GW’s Wesley Graves Senior Tape
- Thread starter olemissboy30
- Start date
In deed! Had he been healthy all 3 years then he’d have all of the records x2. Really hoping he gets a chance to play at a big time college. He’s better than anybody on Virginia Tech’s RB depth chart right now.
He is a very good player and hopefully he gets the chance to prove that somewhere in college. Your last contention, an opinion to which you are entitled, is probably a stretch for a variety of reasons. There are absolutely questions about his durability and, though no fault of his own, the numbers he put up were against what would charitably be termed less than top competition. To summarize, he is a really good player and my observation is to not run him down but, to view the evaluation through less shaded blue and silver glasses.
No blue and silver glasses.. Wesley is 6’0 225. Much bigger, faster and just as a powerful as Steven Peoples a couple of years ago. Tech hasn’t had an elite back since David Wilson. Not saying Wesley is elite but certainly worth taking a chance on!
Worth taking a chance on is far different than he is better than anybody on VT's depth chart right now. While Graves might be 225 now he is a much better player, both faster and shiftier, as he proved this year at closer to 215. At 225 he was slower and far less agile, in my opinion, even allowing that the speed and agility could have also been partially attributable to some unreported injury conditions. As previously stated, durability is still a question mark and your claim, "if he had been healthy all 3 years....." would seem to support that. Finally, back to the roster contention. Cole Beck, facing similar competition as Graves, has comparable stats and far superior overall team/competition results and nobody thinks just yet that he is anywhere close to the best back on VT's roster. I do believe a case can be made that your glasses are generally tinted blue and silver and in this case has colored your observation. ;-)
I’ve heard that NC A&T has been looking at Wesley a lot. @iDidntGetBanned
Will be a great move! N.C. A&T is a fine program.
Cole Beck has always been a speed guy, elite level speed guy. He’s not a ground and pound back like Graves. Cole is probably a 4.35 40 or faster guy, Wesley is 4.55/4.60. Cole also had a far superior line and a better supporting cast in high school than Wesley had and took far less head on hits. Both are phenomenal players, 2 totally different styles, in their own respect. When I think of Wesley, I see Peoples and even some Darren Evans. Cole is closer to David Wilson. I do believe that Wesley is superior to what Tech has on their RB depth chart.. power backs.. Cole is a speed back and probably will be used more elsewhere.. I couldn’t name anyone on their depth chart other than Cole and McClease. They’ve been stuck in mediocrity since David Wilson/Tyrod Taylor days because (as you can see in the signings thread that Vols posted) Virginia talent is going elsewhere.
The fact you admit you could not name anyone other than Cole and McClease on their roster speaks to the depth of knowledge and credibility that underpins your opinion stating Graves would be the best back on their roster. VT's mediocrity that you speak of has much more to do with other factors than Virginia kids going elsewhere.
First, kids have a right to make their choice to go in state or out of state and sometimes it is as much about getting away as it is a negative reflection on state schools. Second, recent NCAA rules changes and COA(cost of attendance stipends) have made it more attractive to some kids to go out of state. Also, in recent times Virginia has produced no where near the talent in quantity or quality that it did for many years, an opinion borne out both in the actual numbers being signed and the relative rankings of the athletes by the recruiting services and confirmed by the volume and impact of Virginia players getting playing time on the highest levels. Virginia still produces good players, maybe even a few great players but, not anywhere near the numbers of earlier times. At one time Virginia was as high as 7 or 8 in state rankings of recruits produced. In recent times it has been closer to the 11-15 range and 2020 is considered one of the weaker classes ever. Next year(2021) currently projects as higher, however, the trends in participation numbers being witnessed do not project Virginia as a State that will trend up long term in high school football.
He was easily one of the region’s best playmakers in the region this year. He’d be a 3 star or better if he was in the 757
Hey we tend to forget that it’s all about us posters. By golly, don’t say anything positive about a player if it isn’t a Salem player or someone winning the golf championship.
Not a matter of saying something positive about a player. A matter of making an informed statement that you can reasonably support as opposed to making an obviously overstated claim with little grounding in reason, fact and knowledge. Your earlier statement would have been fine had you just made the statement he was a good back worth a chance and would have gone unchallenged. You overreached with no reasonable basis or facts to support your opinion and now try to turn it away from the real source of the debate and deflect the discussion to a totally unrelated area of complaint.Hey we tend to forget that it’s all about us posters. By golly, don’t say anything positive about a player if it isn’t a Salem player or someone winning the golf championship.
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I don't see an issue hyping up a player. So he has an opinion on something, even if he didn't specify it was an opinion. Even if that opinion is wrong (not saying it is or isn't), it's his to have.
Bro you could’ve easily ignored my Tech statement and went on. We get it.. What I said is no more uninformed than your “if Ferrell Edmunds would’ve been GW’s Coach” statement you’ve made countless times this summer.. I told countless people who asked me that that was asinine LOL! Wesley better than the backs on Tech’s depth chart is my opinion so let it be! Stop making things about you, it’s about the kids!
Not making it about me at all but, quite ironic given your history on these boards under this and your other name that you would accuse anybody of making it about them. As far as the Edmunds comment you can think what you wish but, I do not recall making that "countless" times. I did make it though and the results at GW and the kids that ended up at Dan River would support that being a much more reasonable possibility than your yet again hyperbolic assertion that it was asinine. Lots of people besides me who have been fans of GW football long before you were even born do not consider it asinine either. I understand you are easily offended when your opinion is challenged, however, if you do not want an opinion challenged put a little more thought in to what you say and whether you can actually support it.
You’re the first person ever to tell me that it’s all about me.. At this point you’re reaching and getting real low! Funny, all you ever do is take threads that geared towards GW and turn it negative. Never ever fails.. Wesley is a phenomenal football player and you’re miserable. Somebody in Danville hurt you bad. Be happy for the kid and move on.
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I do not believe I have reached and if telling the truth or offering what I believe to be a more realistic assessment than unbridled hype is negative or low then guilty as charged. Have never said Graves was not a good player nor wished him anything but, success. Also, when warranted and earned I believe I have given GW fair credit for its accomplishments. However, I will not blow sunshine up the butt of any player or program and call it like I see it. No player or program that I am aware of ever got better or reached their full potential by being told, sometimes even falsely, how good they were. Players and programs get better by being challenged in my experience. If that is being miserable guilty as charged again.
If you disagree with my statements you are always welcome to challenge them with a reasoned, fact based response. I try not to get angered by differing points of view and like I said above take the challenge to hopefully make me better and more thoughtful, informed for the next time. You are right about one thing. I am hurt, angered might be a better choice of words though, by the actions of certain people within the administration of the City of Danville and the Danville Public schools that have allowed the large majority of the athletic programs with the possible exception of boys' basketball and, more importantly, the academic programs at GW to decline significantly from their former levels. Make no mistake, I am always happy for kids to take advantage of their opportunities and make themselves better. When a kid goes to any next level opportunity that is a good thing and I do not view saying they could have gone higher a negative as much as another challenge to raise the bar further. I will now take your advice and move on. Happy holidays to you and your family!
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