Fifty new faces. A proven head coach with a rsum the fan base has been begging for. A 3-9 record still fresh enough to sting. That's the backdrop James Franklin's first Virginia Tech team walks into when camp opens, and for a handful of players, the stakes are higher than for anyone else in Blacksburg.
Franklin reshaped the whole roster, but this is the position that makes or breaks the year. Kyron Drones exhausted his eligibility and signed with Green Bay, leaving behind a passing game that ranked near the bottom of the country. Grunkemeyer, who followed Franklin from Penn State , is the fix. He started seven games for the Nittany Lions last fall after Drew Allar went down, throwing for 1,339 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions. Everything Franklin built this offseason runs through whether he's the answer.
Virginia Tech's ceiling runs through an offensive line full of question marks, and Howland sits at the most important spot on it. The Oklahoma transfer has the pedigree to protect Grunkemeyer's blind side. What he doesn't have yet is a clean bill of health, having played just five games in 2025 before a season-ending injury. Camp is his chance to show the injury is behind him.
When the Hokies needed a playmaker, they went to the portal and landed Brown out of Duke. He put up 846 receiving yards and five scores last season, including a 178-yard explosion in the Sun Bowl. Ayden Greene is a proven complement, but the depth behind them is thin. Brown was brought in to be the guy. Now he has to be.
He could have left for the NFL or cashed in elsewhere. Instead the redshirt senior came back, added 20 pounds at Franklin's urging and set his sights on a bigger 2026 after a 4.5-sack, third-team All-ACC season. Now the weight of the whole front rests on him. With the edge spots unsettled, Copeland is the only proven disruptor Virginia Tech has, and defenses that couldn't pressure the quarterback last year don't get fixed by one man inside.
A secondary that gave up big plays all of last season is banking on a corner who's never played at this level. White was terrific at Troy, earning second-team All-Sun Belt with three interceptions and 11 pass breakups, and Pro Football Focus graded him as one of the best cornerbacks in the country. The jump from the Sun Belt to the ACC is a real one, though. Franklin brought him in to lock down a starting spot. Now he has to hold it against better receivers.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/virginiatech as Five Virginia Tech Players Under the Most Pressure Entering Fall Camp .
