I will admit, it was a suspenseful selection show but in the end, Corey Marshall selected the Virginia Tech hat and all was right in the Universe. Marshall had a final five of Tennessee, West Virginia, UVA, Michigan, and Virginia Tech but eliminated all but UVA and VT. At the end of the Washington Post Live show on Comcast Sports Net, Marshall decided to don the white Virginia Tech hat.
Marshall is a four star defensive end as rated by Rivals and will join his teammate, Chris Hall, in Blacksburg next year. The Dinwiddie product recorded over 110 total tackles last season including 21 for loss and seven sacks. Marshall was even better in his sophomore season when he racked up 122 total tackles with 17 for loss and 11 sacks. Needless to say, he is a phenomenal defensive end and a phenomenal pickup for our Virginia Tech Hokies.
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Name: Corey Marshall
Position: Defensive End/Defensive Tackle
Location: Dinwiddie, Virginia
School: Dinwiddie High School
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 253
40 Time: 4.76
Offers: Virginia Tech, Michigan, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Virginia, NC State, Buffalo, UCONN, ECU, and a few FCS schools
Recruiting Rankings
I trust Rivals the most for when it comes to prospect rankings, especially since they’ve seen him first hand down in San Antonio for the Army All-American combine and in Blacksburg for the Nike Combine. Rivals.com has him as the 21st ranked defensive end in the nation and a four-star overall. ESPN has him as a three star and Scout.com has him as a four star defensive tackle. So, overall, the consensus says that Corey is a fairly good football player.
Prediction Based on Film Evidence
Marshall will enter a long line of undersized yet extremely talented defensive lineman that have attended VPI&SU. Corey Moore, Daryl Tapp, and Jason Worilds are just a few that come to mind. However, I think the biggest question on everybody’s mind is just what position is he going to play? Well, I think Scout.com Scott Kennedy’s assessment of the Dinwiddie star says it all.
“Marshall plays defensive end for his Dinwiddie team, and he's athletic enough to remain outside should he not grow into a defensive tackle. He gets a great push off the line of scrimmage and can bull rush or speed rush an offensive lineman. He's an aggressive defender who gets in on a lot of second chance plays, but he plays with discipline and doesn't bite on misdirection. Needs to get off blocks better if he's at DT”.
My guess is that Marshall will start off at the STUD DE position but could easily move to weakside DE if he bulks up anymore. Obviously, his weight could become an issue if he does bulk up to say 275. At that point, Coach Wiles may be forced to move him to defensive tackle but I'm sure that may be at last resort. Wherever he plays, Marshall is going to make an impact, I'm sure of it.
Upshot for the Rest of the Class
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hokies added another defensive end in this class but that will likely be decided at the July 10th camp. We are still recruiting Matt Roth out of Florida but he seems content to wait on a Florida offer. If that doesn’t come then the Hokies could make a play for him as he is visiting Blacksburg this summer but right now, he’s wide open. The rest of our D-line offers have either committed elsewhere or eliminated us from contention.
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