Virginia Tech Football: Who is the backup quarterback?

The fortunes of the Virginia Tech football team changed in Week 2 last season. In a non-conference game at home against Purdue, Hokies' starting quarterback Grant Wells went down with an injury that opened the door for Baylor transfer Kyron Drones to step in and the Texas native took full advantage.

Drones started Week 3 at Rutgers and after getting his feet wet against the Scarlet Knights and Marshall a week later, he was a big part of the Hokies winning five out of their eight games in the ACC to become bowl-eligible at 6-6. In December, he announced he was coming back which gave him a full offseason in Blacksburg.

The one big question going into the 2024 season is who will be his backup? One of the better battles in camp has been who is QB2 this season for the Hokies and it might very well end up being a transfer who committed in late April.

Who will be Kyron Drones' backup in 2024?

In the Spring Game, Pop Watson outplayed Dylan Wittke, who entered the transfer portal shortly after the game and transferred to Minnesota, but in late April, UCLA transfer Collin Schlee committed to Virginia Tech. Then in the summer, incoming freshman Davi Belfort joined the Hokies for camp.

Now the question is, who will be QB2? It will likely be Schlee as he has the most experience after two previous stops at Kent State and UCLA. He has a very similar skill set as Drones with a big arm and the ability to tuck the ball and run. Watson, however, is a former Gatorade Player of the Year in Massachusetts and looked good in April. Belfort is getting his feet wet in college and will learn a lot from the three in front of him, but will certainly be in the mix for 2025 with Watson and incoming freshmen AJ Brand and Kelden Ryan.

Schlee will likely have some plays for him the playbook of offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen, but if there is one thing that we learned last season, the backup quarterback position is big and can play a big part in a 12-game season.