Cunningham Recruited As A Tight End, But DE Could Be A Possibility

Cunningham (photo courtesy of his Twitter account)
Cunningham (photo courtesy of his Twitter account)

Virginia Tech football endured a slow start to the summer recruiting-wise, going without a commitment in the month of June. The Hokies rebounded in July with five commitments, and last week scored its 11th recruit in the class of 2015 in Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville, FL) tight end/defensive end Chris Cunningham.

Recapping the newest Hokie's high school career to date, Atlantic Coast head coach Kevin Sullivan said: “He was a little bit athletic but really skinny coming into the ninth grade. He played some wideout on JV. He couldn’t catch the ball very well. The next year I could see him starting to grow a little bit and he put on some weight. We moved him to tight end. He caught everything. We were going to bring him up to the varsity that year but his dad yanked him. He wasn’t happy with what was going on in the classroom. Chris came back out the following spring. He was up to 200 pounds, about six-foot-two or so, and he did some really good things for us last fall. He was catching everything. I could tell he had worked on his speed.”

Cunningham now stands about 6’3”, almost 230 pounds. Virginia Tech is recruiting him as a tight end but, according to Sullivan, Tech defensive line coach Charley Wiles has indicated that defensive end could be an option as well. Up until this spring, though, Cunningham has only played tight end on the high school level.

“We didn’t play him any on defense last year,” Sullivan said. “This spring, we put him to defensive end. We are missing some guys until we develop a younger guy, so we played [Cunningham] there. He’ll play defense this year but he won’t play every snap like he will on offense.

“I know Coach Wiles said something to the effect that he might move Chris to defensive end. I think he is athletic enough to play defense in college. It’s whatever they sort of feel they need him to do.”

Despite only having one varsity season from which to evaluate Cunningham, the Virginia Tech coaches and others -- the Atlantic Coast star easily reached double-digit scholarship offers -- felt they had seen enough. According to Sullivan, college coaches “actually liked the physicality of his play and how athletic he is after the catch. He has good hands. They could see him extend for the ball and those kinds of things.”

Coach Sullivan, who says Cunningham could get to about 6’4” (Chris’ father is 6’4”), 250 pounds or so in college, believes Scot Loeffler and company could “probably use Chris in an H-Back role because he can get in the slot and he runs well enough and can catch well enough. That’s probably something he’ll do. They also like the way he blocks.”

Slotting The Rest Of VT’s Summer Commits

Adonis Alexander, Damien Dozier, Tremaine Edmunds, Trevon Hill and Deshawn McClease joined Tech's 2015 recruiting class in July. All except McClease are designated for the defensive side of the ball.

- Alexander is a 6’3”, 195-pound prospect out of Independence High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. With his size and athleticism he appears to be a natural fit at Rover. Free Safety and Whip could be a possibility as well.

- Dozier, who attended Virginia Episcopal School (Lynchburg, VA) last season but will attend Knightdale High School in Raleigh (N.C.) area this year, is 6’4”, 210 pounds. Backer or Whip could be potential spots, but if he develops physically he could move down to full-time defensive end. Dozier says the Tech coaches want to use him at both end and linebacker.

- Edmunds stands at 6’4” and weighs in at 225 pounds. As of now the coaches really like him as a Backer. I wouldn’t rule out defensive end or, if he moves to offense, tight end, where his father excelled at Maryland and then in the NFL. Edmunds has really good hands and certainly has the size to play any of these positions.

- 6’4”, 220-pound Trevon Hill is a sure-fire defensive end. If the Salem (Va. Beach, VA) standout can stay healthy, I think Hill could be one of the more underrated prospects in the state and a key addition to this class.

- McClease, who hails from Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, VA), is a 5’9”, 175-pound tailback. McClease has ability as a rusher and a receiver. He is a North/South runner who runs tougher than his size. A quality addition to a good-looking tailback group.

Virginia Tech now has 11 commitments in total the class of 2015. In addition, Semper Fidelis All-American tight end Xavier Burke, OL Tyrell Smith and RB/LB Tabyus Taylor signed with the Hokies in the class of 2014 and are hopeful of being in Blacksburg this time next year. Burke and Smith have the best chance to make it and are hopeful they can enroll this January. Taylor was a non-qualifier out of Hopewell High School (VA) but is attending Atlanta Sports Academy in Georgia.

Not including the three postgrads, the position breakdown of Tech's 2015 Class is - 1 TB, 1 TE, 2 DT, 1 DE, 1 DE/LB, 2 LB, 1 S, and 2 CB. Defensive end remains the biggest overall need in the class. Look for the staff to try and add two-to-four more prospects at that position with the top target being 5-star Oscar Smith product Josh Sweat, who plans to take an official to Tech in September. He is also considering Florida State, Georgia, Ohio State and Oregon, and he plans to take officials to those schools as well.

Sticking with the defense, which is the primary focus of this class, I could see the Hokies adding two more defensive backs (one corner, one safety) before all is said and done. Offensively, adding line depth is a need. Otherwise, it's about getting the top talents on the board.

I don't expect this to be a full class of 25 players, but more like in the 18-20 range (not including the postgrads). There has been some attrition recently, though, as tailbacks Chris Mangus and Jerome Wright decided to leave the program. That opens up a few spots for next year's class.

More News and Notes

- It appears Ocean Lakes (Virginia Beach, VA) rising senior defensive back Jahque Alleyne has had a change of heart and will announce his college choice before the start of his senior season. The standout prospect is expected to choose Kentucky or Virginia Tech when he commits today while on ESPN Radio 94.1. Click here for the radio station's website, where you can tune in to hear the decision live.

Alleyne is being recruited as a defensive back with potential at safety or corner.

- The aforementioned Trevon Hill apparently had an excellent performance against Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, VA) in a scrimmage this Thursday night. Hill is a steady performer, but perhaps he had extra motivation with the aforementioned Sweat garnering a significant amount of pub this summer.

- Tech recruit DuWayne Johnson tweeted that he measured in recently at 6’2”, 184 pounds. Good size for a corner. Both he and Mook Reynolds are good-sized cornerback prospects for the Hokies.

- It is over four months away, but Stonewall Jackson (Manassas, VA) rising senior defensive tackle recruit Tim Settle tweeted earlier this week that he plans to announce his college choice on December 20. The general feel right now is that Settle will leave the state, but a lot can happen in four months. Tech has done well already in landing top targets Harry Lewis and Eric Whitehead, but a prospect the talent level of Settle would certainly be welcomed as well.