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Commitment breakdown: Rivals250 OL Gunner Givens stays home, commits to VT

Gunner Givens
Gunner Givens

The recruitment of Gunner Givens went from a crawl to a full sprint after his sophomore film was released. People saw how talented the offensive lineman out of Daleville (Va.) Lord Botetourt was and a literal who's who of college teams or attending offers to Givens. Earlier in the process it looked like teams like Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, and Penn State were going to be major players for him, but it ended up being the local school and one of the first to offer him, Virginia Tech, that landed his commitment.

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WHAT THE HOKIES ARE GETTING

Givens is a super talented prospect that Virginia Tech coaches are going to have to really teach how to play offensive line. He doesn't have a great technical understanding of the position but he has the size, strength, and athleticism to be a multi-year starter. Givens has incredible sophomore film and he plays all over the field but he'll need some time before being physically ready to play at the next level. On film, Givens throws around the competition most of the time. He does a nice job controlling the opposing lineman once he gets his hands on them. Givens is a natural run blocker but pass blocking is a different story. He'll need to get a lot more comfortable in his pass set, sliding, and staying patient before he can be counted on at the next level.

WHY IT'S BIG FOR VIRGINIA TECH

This is a huge commitment for Virginia Tech. The Hokies haven't had much recruiting momentum in this 2022 class but that changed last week with four-star Ramon Brown's commitment and now Givens is in the fold. The fact that Givens is an in-state prospect is a very big deal for Virginia Tech. The Hokies have not had an easy time attracting the top players in the state but they are working on changing that and Givens is a sign that their hard work is starting to pay off.

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