With a new season comes “bold predictions” and “hot predictions” about how it will all play out. The Hokies are obviously going to be a great team next year, but some details aren’t quite clear yet. So I’ve set out to make five bold predictions about the Hokies’ upcoming season.

Here are my predictions:

This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s still a bold prediction. Duke’s defensive line was simply great last year, and Peebles wasn’t even a starter for the Blue Devils. However, a testament to how good this line was is the fact that Peebles was named to the All-ACC Third Team last year anyway.

Peebles joins All-ACC Second Team defensive end Antwaun Powell-Ryland, which I think will propel his success. Both Ryland and Peebles are players who are dangerous in double coverage, but teams have to decide to target one of those players. Both Peebles and Ryland are game-changing, so if the offense decides to block them normally, they could have some problems up front with Aeneas Peebles – and Antwaun Powell-Ryland, too.

This may not even be a “hot guess” or “bold prediction,” but simply a fact. Kyron Drones didn’t start every game for the Hokies last year, but still managed to rack up 818 rushing yards and five touchdowns. That certainly won’t change next year, and neither will Bhayshul Tuten.

Tuten had 863 yards and 10 touchdowns, bringing the backfield to a total of 1,681 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns. It’s not far-fetched to say that Drones and Tuten could combine for 319 more yards and five more touchdowns in a full season. Both are focal points of the Hokies’ offense and could have big years ahead of them.

On one hand, this seems obvious, as the lowest completion percentage allowed, a couple of interceptions the season before, seems like a no-brainer for a player to make a big jump in interception numbers. The only problem I have with this prediction is that Strong’s coverage might be too good. Strong might not even be one step ahead and the wide receivers might not be targeted all season.

Regardless, Strong is a ball hunter. A true man-to-man player who can hold down any receiver in the country with no problem. He had the lowest completion percentage allowed at the FBS level and just doesn’t let wide receivers go free. Dorian Strong is incredible, I wouldn’t be surprised if he could have more than eight interceptions this season.

Antwaun Powell-Ryland already holds the record for most sacks in a game with four sacks. He shares this record with JC Price, Bruce Smith (twice) and Morgan Roane.

With the addition of the aforementioned Aeneas Peebles, these two playmakers could see a lot more play on the defensive line. I have complete faith in Ryland’s ability and given the weak offensive lines Virginia Tech is playing this year, that’s certainly possible.

This is based less on my opinion and more on the words of Brent Pry. Pry has said that the offensive line was experimented with, with one of the lineups being Layth at guard and Montavious on the bench.

To be clear, I think Montavious is great and it would be a hasty decision to bench him, but Layth Ghannam has definitely impressed Brent Pry and Ron Crook and has earned some starting time. I’m not sure which way Brent Pry will go since the lineup for those two players hasn’t been released yet, but anything is possible for Ghannam and Cunningham.