With Kaleb Smith and Armani Chatman leaving, what’s next for Virginia Tech?

“Virginia Tech Hokies” (CC BY 2.0) by Gamma Man

It was revealed earlier this week that Kaleb Smith and Armani Chatman are among the group of players from Virginia Tech football who are entering the transfer portal. Jason Brown, DJ Harvey, Lakeem Rudolph, Mattheus Carroll, Desmond Mamudi, Keshon Artis, Enzo Anthony, William Kakavitsas, and Tink Boyd are the others from Virginia Tech’s roster who have also been released for transfer.

The Hokies ended their 2022-23 season with a 3-8 record, in what was their worst college football season in 30 years. While these drastic moves in the transfer window were expected, the inclusion of Smith and Chatman in the transfer portal has come as a surprise nonetheless. Both Smith and Chatman were starters for the side, and with this signal of intent, it looks like a larger revamp is on the cards. The player turnover isn’t expected to stop with the departures of Smith and Chatman.

Smith and Chatman were significant contributors for the Hokies

Smith will undoubtedly be the bigger miss for Virginia Tech. He was a real leader for the side, and arguably one of the only shining lights in what was a dismal offensive department in the recently concluded season. Despite not having the best numbers overall, he was a pretty consistent performer. He managed 37 catches, 675 yards, three touchdowns, and averaged 18.2 yards per catch during the season.

Chatman, as mentioned earlier, was a regular starter. In his 25 games for the Hokies, he managed 89 career tackles, 20 pass breakups, and two interceptions. These are respectable numbers but perhaps easier to forego when a radical revamp is underway. Chatman perhaps won’t be as great a loss as Smith, but finding a suitable replacement won’t be easy. There’s every chance that Smith’s and Chatman’s numbers and performances would’ve been far better in a more functional team.

However, that will remain conjecture, and as the college football season heads into the Bowls, Virginia Tech seems to have a clear understanding of what exactly they need moving forward. Their tame finish to the season means that the Bowls will not feature either of the Virginia teams over the holiday period. However, you can still bank on some of the best bonus codes available in Virginia to bet on the college football season till the very end on BetMGM. Georgia is -143 favorite to win the season outright, but will have to get by close contenders Ohio State (+350) in their Peach Bowl game on New Year’s eve to solidify that status.

“Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech Football v. K” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by cbowns

What next for Virginia Tech? 

Replacing Smith’s leadership qualities will not be easy but on a more tangible front, Smith’s statistical contributions will also take some replacing. Smith completed 675 yards in the season gone by, which is greater than the sum accumulated by his backup pass-catchers, Nick Gallo, who managed 256 yards, and Da’Wain Lofton, who managed 254.

Virginia Tech needs to figure out a replacement urgently. Two signees, at the very least, need to come in. They also need to get up to speed quickly if they don’t want to repeat last season’s failure.

On the other hand, Chatman might be replaceable in-house, with Dorian Strong and Mansoor Delane likely to be propelled into more responsible roles. There will be some depth issues with Chatman’s departure, but that’s the sort of compromise that is expected from a team looking to start from scratch.

These are replacements with respect to just Smith and Chatman. Virginia Tech will need fresh options in lots of other positions as well as they go about this reboot. They are still short of an outstanding quarterback. They’ve decided to stick with Grant Wells, but he hasn’t, so far, been a player who can put in mesmerizing performances.

Their running game also remains non-existent, which doesn’t help the likes of Wells. All of these important areas of the squad need urgent attention before looking at replacing the likes of Smith and Chatman. It could be a long pre-season for Virginia Tech.