Virginia OL Maddox Cochrane Commits To Virginia Tech

The mid-day commitment continue the surge of recruiting trail momentum that Virginia Tech and James Franklin have had over the last week. This time, they landed their first Virginia native.

The Benedictine High School product is ranked 27th in the state of Virginia according to the 247 composite. He is top 1000 in the nation. He stands 6-foot-7 and 280 pounds, providing the Hokies with a frame that still has to fill out quite a bit. He can probably take on 25-35 pounds comfortably. He is a prototypical offensive tackle when it comes to size, strength, and foot speed.

Cochrane committed to Wisconsin all the way back in mid-April, prior to ever taking a visit to Wisconsin according to 247. He got his first offer in February of 2024, coming from Virginia Tech. Wisonsin offered about a month later.

Cochrane decommitted from Wisconsin just 13 days ago on November 17th and took a visit to Virginia Tech this past week while the team was traveling to Charlottesville. James Franklin and some of his recruiting staff stayed in Blacksburg to host a visiting weekend, and it's already paying off.

He is the third offensive line commit under Franklin and the sixth overall of the class. He is ranked as the fourth best offensive linemen of the class and the eighth best player overall.

Franklin has made it clear that his focus is on the offensive line right now. Of the 13 player class (including kicker Will Love), offensive line makes up nearly half of that and I don't believe that they are done on that front, either.

Cochrane played high school ball at Benedictine - one of Virginia's top programs - where they have gone 32-5 over the last three seasons.

His offer list isn't overly impressive, having 18 total. He has offers from Rutgers, Wake Forest, Syracuse, and Florida State among others. It's important to remember that offensive line is one of the hardest positions to evaluate at the high school level.

James Franklin has made it a priority to make a statement on the recruiting trail, and he's done just that. He's snagged three offensive line commits in five days, and there are likely more to come. Franklin is dead set on turning the offensive line around and winning the battle in the trenches, especially in the long term, and he's right on path to do it.