Virginia Tech Among Four Standing Out For JMU Grad Transfer D'Angelo Amos

Photo Credit: Jake Roth

Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente mentioned during his press conference today that the Hokies are monitoring the transfer portal "daily" as more and more talented FCS grad transfers enter with their seasons being postoned. Combine that with as many as 5 open scholarships and the Hokies are prepared to add a few more talented players to their roster.

One of those players is James Madison grad transfer D'Angelo Amos.

Amos, a safety and punt returner at JMU who earned 2020 FCS Preseason All-American First Team honors from Hero Sports, told us that Virginia Tech is among four teams currently standing out for him along with Virginia, Wake Forest, and Nevada.

His offer list includes those four schools plus Northwestern, Illinois, Boise State, USF, Tulsa, Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, and Liberty while Florida State is among the programs is among the schools also interested in him. This comes after Amos publicly entered the transfer portal just two days ago.

While safety may not seem like the biggest need for Tech, Amos could definitely be an intriguing prospect with Divine Deablo showing some versatility having spent time at whip linebacker in the past in addition to free safety with Chamarri Conner having the skills to play rover. Amos could also play free safety or rover though there would be plenty of competition from Devon Hunter to start as one of Tech's safeties or whip linebacker.

What's clear is that D'Angelo Amos has shown the talent to be a productive safety at a higher level having earned All-CAA First Team honors last season after having 57 tackles including 5 for loss and 1.5 sacks, 2 interceptions, and 5 pass deflections.

Additionally, Amos is an extremely good punt returner who is second all-time for JMU in punt return yards. Though Tech does have Tayvion Robinson who has shown lots of potential back there, punt return is also a vulnerable position given the style of play and having Robinson purely on offense would mitigate some injury risk.

Bringing in Amos, who has been as productive over a longer period as Robinson if not more, may be a better move for the team as a whole this season given how important Robinson is in the passing attack.

Amos could be a great, all-around special teams player who has had 4 blocked kicks and punts in his career at JMU including three last season. That pairs with ranking second all-time in punt return yards at JMU while averaging 16.6 yards per return with 5 touchdowns over the past three seasons.

Overall, he has a floor of being in that role and being a fourth safety that provides great depth in case of injury and quality snaps when a player needs rest.

In some ways, Tech does project as the potential favorite to land Amos on paper as the Hokies have a major connection to him via CBs coach Ryan Smith, who was the safeties coach for Amos at JMU. He is also a Richmond native and staying close to home while only moving a short distance for his next CFB stop may be of greater value given the current circumstances.

With Amos being a grad transfer who intends to play somewhere this fall if the season goes ahead, it's certain that a decision will have to be made quickly, another reason why Tech should be considered a frontrunner giving his experience with Ryan Smith.

As Tech looks at adding more talent to their 2020 team, keep an eye on JMU grad transfer D'Angelo Amos potentially making the trip down I-81 to Blacksburg for his final season of college football.