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2017 Signing Class Spotlight: Dylan Rivers, Linebacker
As a four-star recruit, Dylan Rivers is one of the Hokies’ highest rated recruits, and they put in a late push to get him. Rivers’ late flip was one of Fuente’s more impressive accomplishments in this class.
Dylan Rivers is one of the best linebackers, and even players, in the country. 247 Sports lists him as a four star recruit, 13th overall OLB, and 8th overall in the state of VA.
What’s more, Scout.com adds that Rivers is the best OLB in the state of VA, as well as the 201st ranked overall recruit in the country.
Just based on those stats alone, Rivers would be a great pickup for Fuente and his staff. Yet there is even another factor that makes this pickup so impressive.
According to 247 Sports, Rivers committed to Penn State on November 21, 2015. Nonetheless, Fuente got Rivers to flip to Virginia Tech on January 22, 2017: over a year since his original commitment and just more than a week out of a signing day.
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The coach that Fuente was recruiting against was no pushover. In fact, Coach James Franklin is known as one of the better recruiters in the country.
However, The Northern Virginia Daily reports that Rivers cited his flip to having a better relationship with Coach Fuente than Coach Franklin.
He said, “I didn’t have a relationship with Coach Franklin…Coach Fuente was hitting my phone up left and right, calling me” (Fauber).
That is a statement which speaks volumes about the recruiting prowess of a young coach trying to build a championship team.
At 6-2, 230, Rivers has a similar build to Hokie great Vince Hall. His highlights also show similar speed and explosiveness to Hall. He will hopefully fit right in to Bud Foster’s unit.
The Hokies have plenty of depth at their LB positions, including players such as Anthony Shegog, Tremaine Edmunds, and Andrew Motuapuaka. When considering what has become the Hokies’ base defense more often than not, the 4-2-5, Mook Reynolds has proven to be a reliable option at Whip due to his ability and speed in pass coverage. He adds even more depth to the defense in that regard.
Despite this, Rivers will certainly push for immediate playing time in 2017. With his talent, one would have to think the coaching staff will find a way to get him on the field as soon as possible, working his skill-set into the rotation however they can moving forward.
Check out Dylan’s full highlight tape HERE
