Evaluating Kyron Drones' Tenure As Virginia Tech Football's Quarterback

The quarterback spent three years with the Hokies, with high highs and subterranean lows.

Nov 15, 2025; Tallahassee, Fla.; Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones (1) celebrates a touchdown against Florida State. | Melina Myers-Imagn Images

Virginia Tech football will have a new starter in 2026. Redshirt senior Kyron Drones, who spent three seasons with the Hokies, fully exhausted his eligiblity following the Hokies' 27-7 season-ending loss to Virginia on Nov. 29. With the season having been over for almost two weeks, I figured it'd be a good time to look back. Yesterday, I covered the future and what the transfer portal could pose for the coaching staff in regard to the Hokies' 2026 quarterback corps. Today, it's time to take a look at the past and to see what the Hokies experienced in their previous era under center.

OUR 2025 TEAM CAPTAINS: KYRON DRONES#ThisIsHome | #TeamOverMe pic.twitter.com/hgWMn2IvyH

— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) August 19, 2025

Drones' tenure as the Hokies' main man began midway through 2023. Initially the second-stringer to mainstay Grant Wells, Drones assumed the starting spot early in the campaign and maintained it through the duration of 2023. The Hokies went 7-6, punctuated by a 55-17 thumping of Virginia to assume bowl eligiblity. That game, Drones tallied 244 passing yards, his fifth game of the season eclipsing the 200-yard mark (in 10 games where he logged more than 10 attempts).

Drones also logged a 219-yard performance against Boston College that year, that was supplemented by a strong 20-carry, 135-yard rushing input in a dominant 48-22 victory over the Eagles.

That bowl appearance became the shining on-field moment of the Brent Pry era. Virginia Tech dispatched then-No. 20 Tulane, 41–20, in the 2023 Military Bowl, a result that looked like a breakthrough. But context matters. Tulane was reeling from the departure of head coach Willie Fritz, and the roster had been gutted by portal exits. Tech played well, no doubt. But the opponent wasn’t the fully loaded version of the Green Wave that climbed into the top 20.

That set the stage for Year 2 under Drones, a year that produced preseason hype for Tech as a sleeper in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Even after a season-opening loss to Vanderbilt, hope reigned. After all, Drones threw for a career-high 322 yards that day, a personal record that still stands for the Texas native. The loss came in overtime after the Hokies rallied from a 17-point deficit. Then, Tech bounced back in its second contest by ousting Marshall.

But then Drones' reoccuring issues, ones that would pop up again in 2025, began to surface. The Hokies were again down late, trailing 23-7 entering the final quarter. Despite mounting a furious charge, it ultimately wasn't enough for Tech. On the final play, Drones' errant throw was picked off by Robert Longerbeam, sealing Tech's fall to 2-2.

Then. the Miami game, one that has been dissected in innate detail by numerous outlets. That day, Drones completed 19 of his 33 passes for 189 yards. Though he was outmatched by cousin Cameron Ward, who is now in his first NFL season as the Tennessee Titans' first-round draft pick, Drones was by no means the reason that Tech lost. However, in the coming games, things began to mount.

After a solid 201-yard performance against Stanford, Drones delivered a 164-yard outing against Boston College, a game largely dominated by Bhayshul Tuten's record-breaking 266-yard performance on the ground. No matter.

Drones then threw for 128 yards against Georgia Tech the following week in a largely uninspiring contest that resulted in a 21-6 victory. Then came the struggles.

Shortly before kickoff of Tech's next game, where they sat at 5-3 and possessed a chance at the ACC title game should they win out, Drones was announced to be out for the contest with a lower-body injury. The Hokies subsequently lost in another one-possession affair, a 38-31 overtime defeat caused by death by a thousand cuts.

Then, Clemson. Drones went down in the second half and did not return, either in the game or for the duration of the 2024 season.

And finally, this season: I've touched on it throughout the campaign, but following a 307-yard output in Week 4 against FCS Wofford, Drones did not exceed the 125-yard output. Following Week 5, Drones only passed the 125-yard mark once with a 181-yard day against Georgia Tech and failed to pass that marker in his final five games.

While Drones wasn’t the only reason for Virginia Tech’s struggles in 2025, he also wasn’t a stabilizing force. After a solid 2023 campaign and an injury-hampered 2024, his 2025 performance represented a clear step backward.

Looking at Drones’ time in Blacksburg as a whole, his three seasons tell a story of flashes, setbacks and ultimately unfulfilled potential. In 2023, he provided a spark, showing the mobility and efficiency that gave the Hokies' offense new life. In 2024, injuries limited both his effectiveness and his development, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions from the year. By 2025, however, the trendline had shifted. The inconsistencies in his decision-making, accuracy and command of the offense outweighed the moments of promise, and he never fully became the steady, system-elevating quarterback Virginia Tech needed. His tenure wasn’t a failure so much as a reminder of how thin the margin is between “promising” and “proven” — and how circumstances, health and timing shape a quarterback’s legacy as much as talent does.