AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2007 > July > 24
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Choice reminds of Emmitt
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hey, got some Tech stuff here. A little Tashard Choice, some hoops, and a recruiting tidbit!
Mike Knobler drew the assignment to travel to Pinehurst, N.C., for the ACC preseason bonanza, but I’ve read with interest what Mike and others have written about Tashard not getting his share of attention, chiefly from the media.
Some of it is understandable. Even though he led the ACC in rushing by a mile last season, he wasn’t as flashy as Clemson’s Spiller or Davis, and Va. Tech’s Ore. began the season with more reputation. Plus, the Va. Tech program has been more high-profile in recent years, meaning more writers and ESPN types — at least on a national level — kept/keep an eye on the Hokies.
Beyond that, Choice wasn’t really hyped locally last year beyond the fact that the AJC after almost every game wrote a sidebar about him because he kept going past 100 yards in every game. He wasn’t splashed all over local TV, or ESPN.
Anyway, I was asked the other day what made Tashard so good. “Is he fast? Is he big?” I thought a few moments and said Choice is neither super fast, nor big. He’s roughly average size and average speed, but he’s very patient in waiting for holes to develop, accelerates on cue, doesn’t cut like Barry Sanders but has a little wiggle, and can move a pile, slip a tackle, etc.
In short, he’s a poor man’s Emmitt Smith (not a pro yet). Tashard, like Emmitt, has fabulous vision, stays square to his target, runs hard, almost never goes down on the first hit, follows blocks brilliantly, rarely improvises to the point of destroying a play, and is like dripping water that won’t stop. He’s persistent; hammer, hammer, hammer, hammer, and then he slips into the secondary for a 22-yarder.
I still think the key to Tech’s season will be the passing game more than anything, that Tashard can run, the O-line can block, the defense will be very solid, and Durant Brooks can routinely change field position with his punts.
If Taylor Bennett and a young WR corps can muster a better-than-average passing attack so that defenses can’t load up on Tashard and the running game (which should benefit additionally from a healthy FB in Mike Cox), I think Tech will be very good.
OK, moving on and around …
Looks like my report of Paco Diaw transferring to San Diego was premature. No, this isn’t because he’s had a problem completing that independent studies course. Instead, apparently the folks at San Diego decided they want to add a bigger player. As for Paco’s options, stay tuned. He may remain at Tech. He might transfer somewhere else. Ideally, he’d be close to his brother, Boris, in Phoenix. That made San Diego doubly appealing.
A question: Should A.J. Jenkins commit soon to Tech, which he might, that would be three kids from Florida having committed to the Jackets among the first nine … Is Tech sinking a foothold into the fertile recruiting grounds of Florida?
Tech is also strong on the DB from Blountstown, Jon Lockhart, and very much in the mix on the mega-talented LB from Miami, Etienne Sabino. Butler and Yandell came recently from Nease, which sent Tim Tebow to Florida, and a slew of studs elsewhere.
There are other examples. Clearly the evidence is building.
