Hokies Camp 2010, Vol. 6: Turf toe fallout ...

How much Curt Newsome can you stand in one day? Let’s find out.

I had already planned to post the earlier O-line blog and it just so happened that the Hokies new starting left tackle went down with turf toe the same day. (By the way, it’s fairly incredible that something so small as a toe can sideline a man so mammoth as Nick Becton.)

I figured you’d want me to catch back up with Newsome in light of that news, so I did. And a quick catch-up with current No. 1 left tackle Andrew Lanier.

Also worth noting (and you’ll see some of this below) is the apparent rapid rise of true freshman LT Mark Shuman. He has really packed on some good weight since high school and seems to already be living up to his four-star billing.

Hokies offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring made it a point to speak to Shuman after practice. Said he looked good today. And you’ll see what Newsome thinks of Shuman in a moment.

But, boy, I’m just thinking about what kind of crazy battle for the starting left tackle job is going to be going on next spring. Lanier is a junior, Becton a sophomore and Shuman a rookie. That spot could be insanely deep in 2011.

Unfortunately for the Hokies, they’ll have to play 2010 first. And there’s currently a real dearth of experience. Read on ...

OL COACH CURT NEWSOME

ON THE IMPACT OF LOSING LEFT TACKLE NICK BECTON FOR A WEEK OR TWO WITH TURF TOE: “He just hasn’t been out there on many Saturdays, so that’s why it’s so significant to lose him. He just needs reps.”

ON HOW BECTON TOOK THE INJURY: “You know, he’s a straight-line guy. Never real high, never real low. That’s probably not too bad for a left tackle, because they’re like cornerbacks. You get beat one time, if you go in the tank you’ve still got a lot of snaps left. Not that he won’t care if he gives up a sack, because I’ll let him know how important it was when he gets to the sideline. But he’s an even-keel guy that really has bitten in and cares about football right now. I know he’s upset about not being out there with his teammates.”

ON NOT FEARING THAT BECTON WON’T BE AVAILABLE FOR BOISE: “I wouldn’t think so, based on what we heard. I know this is a fairly significant turf toe, from what they see, but he actually tried to get back in yesterday after he hurt it. So there’s some toughness there. There’s some want-to there. When you mix those together with a good training staff, I feel like we’ll have him back. We still have a little bit of time. It’s not like we’re playing next week. It could be a lot worse. This could be game week. We’d be doing that same drill (Becton got hurt on), just a one-on-one pass protection with the D-line. It’s an every-day drill we do. As he was planting, he caught his toe. All a turf toe is, is a jammed toe.”

ON WHAT IT SAYS ABOUT THE IMPROVED DEPTH OF THIS LINE, THOUGH, THAT THE STARTER GOES DOWN AND HIS REPLACEMENT IS A TALENTED, OLDER GUY WHO STARTED A GAME LAST SEASON: “Played every snap against Duke a year ago. And we’re fortunate we had moved Andrew. He’d only been a right tackle and we moved him in the spring just to get him reps because we felt like he would be the rotate-guy (universal backup for both RT and LT). So we’ve been fortunate that he got all his spring reps on the left side and he’s still on the left side. And I just told him the day before Nick got hurt, ‘We’ll start getting you some reps at right tackle.’ ”

ON BECTON’S MISSED PRACTICE TIME STILL BEING A SIGNIFICANT LOSS: “It hurts our football team, no question. You’ve got four guys up there with a ton of snaps and one guy up there that hasn’t played – and he’s the guy not getting reps. When we get him back, we need to get him in there and get him right to work.”

ON LANIER GETTING A LOT OF WORK WITH THE FIRST TEAM WHILE BECTON’S GONE MAYBE ADDING TO THE LINE’S DEPTH: “I guess it does add to the depth. I just wish (Becton) was out there getting ready.”

ON WHO THE NO. 2 LEFT TACKLE IS RIGHT NOW: “We’ve moved Mark Shuman up to No. 2 today. He’s showed some signs. He’s a coach’s son. He’s got a basic understanding. His brother played here for four years. Terminology is not that difficult. He’s been hearing it from his brother. His brother coached at (his high school) a year ago and was able to work with him. So he’s ahead of the curve. Like any true freshman, to play in this league, it’s just not something that’s done. But if someone would have a chance to give you some snaps, I’m hoping he’s a guy that could do that.”

ON LANIER NEEDING LOTS OF PRACTICE REPS: “Andrew’s a real rep guy. He doesn’t see it on the board and come out here and, ‘Boom, I’ve got it.’ He needs to do it and do it and do it. He’s still learning. He’s a lot closer. With 20-some-odd practices, and if we can get Nick back and get (Lanier) a few at right tackle and go into that (opening game) with him being able to play both, we’ll be a better football team.”

ON LANIER TRYING TO KEEP WEIGHT ON: “I’ve been talking to him about that. Where he struggles is to anchor a guy down, like on a bull-rush. There’s some technical things he needs to do with his footwork, in terms of widening his base and those sorts of things. And his weight is a little low. Most tackles weigh a little more than 275 pounds. I’d like to see him go in (to the season) 5 or 10 pounds heavier than that.”

ON LANIER’S STRENGTHS: “He’s played 80 snaps in 90-degree weather (against Duke) and played a good football game. So he’s been in the heat of the battle. We threw the ball a bunch against Duke, so I think he’s proven he can protect the passer.”

ON WHETHER HE EXPECTS THAT CENTER/TACKLE BACKUP MICHAEL VIA COULD CONTRIBUTE ANY REAL SNAPS IN THE OPENING GAME AS HE’S STILL RECOVERING FROM AN ACL INJURY: “Yes. I think we’re really close to getting him back, which is unheard of for a guy my age to hear that someone can come back in four months from an ACL surgery. I remember when ACL was a year. He’s way ahead of where we thought he’d be. But he’s never played (tackle). He got a couple snaps (in spring). We’d just moved him (from center) and he got hurt.”

ON WHETHER TRUE FRESHMAN LAURENCE GIBSON WILL GET ANY REPS ON THE LEFT SIDE: “No. Laurence is a one-side guy. (WHY?) Just youth right now. To be able to move him right now and him have an understanding. You could move someone like a Blake (DeChristopher) that’s done it. But he’s locked in (at right tackle). For a younger guy to move right now, he’s just trying to learn where he’s at right now.”

ON THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE RECOVERY TIMETABLE FOR TURF TOE: “I heard a week minimum and the two-week thing. I just feel like we’ve got a tough young man that wants to get reps. The only thing I know about the situation is he’s definitely going to be back as soon as he can be back because he wants the reps.”

ON WHAT BECTON CAN DO IN THE MEANTIME: “Nick’s a guy that can get it in the classroom. He can get a lot out of it. He can see it on the board and carry it over to the field. Everybody needs reps, but he can get a ton out of the classroom. We’re meeting three times a day. All that helps. Every step Andrew Lanier, it’s like he’s taking it. Is that a good step? A bad step? Right now, we’re just putting him mentally in Andrew’s shoes. So when he watches film, he is the left tackle and, ‘This is what I’m looking at.’ ”

ON WHAT BECTON MOST NEEDED TO IMPROVE THIS CAMP: “Identification of defenses, seeing what’s out there. Understanding that. Everybody needs reps in fundamentals ... but as far as, ‘We think we’re going to get a blitz in this look,’ and things. Who I’m working to on a certain play. All those type things. He needs to be out there. It’s a set-back. No question about it.”

LT ANDREW LANIER

ON TRYING TO GAIN WEIGHT: “I don’t even think I’m ready at that standpoint to play tackle, especially starting a big game like that. Footwork, handwork, things like that. I know I have the playbook down pretty well. It’s just going to be a lot of fundamentals, basically.”

ON WHAT TECHNIQUES ARE PROBLEMATIC: “It’s a lot of pass pro. I’m doing all right run-blocking, but when it comes to just anchoring a guy down on pass protection, it’s really giving me some difficulty.”

ON HOW MUCH OF THAT IS HIS WEIGHT AND HOW MUCH IS TECHNIQUE ISSUES: “I think it might be about split down the middle. The fundamental part, it’s going to take a lot of work to get better. That’s what this camp is for.”

ON HIS GOAL WEIGHT: “I was trying to stay around 285 to 290. I guess I just lost weight over the summer. Now through camp, when it’s the hardest, I’m trying to gain back weight. So we’ll just see how that goes.”

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