Virginia Tech’s safety room heads into fall camp with a mix of familiarity and unfinished business.
On paper, it’s a group that should feel stable. The Hokies bring back six players who saw meaningful action in 2025, and that gives the unit veteran presence, some young upside and a clear candidate for a major jump in Quentin Reddish. But experience only matters if it shows up on Saturdays, and that’s where the real questions begin.
Reddish is the most intriguing name in the room. He looked like he was on the verge of a breakout before a season-ending shoulder injury cut him off after three games last fall. In that short stretch, he piled up 15 tackles and grabbed an interception, quickly becoming one of Virginia Tech’s most impactful defenders.
The numbers backed up the eye test. Reddish finished with a 73.5 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, the best mark among all Virginia Tech defensive backs and sixth-best on the defense.
If he’s fully healthy, he has the athleticism and instincts to develop into one of the ACC’s better safeties. He showed early last season that he can affect both the run game and the passing game.
The only real question now is whether he can jump right back into that form after sitting out nearly an entire season of game action.
The other major issue is whether the veterans in the room can turn their experience into cleaner, more reliable production.
Tyson Flowers led the group with 49 tackles and started all 12 games last season. Jordan Bass added 22 tackles in 12 appearances and five starts.
Sherrod Covil also returns as an experienced option, and he enters his final collegiate season. But the production hasn’t always been as clean as the volume suggests.
Flowers posted a 45.4 tackling grade from Pro Football Focus, while Bass came in at 29.1 and Covil at 27.8. Those numbers point to too many missed chances to get off the field. The encouraging part is that all three graded much better against the run than they did as tacklers, which suggests they’re often around the play - they just need to finish it more consistently.
That matters because a few more completed tackles could help Virginia Tech wipe out some of the explosive plays that caused problems throughout 2025.
Behind the expected starters, the depth battle could end up being just as important. Sophomores Sheldon Robinson and Brennan Johnson both flashed enough last season to make this a real competition.
Robinson finished with 21 tackles and four starts, and his 73.6 tackling grade stood out. He also posted a 65.1 run-defense grade.
Johnson played in eight games, recorded 17 tackles and forced a fumble against Cal. He also earned a strong 79.3 run-defense grade.
If one or both take the kind of sophomore step the Hokies are hoping for, the safety room suddenly looks a lot deeper. That would give Virginia Tech quality rotation options, keep the starters fresher and ease some of the load on Bass and Covil.
Fall camp will decide whether that potential turns into something more concrete. If the answers come back positive, this could end up being one of Virginia Tech’s most dependable safety groups in recent memory.
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