Five Players Who Will Determine Virginia Tech's Ceiling in 2026

James Franklin will need to rely on these players to have a successful year one.

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A year ago, Virginia Tech was 3-9, had just fired its head coach mid-season and was losing to Old Dominion at home. James Franklin took one look at the roster and did something close to starting over.

Now Blacksburg wants to know if he started over with the right pieces. Here are the five players who will raise the ceiling of Virginia Tech football in 2026.

Ethan Grunkemeyer, QB

It goes without saying that a good football team needs an excellent quarterback.

Grunkemeyer stepped in for the injured Drew Allar last season at Penn State, starting seven games and completing 69 percent of his passes for 1,339 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions. He lost his first three starts against ranked opponents, then closed the year on a four-game winning streak, throwing six touchdowns and zero interceptions in that stretch.

He also followed coordinator Ty Howle from Happy Valley to Blacksburg, giving him a head start on this system that no one else in the quarterback room has.

The schedule gets hard fast. If Grunkemeyer isn't efficient in the first month, the rest of the year gets very difficult, very quickly.

Luke Reynolds, TE

Virginia Tech's spring game was supposed to be a quiet preview. Instead, tight ends outgained wide receivers 205 yards to 157, and Reynolds led every skill player on the field with five catches for 69 yards.

The recruiting pedigree is real. He was the No. 1 tight end in the 2024 class per 247Sports and a former top-30 national prospect.

Two seasons at Penn State produced modest numbers, 35 catches, 368 yards, zero touchdowns, but the context matters. He played through a coaching change, a quarterback carousel and a program coming apart mid-season. The spring suggested he's ready to show why he was such a highly touted recruit.

Jaquez White, CB

White came from Troy, where he was the 13th-highest-graded cornerback in the country per PFF last season, posting an 87.4 overall grade that included an 88.2 run defense mark. He had 67 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 11 pass breakups, three interceptions and a pick-six against Louisiana.

White has one year of eligibility and no margin for a quiet transition. Virginia Tech's secondary was shredded in 2025 and needs immediate production at corner. If White plays the way he did at Troy, this defense has a legitimate shutdown piece on the perimeter. If this team makes a run in November, he'll be a big reason why.

Kemari Copeland, DT

On Oct. 24 against Cal, Copeland had three sacks, the first time a Hokies defensive tackle had done that in a single game since J.C. Price in 1995. He finished the year with 48 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, earning third-team All-ACC honors before announcing his return for a final season.

He's the one anchor on a defensive line that lost two starters to graduation. Virginia Tech's schedule includes trips to Clemson and Miami. Against that kind of competition, a front four that can generate pressure without sending extra rushers is the difference between competitive and getting carved up. Copeland has to be that pressure every week, not just in signature moments.

John Love, K

Love has 276 career points, seventh all-time in program history, and has never missed an extra point in college, going 114 for 114. He went 22 for 24 in 2023, 16 for 18 in 2024 and drilled a 60-yard field goal against Minnesota in the Duke's Mayo Bowl. His 75 percent mark in 2025 was a dip, but he still hit a 56-yarder in the season opener and a go-ahead 49-yarder in the fourth quarter to beat NC State. He is a two-time All-ACC honorable mention. On a team trying to prove it belongs, he's also the most reliable weapon on the roster.

Close games are going to matter this fall. Virginia Tech opens ACC play at Boston College in Week 4 and doesn't have a bye until Halloween. Love has already shown he can win one in the final minutes. Whether that happens three or four times this season might be exactly what separates a bowl team from a five-win team.