In case you couldn’t tell, this is a slooooow news week. Summer school classes don’t start until next week, so we’ll see then if some players from the latest signing class have enrolled.

I’m also trying to set up some opponent previews like I did last year, asking a few questions to an opposing team’s beat writer. I hope to have that up and running soon.

In the meantime, here’s a grab bag of links to start your Wednesday:

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– CBS Sports’ Bruce Feldman came out with his annual college football Freak List. Hokies defensive end James Gayle made it at No. 18:

18. James Gayle, Va. Tech, DE: One of the ACC’s best defensive ends, the 269-pound Gayle has vertical jumped 39.5 inches to go with a 400-pound bench press and a 4.6 second clocking in the 40 this past spring.

My guess is that Dadi Nicolas might make an appearance on this list before his career is over.

– New Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians sat down for a Sunday conversation on SportsCenter this week. The first-year head coach is a former Hokies, having played quarterback at Virginia Tech from 1972-74 and getting his coaching start there as a graduate assistant from 1975-77.

I don’t think I can embed this type of video on the blog, so here’s a link to it.

– And lastly, Spots Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel had a nice breakdown of what each conference’s bowl lineup might look like from 2014-19. Leagues are still jockeying for position with some games, something that shouldn’t be finalized for a few weeks, but here’s what Mandel thinks the ACC’s lineup of bowls will look like:

• 1. Orange
• 2. Russell Athletic
• 3-5. Music City/Gator*
• 3-5. Belk
• 3-5. Pinstripe
• 6. Sun
• TBD: Detroit bowl
• TBD: Military? AdvoCare? Liberty?

* The ACC and Big Ten will likely share spots in the Music City and Gator bowls.

Remember, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl will become part of the college football playoff rotation, hosting semifinals on occasion. In years that it doesn’t, it’ll be an access bowl, one that hosts two of the top teams not in the playoff, regardless of conference affiliation.

The Russell Athletic Bowl could end up matching the ACC and Big 12, a change from the Big East. The next three games — Music City/Gator, Belk and Pinstripe — are in a pool to give leagues and schools more flexibility to set desirable matchups, make it easier for fans to travel and avoid repeat trips.

Adding New York as a possible bowl destination is a good thing. Other than that, the roster, at least on the upper end, isn’t too drastically different.

From a fans perspective, what does everyone think of the possible new lineup of bowls?

I caught up with former Hokies receiver  Danny Coale last week as he prepared himself for the start of organized team activities this week. Coale suffered every injury you could imagine during a frustrating rookie year, but he’s hoping to make the roster and make an impact in his second season.

Here’s how today’s story starts:

In the four years after he took a redshirt at Virginia Tech, wide receiver Danny Coale never missed a game, playing in 55 straight contests to conclude his college career.

So an injury-riddled debut season in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys couldn’t have been any stranger.

Coale suffered a stress fracture in his foot during Dallas’ first organized team activity last spring, endured quad and hamstring problems as he tried to make the roster and finally saw his star-crossed rookie season come to an end when he tore an anterior cruciate ligament while on the practice squad in November.

“It was just a mess of a year,” he said.

Now, motivated by last season’s frustrations and heartened by what he thinks has been an ahead-of-schedule rehab program, Coale is back with the Cowboys as they begin OTAs Tuesday, eager to prove to the club that he’s not someone who will spend all of his time in the training room.

“I just want to show them I am a player that can play healthy and stay healthy,” Coale said.

Read the entire thing here. And follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

I’m on my way back from a bachelor party in Boston this weekend, so I’ll keep this post brief today with a couple of nuggets about some former Hokies in the NFL …

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First, here’s a story about Corey Fuller at Detroit Lions mini-camp, where he’s trying to prove he’s more than just a guy who can stretch the field. It sounds like he’s made some nice catches early on. From the story:

Saturday, he showed more of his repertoire on the short and intermediate routes. He made a number of terrific catches within 10 and 15 yards of the line of scrimmage, including one on a comeback route with cornerback Lionel Smith draped all over him that got a few ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from teammates.

Detroit drafted him as a developmental guy, because he only had one productive year in college, but Fuller insists his game is more than just a deep threat.

“It is true, I haven’t played much football, but then I don’t think that I’m that raw,” he told the Lions’ website. “I’m just trying to show them everything I can do, as well as learn as much as I possibly can.”

Fuller, a sixth-round pick in the NFL Draft, signed a four-year, $2.28 million contract last week that includes a $123,100 signing bonus. Fellow sixth-rounder and offensive lineman Vinston Painter signed a four-year, $2.27 million deal. That included a $117,932 bonus.

In other news, former Hokies receiver Marcus Davis was waived by the New York Giants after signing a free agent deal shortly after not being selected in April’s draft.

New York signed two veterans and three rookies Saturday but also made six cuts. Davis was one of the six.

He’ll still have a shot at latching on somewhere else. Jarrett Boykin did so last year. After failing to stick with the Jaguars following a tryout, he got a chance in Green Bay and made the team’s roster.

It was a light load of draft picks this year for Virginia Tech. Receiver Corey Fuller and offensive tackle Vinston Painter were the only two selected in the seven-round draft, although several have latched on with teams as undrafted free agents.

Those players, so far, include receiver Marcus Davis (Giants), linebacker Bruce Taylor (Bengals), offensive tackle Nick Becton (Chargers), defensive tackle Antoine Hopkins (Steelers) and outside linebacker Alonzo Tweedy (Giants).

But this post is about the two that got drafted, since those are the only ones NFL teams comment about on their websites this time of year. Let’s take a look at what they’re saying about Fuller and Painter.

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FULLER: The Lions were in the market for a receiver who could stretch the field to open things up for Calvin Johnson. Fuller, who has a track background and ran a 4.43-second time in the 40-yard dash at the combine, certainly could fill that role.

While the Lions have plenty of slot-type receivers, including Nate Burleson, Ryan Broyles and Mike Thomas, they were looking for more outside receivers, especially given the February release of Titus Young (although I seem to remember Fuller work out of the slot quite a bit last year with the Hokies).

“He’s got great size, great speed. He’s got a lot of upside,” Detroit GM Martin Mayhew told the Lions’ website. “I really want to see what this kid can do on special teams, but he made some big plays in the passing game. We’re talking about getting bigger and faster, he’s another guy in that same vein.”

Lions coach Jim Schwartz called Fuller a “developmental” player, since he really only had one productive year in college and didn’t play football continuously once he left high school.

Here’s a conference call Fuller had with Lions beat writers after being drafted.

PAINTER: Denver is pretty set at its offensive tackle positions, with Pro Bowler Ryan Clady on the left side, Orlando Franklin on the right and Chris Clark capable of backing up on both sides. The Broncos apparently could take a look at the 6-foot-4, 30-6-pound Painter at guard as well.

For what it’s worth, Painter says he’s most comfortable at right tackle, where he started last year.

Not playing right away might not be the worst thing for Painter, who only started one year in college and still is — here’s that word again — a developmental guy. (Honestly, that’s what you’re drafting in the sixth round, though.)

“He’s a hard-working, physical tackle,” Denver Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway tweeted. “We like his potential.”

Elway expounded on that tweet in a press conference later: “Here’s a guy where we were looking for a swing tackle and he kind of fell to us. He’s a guy that has played defensive line. He’s very young when it comes down to offensive line because he was a defensive lineman, I believe, for the first two years in college. He is really just coming into his own on the offensive side. He’s a big guy 6’6”, 309 [pounds]. I think he’s 16-percent body fat and is a guy we want leading us off the bus because he’s a good-looking guy. I think when you look at the youth and the upside that he has because of the fact that he’s only been on the offensive side for a couple of years so we were happy with that.”

Here’s a link to evaluations of Painter from a few scouting services.

Bummed that he didn’t get drafted this weekend, former Hokies receiver Marcus Davis calmed himself down and tried to get his mind off of it with a little TV. On the screen? An NFL Films production about the top undrafted players in league history.

“It’s like it was speaking to me,” he said.

Davis will still get his shot in the NFL, announcing Sunday that he had agreed to a free agent deal with the New York Giants.

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They called with about 30 minutes left in the draft. Davis and his agent talked it over, preparing for a worst-case scenario — not getting drafted — and agreed that New York was a great situation for him. He decided on the Giants about five minutes after the draft ended.

“I think I can just go in and compete for if not playing time, then at least competing for a spot on the 53-man roster,” he said.

He’ll have familiar faces there. The Giants drafted two Hokies early in last year’s draft who figure to have prominent roles this year — running back David Wilson and cornerback Jayron Hosley. They also signed outside linebacker Alonzo Tweedy to an undrafted free agent deal yesterday.

Davis, who led Virginia Tech with 51 catches for 953 receiving yards and five touchdowns last year, still doesn’t know all the reasons that led to him not being selected, although there were numerous theories — from the receivers’ lackluster blocking last year to his agent’s relationship with NFL teams to concerns about a shoulder injury from five years ago.

For whatever reason, he dropped. Initially, he didn’t watch, but as his phone didn’t ring, he tuned in, only to hear names called of players he’d never heard of, adding to his frustration.

“Teams passed on me for whatever reason,” Davis said. “That’s up to them. But going into camp, I’m going to use that as motivation. Everybody passed on me. The Giants gave me an opportunity to come in and try to prove myself. So I’m just going to use that and come into camp a different person.”

Davis has a week and a half before rookie mini-camp starts. There, he hopes he can follow in the footsteps of some other notable undrafted free agents who have flourished in the NFL, including quarterback Tony Romo, running back Arian Foster, receiver Wes Welker and, on the team he’s joining, receiver Victor Cruz.

“I’m just going to keep working out and be on top of my game going in,” Davis said. “Make sure I leave a great impression on the coaches and just let them know that I’m coming and I mean business when I get there.”