New Virginia Tech football offer: Jahmari DeLoatch

Virginia Tech has offered Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Smith 2025 defensive back Jahmari DeLoatch. Here's a quick look at him.

Duke, Michigan, Charlotte, Liberty, Old Dominion, Florida A&M

DeLoatch picked up his first offer (from Liberty) well over a year ago, and Virginia Tech is just the third Power-5 option on the table - and beaten to the punch by about a week by one of the major national recruiting powers, Michigan. However, the staff's insistence on returning to major power in the 757 - and the relationships that have been cultivated to help accomplish that - should be a bit of a boost here. DeLoatch is a little lightly-traveled because he participates in outdoor and indoor track, and while he has a couple camp weekends booked already (Wake Forest and Old Dominion are set to host him June 4 and June 10), the Hokies should get him on campus this Summer to kick the recruitment off in earnest.

DeLoatch shows some odd techniques: he generally stands flat-footed at the snap, and waits for the receiver to come to him rather than stepping up to jam or getting into a backpedal. That means he has to start all his momentum basically at the moment the receiver catches up to him... but fortunately his fluid hips and incredible first-step burst allow him to make that a viable alternative at the high school level. He does a very good job leaning in and shadowing crossing routes, allowing him to maintain contact to both disrupt timing and be ready to reach in for the PBU. Although (or perhaps because) he's a track athlete, his downfield gait can look a little awkward and he's still outrunning receivers to the ball. If he focuses on refining his techniques - possibly giving up track, though as a sub-11 second 100m guy he may not want to - his physical attributes should see him blossom into a major star.

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