Bucky Hodges and His Bright Future at Virginia Tech

Dec 31, 2013; El Paso, TX, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies tight end Kalvin Cline (93) makes a catch and gets away from UCLA Bruins safety Randall Goforth (3) during the first quarter in the 2013 Sun Bowl at Sun Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Bucky Hodges was recruited to Virginia Tech as a quarterback but early on in his career, it became evident that Hodges would not stay at quarterback. Hodges would end up getting a redshirt this past season as the former quarterback started to make his transtion to tight end. Bucky Hodges started his work on the scout team and has been slowly but steadiliy working his way up the depth chart as he looks to make a significant impact in the fall. However, not many people had those expectations for Bucky Hodges before Spring Football started but after the Spring Game, the belief that Hodges could start making a significant impact this fall has gained momentum.

Many people have seen Bucky Hodges as what Logan Thomas could have been if he would have been a tight end instead of a quarterback. The main difference seems to be that Bucky Hodges has more speed than Logan Thomas and also has the strength that Logan Thomas also had. Bucky Hodges is a very similar athlete to Logan Thomas but it is unfair to say that Bucky Hodges is what Logan Thomas would have been at tight end as Thomas was a more talented quarterback than Hodges while Hodges has shown potential as a tight end.

Bucky Hodges has been showing signs of improvement weekly and the Virginia Tech coaches honored Hodges at the Spring Game as he was the offensive recipient of the Coaches Award for having a great spring. Bucky Hodges was one of the hardest workers during offseason workouts as shown by his testing data and Hodges showed a lot of upside throughout Spring Football.

Aug 20, 2013; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies offensive coordinator Scot Loefflerat during practice at the Steve Johnson Practice Fields. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

However, Bucky Hodges really shined in the Spring Game and proved that he is going to be a very successful tight end at Virginia Tech. Hodges showed very good seperation ability on his routes and almost had a touchdown if it wasn’t for Brenden Motley slightly overthrowing him. However, Bucky Hodges ran some fairly good routes and showed that he was really becoming a solid receiving tight end with his 3 catches for 24 receiving yards. Hodges also has the size that will give defense nightmares in the fall as he continues to develop.

The one area that Hodges didn’t seem to have the best of games of at least standout in was as a blocking tight end. Now for a quarterback shifting to tight end, it will take time for Hodges to become a solid blocking tight end but Hodges really didn’t do too much blocking in the Spring Game. However, Bucky Hodges has the potential to be a very good blocking tight end due to the strength that he has as proven by his max bench press of 315 pounds during the fall while he made his transition from quarterback to tight end.

However, the Hokies have a very good tight end in Kalvin Cline who is a solid blocker and receiver. Scot Loeffler could do some stuff similar to what the New England Patriots did in the past and use tight ends with Cline and Bucky Hodges. In this case, Cline provides the well-rounded tight end that is a very good blocker while Hodges gives the Hokies another tight end that causes matchup nightmares with his speed and size. Bucky Hodges is going to be a very successful tight end at Virginia Tech and the Spring Game made that statement a lot stronger.

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