Greg Stroman Should Be Used on Kick Returns

Sep 13, 2014; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies cornerback Greg Stroman (3) runs the ball during the second quarter against the East Carolina Pirates at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

The Virginia Tech Hokies have not had the most explosive kick and punt returners over the last few seasons outside of safety Kyshoen Jarrett. However, the Hokies seemed to now want to use Jarrett too much on punt returns to avoid wearing him down too much with his main focus being as the starting rover.

This season, Greg Stroman took advantage of the opportunity to gain time as a return man and took over the job as punt returner. Stroman had a couple big returns that were called back over the course of this season but overall, Stroman was a very consistent return man that could get some big plays.

Stroman has returned 33 punts for an average of 6.6 yards per return with his longest return being 38 yards. Stroman has shown great speed and agility throughout this season, and he also proved to have a great ability at changing directions very quickly whether it was major or minor. Stroman was also able to break a few tackles and do some signficant damage on many plays.

Virginia Tech has not had as much success on kick returns with Demitri Knowles and Deon Newsome both averaging less than 20 yards a return. The Hokies need to improve their kick returns and using Greg Stroman as a kick returns seems to make a lot of sense.

Stroman might just be the fastest player on the roster for the Hokies and has the type of big play ability that you want from a return man. Stroman also is fairly smart with the way that he uses his blocks which is valuable to turn a 18 yard return into a 25 to 30 or more yard return.

The Hokies should be willing to give Stroman a chance on a couple of kick returns against Cincinnati in the Military Bowl. Stroman has the potential to be a very good kick returner and giving him a chance in this game would be a great opportunity to see if Stroman is a good fit as a kick returner.

Greg Stroman has been quite good as a punt returner this season, but he might also be able to also be a very dangerous kick returner. Frank Beamer and the Hokies’ coaches should give him the chance to return a couple of kicks in the Military Bowl.

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