Virginia Tech’s Que’Sean Brown has landed on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List, giving the Hokies another name to point to as the season gets rolling.
The program announced the news on social media Wednesday afternoon, with Brown joining a field that includes nine ACC wide receivers. He’s one of the conference’s players in the mix for an award that goes to the nation’s most outstanding receiver.
Brown arrives at Virginia Tech as a redshirt junior from Winston-Salem, N.C., and this is his first season with the Hokies after spending three years at Duke. At 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds, he brings a compact, versatile profile to Blacksburg, and his production has already made him a familiar name in the league.
During his time at Duke, Brown totaled 1,310 passing yards on 107 catches. In the 2025 season alone, he put up 846 receiving yards on 64 receptions, good for 13.2 yards per catch.
That yardage total tied him for 52nd nationally. He also had two of his biggest outings in late-season action, including 178 yards on 10 catches against Arizona State in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl and 108 receiving yards against California.
Brown’s value didn’t stop at receiver. He also made an impact in the punt return game, finishing 2025 with 116 return yards on nine punts and breaking loose for a 78-yard punt return touchdown in the season opener against Elon. The year before, he earned All-ACC Honorable Mention as a punt returner in 2024.
The watch list nod fits with the preseason buzz around him. Brown was picked by Phil Steele as a Preseason All-ACC Second Team wide receiver and earned honorable mention as a kick returner. Athlon Sports also slotted him as a Preseason All-ACC Second Team wide receiver and a Preseason All-ACC Third Team punt returner.
Brown’s path to Virginia Tech also comes with a familiar high school backdrop. He played at East Forsyth High School in Winston-Salem, the same school attended by Virginia Tech quarterbacks coach Danny O’Brien and UNC transfer quarterback Bryce Baker. At East Forsyth, Brown piled up 1,977 yards and 43 touchdowns over his final two seasons.
He’s the first Hokie to make the Biletnikoff Award Watch List since Ali Jennings and Jaylin Lane in 2023. Since 2020, Brown, Jennings and Lane are the only Virginia Tech players to appear on the list.
The last ACC wide receiver to take home the Biletnikoff was Pittsburgh’s Jordan Addison in 2021. Before that, the conference hadn’t produced a winner since Calvin Johnson at Georgia Tech in 2006.
Virginia Tech opens its 2026 season on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 7:30 p.m. ET against VMI on the ACC Network. It will be the first meeting between the teams since the 1984 season.
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