UPDATED: Jason Worilds is leaving early for the NFL
Darryl Slater
Jan 07, 2010
More quotes and context here than in the print edition. Figured you all would want to read as much about this as possible. So here you go ...
BY DARRYL SLATER
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech will begin the 2010 football season without its best defensive player. Junior end Jason Worilds announced yesterday that he will skip his senior season and enter the NFL draft.
The suddenness of Worilds’ decision caught Tech’s coaches by surprise. According to defensive line coach Charley Wiles, Worilds never told them he was considering leaving early until Dec. 29, two days before the Hokies beat Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, when Worilds mentioned it to head coach Frank Beamer.
Two weeks earlier, Worilds talked to reporters about not submitting his paperwork to the NFL committee that advises underclassmen on where they might be drafted. “I’m really not interested in it right now,” he said.
Worilds said on a media conference call yesterday that “when we had talked, it was kind of premature in the process. I hadn’t put my papers in at that point. After consulting with my family, we thought it would be best for me to do so. So after doing that and taking everything into consideration, I came up with a different direction.”
He declined to say where the committee estimated he could get selected. “I really don’t want to get into the details of that,” he said. “But I did submit my papers and I received feedback.”
There could be a rookie salary cap in the NFL in 2011, but Worilds said that possibility did not affect his decision. “I based my decision solely on my assessment of myself and how I feel and where I’m at with myself athletically and just with my career as a whole,” he said. “I’ve actually been going back and forth as far as making my decision, consulting my family for the past week or so. We came to this decision recently.”
Worilds, who redshirt as a freshman, was a two-year starter. He played with an injured left shoulder in 2008 but still had 18½ tackles for loss, eight sacks and two forced fumbles. In 2009, he had 11 tackles for loss, 4½ sacks and a forced fumble. Despite his numbers decreasing, Tech’s coaches considered him their most productive defensive player this season.
Still, Wiles said he was “a little surprised” by Worilds’ decision “because it hadn’t been talked about. That was the only part of the surprise, not the fact that Jason was gonna come out or he was thinking about it. … I thought maybe he might have thought about it from time to time, I’m sure. But it never really came up.”
Wiles said Worilds spoke to him twice about leaving early—briefly after the bowl game and for 15 minutes Monday. “I wasn’t going to talk him out of anything,” said Wiles.
Part of that conversation involved Wiles telling Worilds about the insurance policies that players who consider leaving early take out when they decide to play their senior year. At that point, Wiles said, Worilds was still waiting to hear back from the committee. But Wiles didn’t get the sense that the committee’s estimate would play a major role in Worilds’ choice.
“I’m not sure how much of a factor that was, really,” Wiles said. “I think he was just confident that he could make a team or impact that league. It wasn’t a deal-breaker either way.”
Worilds phoned Wiles yesterday and informed him of the final decision.
Said Worilds: “He told me, straight-up, ‘We would love to have you back, of course, and have another year and help us do what we set out to do. But you have to do what’s best for you.’ And he told me that the supported my decision. And he wished the best for me.”
Worilds, who is listed at 6-2 and 262 pounds, could play outside linebacker in the NFL, especially in a 3-4 defense.
“I’m pretty sure, when working out for teams, I’ll do linebacker drills also,” he said. “I’m comfortable with doing either or. I think I’m versatile enough to handle the outside linebacker position as well as playing with my hand down [at defensive end]. Position-wise, I really don’t have any personal preference. I just want to get out there on the field and do what I love to do. I have heard different things. It really depends schematically on what the team runs. The teams that run 4-3 would have me as a down lineman. Teams who run the 3-4 would have me standing up as the outside linebacker. It really depends where they think I fit.”
Said Wiles: “If Jason can get bigger and hold his weight, he can play down all the time. He’s certainly athletic enough to be an outside linebacker. But he needs to be a guy that’s gonna rush. There’s a lot of hybrid 3-4 teams out there. Jason can play away from the line of scrimmage. He’ll dazzle these guys [NFL scouts] in workouts.”
Where he gets picked also is uncertain at this point.
“The draft is so tricky,” Worilds said. “I would hope to be a first-day guy. With the draft being so tricky, you really never know what’s gonna be what. I just expect to work hard. And I know that if I put my best foot forward, I can live with wherever I’m drafted.”
Said Wiles: “There’s no doubt in his mind that he’s getting ready to be a great pro. And he probably will.”
But Wiles also believes that if Worilds came back to Tech, he could have improved and perhaps became one of the best defensive linemen in school history, joining guys like Corey Moore, Cornell Brown, Bruce Smith and John Engelberger.
“There’s some work left,” Wiles said. “He’s leaving with a little something on the table.”
Worilds hasn’t hired an agent yet, so he could still return to school for his senior year, as cornerback Victor “Macho” Harris, of Highland Springs High, did when he originally declared for the draft after last season.
“I believe this is my final decision,” Worilds said. “I think I wouldn’t be here [on the conference call], we wouldn’t be having this conversation if it wasn’t. To my knowledge, this is my final decision.”
It means the Hokies, who could be ranked in the top 10 of preseason polls, will lose six defensive starters, including two other defensive linemen: end Nekos Brown and tackle Cordarrow Thompson.
Their top two ends entering spring practices were backups in 2009: rising junior Chris Drager, who moved from tight end before the season, and rising senior Steven Friday, who rarely played before last fall. Entering the bowl game, Friday had played 168 snaps on defense this season, Drager 174.
“After that, you’re gonna find two more guys that can play,” Wiles said.
They almost certainly will be inexperienced. The other ends listed on Tech’s 2009 roster were redshirt freshman Isaiah Hamlette – who, entering the bowl game, had played six snaps, all on special teams – and three true freshmen who were redshirting: Tyrel Wilson, James Gayle and J.R. Collins.
Tech also has commitments from two ends for the Class of 2010: Zack McCray and Justin Taylor. Recruiting Web site Rivals.com rates McCray as the nation’s seventh-best weakside defensive end and the third-best player in the state of Virginia.
Drager could have moved back to tight end, to help fill the void left by senior Greg Boone’s eligibility expiring. But it seems likely now that he will stay at defensive end. “I’m certainly gonna fight for that at this point,” Wiles said.
Still, Wiles is going to lose three-quarters of his line, as well as backup tackle Demetrius Taylor, who also was a senior. The only returning starter is rising senior tackle John Graves, of Meadowbrook.
In addition to Taylor, the other reserve tackles in 2009 were redshirt freshman Antoine Hopkins (Highland Springs) and sophomore Kwam Battle. Entering the bowl, Hopkins had played 243 snaps on defense, Battle 112. The other tackles on the roster were three redshirt freshmen: Joe Jones, Dwight Tucker and Courtney Prince.
The 2010 class is set to include two tackles: Nick Acree and Derrick Hopkins, Antoine’s younger brother. Acree, who is from King William, is massive – 6-6 and 297 pounds, according to Rivals, which rates him as the nation’s 21st-best defensive tackle.
Wiles isn’t worried about losing three of his four starters on the line and four of the eight players who comprised his two-deep for the bowl.
“At this point, I ain’t scared,” he said. “It excites me. I didn’t want Jason to go to the NFL. Why would I want that? But I do want him to have success. … I thought we had a pretty good team coming back. Obviously, we’ve got a bunch of kids coming back offensively [four starters gone: left tackle, left guard, tight end and fullback]. We’ve lost good football players since I’ve been here [1996]. We’re gonna have a good year next year. I’d love Jason to be leading our defense. He’s a special guy. But obviously he thought it was his time to go. I’m for him now.
“There’s so many reasons to come back, because you’re never gonna be 20, 21 years old playing college football again. Once it’s over, it’s over. But there’s also a lot of great things ahead. Only time will tell if Jason has made a mistake or not. Obviously, he doesn’t feel that way.”
Knowing how good the Hokies could be next season, Worilds said the choice was “extremely difficult, but I also know [my teammates] understand that I had to do what was best for me at this time. They understand that. I expect them to go on and win that national championship.”
-30-
An extended version of the story for tomorrow’s paper on Virginia Tech’s junior defensive end (and best defensive player) deciding to skip his senior season.
