Collegiate Times

Wake Forest's Derricus Ellis (49) gets hold of Chris Drager (33) after a completion.

Position changes happen all the time in college football.

Depth charts fluctuate in experience due to players graduating, so players get moved around to fill those holes.

But Chris Drager’s situation is a little different. In his five years at Virginia Tech, Drager has gone from playing tight end to lining up with the defense at defensive end, and has now made the switch back to tight end.

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A standout player from Thomas Jefferson High School in Jefferson Hills, Pa., Drager had his career at Tech start with a huge setback. Just four games into his freshman season, Drager suffered a knee injury after a nine-yard reception against William & Mary that cost him the rest of the 2007 season.

Drager received a medical redshirt to retain the ability to play for four years, but the road back to health was a difficult one.

“I had been there before (in middle school), so I wasn’t completely devastated,” Drager said. “I was a little bummed because I knew how hard it is to rehab and how long the time commitment is.”

Although the injury limited him during winter workouts and kept him out of contact drills in the spring, Drager was back for his first full season. Playing in every game, Drager registered three tackles on special teams, while also getting playing time at tight end in 11 games.

But after a decent season, Drager was approached by the coaching staff about possibly making the switch to defensive end for the good of the team.

“After the spring game in ’09 — probably a week after — I had a meeting with Stinespring about it, and then a few days later, I had a meeting with coach Beamer and he talked to me about it because we had a depth problem on defense,” Drager said. “As a team player, I decided to go over there and help the team out.”

The switch from tight end didn’t come naturally to Drager, though, and the shadow of a doubt caused him to have initial reservations about making the switch.

“I had a little doubt in my mind because at that time, Nekos (Brown) and (Jason) Worilds were the starters and I’m obviously not as athletic as those guys,” Drager said. “I was used more as a run stuffer. I was a little concerned, but coach Wiles helped me out a lot and gave me a little more attention.”

It was a work in progress throughout the year, but by season’s end, Drager was finally comfortable at the position.

With a full season under his belt, Drager went into the 2010 season as a starter for his first time in a Hokies uniform. That experience proved worthwhile on the field, as he finished with 33 tackles and two sacks while finishing second on the team with 20 quarterback hurries.

Following his redshirt-junior season, the Hokies defensive depth chart was completely different, and instead of having a lack of depth at defensive end, Bud Foster was loaded at the position with the emergence of James Gayle and J.R. Collins.

So, yet again, Drager was asked to make a change of position.

“I think all of the coaches thought it was a good move because my backups last year, (James) Gayle and J.R. (Collins),” Drager said. “They have all of the potential — more potential than I have at defensive end. So the coaches wanted to give them more work this spring.”

Drager was moved back to the tight end position, where the departure of Andre Smith left a glaring hole for the offense to fill.

“First we looked at the depth and the concerns we had at tight end and then we looked at the depth we had at defensive end,” Stinespring said. “And we felt like we had pretty good depth going in at defensive end and not enough experience at the tight end spot. It was just a decision we made in the offseason based on where Chris would be more beneficial to us.”

In addition to helping the team out, the move to tight end could also have implications toward whether he plays in the NFL following his career at Tech.

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A version of this article appeared in the Nov 17 issue of the Collegiate Times.