James Franklin didn’t just inherit a Virginia Tech recruiting class when he arrived on Nov. 17. He turned it into something the program had never seen before.
The Hokies’ class was sitting at 124th in the country when Franklin was hired. Two weeks later, it had surged into the top 25, powered by eight four-stars and tied for the most in a single class in program history. Hidden in that rush was another first: Virginia Tech had never signed a class with a four-star quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end all in the same haul.
Franklin has made his reputation at Penn State by getting young players on the field early, and since January he has kept hammering the same message in practice: nobody is protected by the depth chart.
That makes the 2026 freshman class worth watching, and these five true freshmen look like the best bets to break through.
Mickens was the first commitment of the Franklin era, and by most accounts, he helped get the whole class moving. The four-star back from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is ranked No. 14 at his position nationally and became the first top-10 Pennsylvania prospect to sign with the Hokies since Shai McKenzie in 2014. He piled up nearly 4,000 rushing yards in high school.
The path in front of him is not empty. Marcellous Hawkins is the RB1 when healthy, and redshirt freshman Jeffrey Overton Jr. is expected to make a jump.
Mickens also sat out the spring game, so there’s no April tape to study. Still, he was the only high school running back Franklin signed, and that kind of profile can put a player in line for early carries.
Brown came to Virginia Tech with the same kind of early-opportunity mindset. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Richmond native is a four-star recruit by ESPN and Rivals, ESPN’s No. 1 receiver in Virginia, and he left Trinity Episcopal with 3,090 career receiving yards, the second-most in recorded Richmond-area history.
The opening is there, too. Franklin has described the receiver room beyond senior Ayden Greene as an "earn-it" group, and Virginia Tech’s receivers managed only three catches of 40-plus yards last season. Brown, a former Penn State pledge who can create after the catch, fits the kind of spark the offense has been missing.
If the conversation is about raw prospect value, Wiggins may be the headliner in this class. The Coatesville, Pennsylvania, product is a consensus four-star, rated the No. 8 linebacker in the nation by 247Sports and invited to the Navy All-American Bowl.
He finished his senior season with 92 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and four sacks, and he also blocked five kicks. Another Franklin flip from Penn State, Wiggins enters a position group where Virginia Tech has been searching for answers for years.
Polydor arrived with a different kind of buzz, and then backed it up in the spring. The 6-foot, 177-pound Baltimore native was a three-star flip from Penn State, and most people expected a redshirt. Instead, he tied for the team lead in the spring game with seven tackles, enough to get Brent Pry’s attention.
He intercepted eight passes as a junior at Mt. Zion Prep before finishing his high school career at Baltimore power St.
Frances. The cornerback room remained unsettled throughout the spring, with injuries and no clear starter emerging.
Franklin’s rule is simple: the best players play. Polydor has looked like a player determined to force the issue.
Richardson is the in-state name on the list, and maybe the one flying the furthest under the radar. The 6-foot-3, 295-pound three-star from Hopewell flipped home from Oklahoma after Franklin took the job, and he entered school early enough to get a long look in spring ball.
With fellow freshman Garrett Witherington out because of injury, Richardson got more reps than expected and was one of the few freshmen to appear in the spring game. He plays both ways at Hopewell and shows up on film with college-ready strength.
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