Blacksburg, Va. - Virginia Tech’s fall camp is still about 10-14 days away, but there’s already plenty to sort through on a roster with more questions than answers. A few position battles are going to shape the conversation, and a handful of players are set up to make real moves once camp opens.
At quarterback, Ethan Grunkemeyer remains the obvious front-runner to start. The bigger intrigue is what happens behind him.
Incoming freshman Troy Huhn turned heads in spring with his ability to find pass catchers all over the field while keeping mistakes to a minimum. Keldan Ryan enters his redshirt sophomore season without having seen the field, and Bryce Baker is a redshirt freshman in the same boat, leaving the Hokies thin on experience behind the starter.
Huhn’s youth makes him an unlikely bet for the QB2 job right away, but he still looks capable of climbing past one of the two veterans. In this setup, the future matters as much as the present, and Huhn appears positioned to be the next quarterback in line down the road.
Up front, Kemari Copeland is still the top defensive tackle, and that doesn’t look like it’s changing. The name to watch is Emmett Laws. After flashes from Elhadj Fall in 2025, this feels like the season Laws makes the jump into the kind of interior force he was projected to be coming out of high school.
Laws brings a different build than Fall or Copeland - shorter and stockier - and that gives Virginia Tech another body who can wreck run plays or force offenses to commit extra attention inside. With the Hokies already strong on the edge and in pass rush situations, Laws stands out because of what he can do against the run.
At linebacker, Gabe Williams is another player who could push his way into a bigger role. He’s technically entering his double redshirt freshman season after appearing in two games as a freshman and then being limited to four games as a sophomore while dealing with lingering effects from a torn achillies. A former four-star recruit from Bowie, Maryland, Williams has shown enough in limited action to keep himself in the conversation.
Virginia Tech’s linebacker group is already deep with Kaleb Spencer, Noah Chambers, Keon Wylie and Curtis Jones Jr., but Williams looks like the fifth linebacker right now. More importantly, he has a clear path to keep moving up.
In the secondary, Joshua Clarke is a name worth circling. He was supposed to be one of the Hokies’ top corners last season before a season-ending injury in fall camp derailed that plan. Since coming back, the staff has spoken highly of him again, and his strong showing as a true freshman in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against Minnesota is still part of why he drew so much attention in the first place.
With Isaiah Brown-Murray, Jaquez White and Cam Chadwick also in the mix, Clarke may have to fight for every snap. Even so, he looks like a player who can carve out a major rotational role, and maybe even more than that, by Sept. 5.
Then there’s Takye Heath, who finally got a real workload in 2025. He started seven games, finished with 200 yards and scored three touchdowns, including two against Cal in Virginia Tech’s double overtime win. For years, Heath carried the expectation of being a major slot contributor while injuries kept getting in the way.
That pressure should ease now that Que'Sean Brown has taken over as the No. 1 slot option. In a run-first offense, Heath should be able to handle a smaller load than he did in last season’s pass-heavy attack under Offensive Coordinator Phillip Montgomery.
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A Local Standout Just Made A Move Hokies Fans Will Notice
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For a local athlete with ties to one of the regions better-known high school programs, the move adds another layer of interest for fans who follow recruiting and in-state talent. Virginia did not have to look far to find a runner with a track record at both the prep and college levels, and now Wilkes enters a new chapter with a program that clearly saw enough to make the addition official. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Fall Camp Brings Major Tension To Key Starting Jobs
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Michael Vick And Corey Moore Earn Rare All Time Hokies Honor
ESPNs latest jersey-number exercise ended up giving Virginia Tech a nice little spotlight, with the network naming the best college football player ever to wear each number from 0-99. Two Hokies landed on the list, a reminder of how much star power the program has produced across different eras and positions.
Michael Vick took the No. 7 honor and Corey Moore was picked for No. 56, putting both in rare company in a ranking built to spark debate. Bruce Smith also surfaced in the discussion as the runner-up for No. 78, but the top spot there went to Bryant McKinnie, leaving Virginia Tech with two clear winners and one notable near miss. [Read more 🡒]