Losing Bhayshul Tuten to the NFL is a big loss for the Virginia Tech football team. He was the Hokies' do-it-all back the last two seasons, and he should make an impact this upcoming season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
He leaves a huge void in Blacksburg that needs to be filled, and head coach Brent Pry added a running back through the transfer portal, Terion Stewart, and he appears to be quite the pickup. Why is that, well, one metric that Pro Football Focus (PFF) uses has and an eye-opening stat that should excite Virginia Tech fans.
Virginia Tech transfer RB perfect replacement for Bhayshul Tuten
Stewart comes to the Hokies after spending time at Bowling Green and being a very productive back for the Falcons. PFF has one stat that compares Stewart to former Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, which should excite Virginia Tech fans.
Last season, Jeanty led FBS running backs with a 0.41 missed tackles forced average, and Stewart was second at 0.40. Jeanty went sixth overall in the April Draft to the Las Vegas Raiders. Now, before everyone goes crazy, I'm not suggesting that Stewart is going to be a very high first-round draft pick, but that is one stat that shouldn't be overlooked with Stewart's ability to avoid tackles and break them. The metric PFF uses is as follows,
"missed tackles forced per attempt metric is invaluable in judging a player independent of their offensive line. And that's where Stewart shines."
Last season, he rushed for 898 yards for Bowling Green on 166 carries and six touchdowns, while averaging 5.4 yards per carry. You might think those numbers aren't great in the MAC, but the 5-foot-9, 220-pound Memphis, Tennessee native is a very underrated pickup by the Hokies and Pry. If he can come in and be the player a lot of people think that he can be, he could open some eyes with some NFL Draft scouts in 2025.