Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech football player Jason Worilds chases Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee during this season's game at Lane Stadium.

Some of the excitement brewing inside Hokie Nation about the promising 2010 prospects for Virginia Tech's football team has taken a sudden hit.

In a development that best could be classified as somewhat surprising, Tech standout defensive end Jason Worilds announced Thursday that he was forgoing his senior year of college to enter April's NFL Draft.

A month after telling reporters he had unfinished business and wasn't thinking about leaving Tech early, Worilds said he decided to leave for the NFL in the past week since the Hokies' 37-14 New Year's Eve rout of Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

"I based my decision solely on my assessment of myself and how I feel, and where I'm at with myself athletically and my career as a whole," said Worilds, speaking to the media via a hastily arranged teleconference.

"I've actually been going back and forth as far as making my decision, consulting with my family for the past week or so, and we came to this decision recently. It really came down how I felt. I felt as though it was time for me."

Worilds, a second-team All-ACC selection the past two seasons, recently sent in his paperwork to the NFL's advisory committee, which helps underclassmen determine where they may be drafted should they leave college early. Worilds refused to divulge any details of the feedback that he received from the committee.

"When we talked [before], it was kinda premature in the process, I hadn't sent my papers in at that point and I hadn't consulted with my family," said Worilds, speaking from his family's home in Carteret, N.J.

"After taking everything into consideration, I came out with a different direction.

"I'm expecting ... I would hope to be a first-day guy, but with the draft being so tricky you really never know what's going to be what. I just expect to work hard. And I know if I put my best foot forward then I can live with wherever I'm drafted."

It's a huge blow to a defense that already was facing the prospects of having to replace seniors Nekos Brown (end) and tackle Cordarrow Thompson upfront. Worilds, who had registered 30 tackles for loss, including 12.5 sacks, the past two seasons as a starter, said it was tough to leave college and his "band of brothers."

"The camaraderie you get from playing with your teammates, and being with those guys every day in and out, you grow a strong bond in that locker room," he said. "So it was extremely difficult. But I also know that they understand that I had to do what was best for me at this time. They understand that, and I expect them to go on and win that national championship [next season].

"It's bittersweet. The Hokie Nation has been great to me ... the fans, the coaches, everybody has been great to me and my family, so it's bitter in the aspect that I'm closing that chapter in my life, but it's also sweet because it's new and exciting, I'm taking another step in my life, and I'm taking another step toward my maturity and becoming a man. I'm just excited to see what the future holds."

The 6-foot-2, 260-pound Worilds is considered somewhat of a tweener at the NFL level. In a 4-3 defensive scheme, he could play on the edge. In a 3-4 scheme, he would more likely be an outside linebacker.

"I'm comfortable with doing either," Worilds said. "I just want to get on the field and do what I love to do."

Hokies coach Frank Beamer, in a statement from Tech's sports information department said: "Jason is a very talented player, but is also is a very smart player. He has the toughness to be successful after playing through a shoulder injury [in 2008]. He was great for Virginia Tech and we him the best in the NFL."