Last season, Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones missed four of the Hokies' final five games with injuries he suffered in late October. That left Brent Pry with UCLA transfer Collin Schlee and Pop Watson to handle the duties for the rest of the season.
One week before Virginia Tech’s spring game this season, Pry announced that Drones was going to miss it for a medical procedure. Then, backup Pop Watson missed the game with an injury, which gave redshirt freshman Davi Belfort more snaps. Following the spring game. Belfort entered the transfer portal, committing to Central Florida, leaving an opening for QB3 behind Drones and Watson. Incoming freshmen A.J. Brand and Kelden Ryan are going to be good QBs, but there is no doubt that when Belfort left, Tech had a hole they needed to fill. That was filled on Wednesday afternoon.
Former four-star QB Garret Rangel commits to Virginia Tech in the transfer portal
Looking for an experienced signal caller, the Hokies got a commitment from Oklahoma State transfer Garret Rangel. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Texas native was a four-star coming out of high school and picked the Cowboys. When he entered the portal, Pry and his staff jumped quickly to get him on campus and committed.
Rangel threw for over 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns for Oklahoma State and offers badly needed experience, given the injury history of Drones. If he is healthy when camp begins this summer, which Pry expects him to be, Drones will be QB1, however, Rangel is going to challenge Watson for the QB2 spot. Last season, we saw how important it is to have a third backup quarterback who can come in and handle the position when Schlee and Watson were both called upon. This is a tremendous pickup for Virginia Tech this late into the portal window.