Meet the Recruit: Eric Tetlow

Not including the 2013 draft class, we project to have seven scholarship offensive linemen on the roster at the conclusion of the 2013 season and the exhaustion of eligibility for Morgan Moses, Luke Bowanko, and Sean Cascarano.  Seven is approximately HALF of what a serious FBS-level program needs along the OL. Therefore, recruiting big uglies had to be a primary focus with the 2013 class.  We did well to land Sadiq Olanrewaju, Jack McDonald, and then Eric Smith, but it still wasn't enough.  I don't know if many UVA fans were panicked about the situation, but I was.  And it seems like Tom O'Brien was too, because one of his first orders of business was to nudge Coach London in the direction of bringing in a few more OL recruits in this class.  Cue the aggressive pursuit of George Adeosun, and the Signing Day flip-flop of Eric Tetlow from his Wake Forest commitment to join the Wahoos.  Tetlow is a rock-solid 6-6, 295 pound prospect who reeled in 3-star status from 247 and Rivals.  Along with Virginia and Wake Forest, he was pursued by Arizona State, Boston College, Maryland, Pitt, Purdue, and USF.  That's not a stunning offer sheet, but it does tell you that Tetlow was held in fairly high regard as prospect.  He's already "up to size," which means he doesn't need to add much more mass to his frame, which means he could be ready to play pretty early in his college career.  Where he'll play could be a bit of a question, though it seems like he's probably destined for the right tackle position at UVA.

UVA Projection:  Redshirting in 2013 opens up the opportunity for Tetlow to serve as a rare four-year starter at right tackle, beginning in 2014.  I think that's possible, but he'll need to fend off Sean Karl, Mike Mooney, and Eric Smith (I like Whitmire, Olanrewaju, and Adeosun at left tackle).  At worst, Tetlow is another big body we can move around the depth chart at any position on the line -- I think he's more than capable of a Cascarano-esque move inside to guard.  Really, having numbers is the most important thing at the OL positions, and Tetlow gives us another highly capable number.