Some time after Zach Luckett left the Blacksburg police station Sunday morning, the pecking order for Virginia Tech’s wide receivers changed drastically ... again. As most of you know by now, Luckett was arrested early Sunday for driving under the influence and was subsequently suspended by head coach Frank Beamer for an unspecified violation of team rules—but it doesn’t take a Mensa member to put two and two together on that one.

So now the bigger-picture question (gotta be forward-thinking here on the Interweb): Where does this leave Tech’s receivers?

The answer seems simple enough. True freshman Dyrell Roberts was listed behind Luckett on the depth chart and is the likely candidate to replace him. (After all, to paraphrase Rick Pitino, “Eddie Royal isn’t walking through that door, Josh Morgan isn’t walking through that door ... “) You get the point. While replacing Luckett is just a matter of someone pressing the delete key and rearranging the depth chart, everyone knows things are never easy with a true freshman, especially one, like Roberts, who is transitioning to receiver after mainly playing running back in high school.

Just a few hours before Luckett’s arrest, Tech’s receivers looked like they were coming along nicely. They performed much better in Saturday’s scrimmage than they did four days earlier in the first scrimmage. Fewer dropped passes, more confidence from the true freshmen: Roberts, Xavier Boyce and Jarrett Boykin. Roberts and Boyce play the Z spot, while Boykin is over at X behind Danny Coale and Ike Whitaker.

Roberts has surely developed since the first week of practice, but when I talked to him then (the first day, in fact), he knew he had to work on several things to make himself a productive college receiver—namely, running crisper routes and catching the ball away from his body, with his hands, rather than letting it settle between his forearms and chest.

Speed is not an issue with Roberts. In preseason testing, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds, the second-fastest time among Tech’s freshmen. But if speed was the only thing that mattered for a receiver, Usain Bolt would be a Pro Bowler. (And speaking of speed, the Hokies certainly would have had more of it at receiver if projected starter Brandon Dillard didn’t rupture his Achilles during the offseason.)

Luckett’s indefinite suspension is going to be a serious test for receivers coach Kevin Sherman, entering his third season at Tech. He’s had the luxury of experienced receivers the past two seasons. His top four receivers in 2006 were senior David Clowney, followed by three juniors: Josh Morgan, Eddie Royal and Justin Harper. Last year, four seniors led the way: Morgan, Harper, Royal and Josh Hyman. It will be interesting to see how he can bring along a group that could include two true freshmen (Roberts and Boyce) and a redshirt freshman (Coale) among its top four options.

Practice is closed today to we media swine, but there are interviews afterward, and a bunch of us hacks are going to speak with Roberts. Check this space for more later.

Dyrell Roberts is quick, but who knows what to expect from him as a starting receiver?