The Virginia Tech Hokies’ Football 2014 Top 10 Player Countdown: #6 Brandon Facyson

Sep 26, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies cornerback Brandon Facyson (31) celebrates an interception in the first half against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

The top 10 countdown of 2014 Virginia Tech football players continues today with our sixth ranked player, Brandon Facyson.

Most of the hype coming in to last year about new cornerbacks for the Hokies was surrounding Kendall Fuller unsurprisingly after being one of the top cornerbacks in the Class of 2013. However, Fuller ended up not being the only freshman cornerback to have a lot of success as a freshman.

Brandon Facyson was a four-star cornerback coming out of high school but Facyson was not very talked about due to the presence of Kendall Fuller and Holland Fisher in the Class of 2013 though we all know that Fisher didn’t arrive till this summer. Facyson quickly made some noise and the Hokies enter the 2014 season with what is the best starting duo of cornerbacks in college football.

Oct 12, 2013; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies cornerback Brandon Facyson (31) knocks the ball away from Pittsburgh Panthers wide receiver Tyler Boyd (23) during the second quarter at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

The best thing about Brandon Facyson is the fact that he has elite ball skills and those ball skills helped him get 5 interceptions and 8 pass deflections this past fall. Facyson’s ball skills are at a NFL level and those type of skills make him someone who could once again have anywhere from 3 to 7 or 8 interceptions this fall.

Facyson also has great height for a cornerback at 6-2 while also being a great athlete. His athleticism allows him to take advantage of his great ball skills and size and make tremendous plays in the air to breakup passes and get interceptions. Facyson also is a solid man coverage cornerback and should only be better as a lockdown cornerback across from star cornerback Kendall Fuller this year.

Brandon Facyson’s weakest area is probably as a run defender though he isn’t too bad of a run defender as he did have 2 tackles for loss. Facyson still has so much potential and as he becomes more refined, he will just become better and better not only on run defense but also as a man-to-man cornerback.

Brandon Facyson is the best number 2 cornerback in all of college football and with Kendall Fuller, this duo forms college football’s best tandem of starting cornerbacks.