Virginia Tech Offensive Line Suffers Huge Loss With Starter Entering Transfer Portal

Most of the hits for the Virginia Tech football team in the transfer portal have come on the defensive side of the ball early. On Monday, they lost linebacker Keli Lawson and defensive back Jalen Stroman who both announced that they were entering the transfer portal after some depth players announced last week that they were leaving Blacksburg via the portal.

You got the feeling that it was going to be a busy portal for Brent Pry after last season where he got a ton of retainment for the 2024 season. Things did not go the way anyone in the program had hoped after all the preseason hype surrounding Virginia Tech for the 12-team College Football Playoff.

After dropping their season opener in overtime at Vanderbilt, the Hokies hovered around .500 all season and needed to beat Virginia in the regular season final just to become bowl-eligible. During the team’s second bye week last month, Pry went on a recruiting bit inside his locker room to get some retention, but it appears that it didn’t work.

Virginia Tech offensive lineman Xavier Chaplin enters transfer portal

For the last two seasons, Virginia Tech’s offensive line has been a major problem protecting their quarterbacks. It has been a major issue that the Hokies have had and it hasn’t been fixed. One of their best offensive linemen announced on Monday that he too is entering the transfer portal.

Xavier Chaplin, who started all 12 games in 2024 despite being injured at different points, is going to enter the portal, which is a big blow to the offensive line. The Hokies starting left tackle will have two years of eligibility remaining and there will be no shortage of suitors for him. This is a big blow and will likely force an addition or two out of the transfer portal to fill openings along the line.