Military Academy, Milford (N.Y.) Academy and Huntington (Ala.) College. All seven games were played in Mobile, Ala., where South Alabama is located. The Jaguars won all seven games.
The Jags play a 10-game schedule in 2010, with seven games at home, but the level competition improves, and will improve against the following season as the fledgling program heads toward Sunbelt Conference membership.
The Seattle Seahawks signed fifth-round draft pick and former Virginia Tech Hokies safety Kam Chancellor to a four-year contract on June 2, according the NFL.com’s transactions report.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported via his Twitter feed that Chancellor agreed to a four-year deal worth $2.83 million, although news of the signing has yet to be posted on the Seahawks’ official Website,seahawks.com.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that Chancellor (6-2, 232 pounds) is expected to back up veteran strong safety Jordan Babineaux. First-round draft pick Earl Thomas (Texas) will likely start at the free safety position.
Chancellor made a career at Tech as a physical player who delivered devastating hits. He is strong against the run stop, but is not considered a ball hawk. He struggled in defending the pass, so expect the Seahawks to use him as a backup run-stopper and on special teams until he adapts to the speed of the NFL game and gets some experience.
Screen Capture of a Video posted on BaltimoreRavens.com.
When kicker Shayne Graham missed two relatively easy field goals that cost the Cincinnati Bengals a playoff game against the New York Jets last season, it was pretty much a given that he’d be let go. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, who himself is on the hot seat, told the press that Graham has “demons” from those missed kicks, essentially saying that his career as an effective kicker was over.
The Baltimore Ravens think otherwise, signing the NFL’s fourth most accurate kicker – of all time – to a one-year deal for the 2010 season. Graham, who kicked for the Bengals from 2003-2009, and has been in the league for nine season, has made 85 percent of his field goals (196 made out of 230 attempts) and has only missed three extra points in his career, hitting 99 percent, or 276/279.
The starting job isn’t Graham’s by default, however. He will compete with incumbent Billy Cundiff, who has been in the league for six seasons and has made 73 percent of his career attempts – 78/106. Last season, Cundiff connected on 78 percent of his FG attempts (18/23). Graham had his “worst” season as a pro last year and still made 82 percent of his kicks (23/28). Cundiff has never finished above 80 percent in his six seasons.
Despite Graham’s impressive career, there were some Baltimore Ravens fans who did not approve of the acquisition. BaltimoreRavens.com columnist John Eisenberg addressed and dismissed the critics on the Ravens’ official Web site. And while he’s getting paid by the Ravens and you’d expect him to speak positively of the move, his reasoning is sound and the critics should reserve judgment until they’ve seen the former Hokie in action.
Graham owns several Bengals team records including most field goals in a season (31), most field goals in a games (7), highest field goal percentages in a season (91.2), best career field goal percentage, consecutive made field goals (21) and the most points in a season (131).
After his four-year career at Virginia Tech (1996-1999), Graham left as the Hokies’ all-time leading scorer. He was also the Big East’s all-time leading scorer with 371 points. Graham was named first-team All-Big East all four years of his college career. The only other player to achieve that distinction is former Philadelphia Eagles, now Washington Redskin QB Donovan McNabb. Graham is most remembered by Hokie fans for his game-winning kick as time expired against West Virginia during the Tech’s 1999 season. That year, the Hokies finished the regular season 11-0 and played Florida State for the national championship.
Watch a video of Graham addressing the Baltimore media at a practice session.
After losing his starting mike linebacker job after eight starts last season, linebacker-turned-defensive end Jake Johnson has asked for and been granted his release from Virginia Tech, according Norm Wood of the Daily Press.
The rising junior from Fredericksburg, Va., struggled last season and after eight starts as a true sophomore, he lost his job to redshirt freshman Lyndell Gibson, who started the remaining games.
Johnson chose Tech in 2007 over U.Va. and Maryland, but proved to be more of a workout warrior than a big-time prospect. With Gibson holding down the starting spot, the coaches moved Johnson to defensive end, where they desperately need depth. But, after a the spring practice season, it was clear that Johnson was not going to crack the starting lineup and was realistically a No. 3 defensive end. The writing was on the wall at that point.
And now Johnson will look for a new program that can make use of his strengths, which include freakish strength. This is a disappointing loss for the Hokies, who had high hopes for the highly touted linebacker. He still has a redshirt year to burn, which he can use during the year he has to sit out if he transfers to another Division I-A school. If he transfers to a D-IAA, he will not have to sit out a year. Either way, he has two years of eligibility remaining and the Hokie nations wishes him nothing but the best.
Another rising junior, wide receiver Patrick Terry, will also transfer. No surprise there with such a deep roster of receivers for the Hokies.
09/06 vs. Boise State (8pm ESPN)
09/11 vs. JMU (1:30pm ESPN3.com)
09/18 vs. ECU (1:30pm ESPN3.com)
09/25 @ Boston College
10/02 @ NC State
10/09 vs. Central Michigan
10/16 vs. Wake Forest
10/23 vs. Duke
11/04 vs. Georgia Tech (7:30pm, ESPN)
11/13 @ North Carolina
11/20 @ Miami
11/27 vs. Virginia
12/04 ACC Championship Game
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