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BLACKSBURG – Kevin Asante left school over the summer, and Tech’s coaching staff moved Joel Caleb to tailback. Both of them were receivers.

Charley Meyer just laughed when asked if he was going to try and convince the staff to move D.J. Coles to another position – a move that would enable Meyer to move up yet another spot on the depth chart.

“No, no, I have my role in the offense,” Meyer said. “I’m not trying to be too greedy. Just getting my reps when I’m given them and help the team win. I’m not too worried. It’d be nice to be a starter one day, but I’m not thinking about it. I’m more worried about just taking advantage of my opportunities when I get them.”

Meyer, a 6-1, 215-pounder from Richmond, currently sits behind Demitri Knowles at one of the receiver spots, though it will be interesting to see how a tweaked hamstring in Thursday’s practice affects him going forward. He will be wearing a blue jersey for Friday evening’s practice, which means he’ll receive only limited reps.

He came to Tech as a recruited walk-on, turning down an offer from the Naval Academy to come to Blacksburg after a senior season at Benedictine in which he caught 784 yards worth of passes and seven touchdowns. He earned first-team all-state honors following that season.

Last season, Meyer redshirted, though he made several plays in scrimmages last August. He worked on getting bigger, stronger and faster, and now finds himself in position to get a lot of playing time.

Meyer draws comparisons to former Tech receiver Danny Coale, who departed after the 2011 season as the second-leading receiver in school history with 165 career catches. Some of those comparisons probably come about, though, because both of them are white.

“It might be a little bit of that,” Meyer admitted. “But I think there are some similarities, too. We’re similar sizes, and from what I’ve seen, we play similarly. We both catch the ball well and run good routes. We’re tough. I think there are similarities there other than us both being white.

“At the same time, I’m not on the same level as him by any means. I’m striving to get there. But I do think there are some similarities.”

Meyer’s own personal expectations in preseason practices are simply to work hard and see how everything shakes out. But with Asante and Caleb no longer in the picture, things are shaking out quite well for Meyer.

“Both of those situations present opportunity, which is a good thing,” he said. “I’m more of a team guy, though. If it’s best for the offense to leave Joel at receiver, then leave him there. If it’s best for the offense to have him at running back, then leave him there. I’ll try to work hard to earn my spot and my reps.”

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