Signing Day capsule: Dean Ferguson

Sterling (Va.) Potomac Falls safety Dean Ferguson may have flown under-the-radar in recruitment, but he's now a signed Hokie.

The 6-2, 210-pounder didn't have much to say during the recruiting process, and picked Virginia Tech after buzz had died down for a little while. That gives him diamond-in-the-rough potential.

Three-star, No. 23 player in Virginia and No. 54 safety prospect nationally.

Army, East Carolina, Old Dominion, Rutgers, Syracuse, Virginia, Wake Forest, West Virginia

Ferguson picked up a very early offer from Virginia Tech, and even visited a couple times during his junior year. However, as he went quiet on the trail, and as the DB/athlete portion of the Hokies' class began to fill up, it appeared that he would fall by the wayside. The opposite ultimately happened, with buzz building early during the Hokies' fall camp that he'd be picking Virginia Tech. He did just that in mid-August, and with an injury-riddled senior year, there wasn't a strong push from other programs to try to get him to shake loose from VT's grasp.

Ferguson walked the safety/linebacker line in the recruiting rankings for much of his process, so while he's going to head to Blacksburg as a safety, it will be the type of player at the position who has plenty of responsibility to play the run, and get down into the box near the line of scrimmage. He's a plus athlete for his size, meaning he should easily be able to cover from that position while also packing the tackling punch (a particular strength of his) that prevents opponents from getting much yardage after the catch. Honing his techniques to the specific abilities he'll need to show depending on his final position will be a major process that helps him reach his potential.

Ferguson missed almost his entire senior year of high school ball with minor injury.

His junior year is the most recent played by Ferguson