the recruit: Dominique Terrell

Name: Dominique Terrell
Position: WR
Hometown: Manassas
School: Osbourn
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 175

ESPN: 80; four stars; #19 ATH; US #122
Rivals: 5.8; four stars; #11 ATH; VA #5; US #204
Scout: four stars; #23 CB

Other offers: Auburn, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Stanford, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, UCLA, Texas Tech, Maryland, Vanderbilt, others

Finally, the end of the line. Dominique Terrell, by virtue of scheduling a noon-ish announcement on signing day instead of a 9 AM one like Darius Jennings, became the final piece of the 2011 recruiting puzzle. We started with a wide receiver - Adrian Gamble, who committed before his junior year - and finished with one.

Actually, Terrell probably isn't strictly a "wide receiver." "Athlete" is usually a phrase assigned by recruiting services too lazy to figure out whether a kid will play defense or offense in college - or he's being recruited as both by a roughly equal number of schools - but here, it's appropriate. Terrell will start off in the slot, but he probably won't be limited there. He's very similar to Darius Jennings, right down to the "quicker than fast" observations. But Terrell is the better passer, meaning he's the more likely to end up playing a little wildcat. Not that he's ever likely to throw, but he might be a threat to, a la Vic Hall.

Terrell was halfway to Virginia Tech in the summer and early fall, and not feeling UVA to the extent that I actually dropped him from the recruiting board. Oops. He then charged right back upwards, after something happened between him and the Hokies to essentially cut VT out of the picture entirely. Lord only knows what that was. You'll probably hear a Hokie claim it was academics - backed up somewhat by his SAT scores not being quite up to par by Signing Day - but Terrell has the requisite Stanford, Vandy, and Duke offers so the academic reasons are 98% bunk. (Being too dumb for Virginia Tech but not for Stanford does not compute.)

My guess? It was probably that Tech told him "you'll play defense and like it." Terrell's finalists - UVA, WVU, and Miami - all recruited him for offense.

Owing to the need to upgrade the pure talent level on the field, Terrell will likely play right away. The Lions - NFL version - had a peanut-sized return specialist named Stefan Logan this year, who proved nigh-impossible to tackle. When he showed what kind of damage he could do in the open field, he started being used in the slot. When running backs became scarce and Logan continued to be a reliable yardage guy, he got a shot there, too, and could often be found on the receiving end of an end-around or even a reverse. Terrell's progression will probably look like that, though over the course of more than just one season. This is a player you use wherever you can. If the coaches are smart, they'll use him like Stefan Logan, and not pigeonhole him into one role only. Bill Lazor doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to stubbornly stick with what works whether or not it actually does, so Terrell should have every opportunity to develop into an all-around shit-not-that-guy-again kind of multiple threat. Those who're still pissed off that Vic Hall didn't play offense til his senior year will probably love it the most.