How Virginia Tech Developed its 2026 NFL Draft Class

Virginia Tech finished 3-9 in 2025, lost its head coach midseason and watched a promising year collapse in real time. For most of the players on that roster, it was a frustrating end to their college careers. For 11 of them, it was not the end at all. Despite the losses, despite the chaos, these Hokies showed enough on the field to warrant a trip to the Pro Day in Blacksburg on March 27 and a shot at convincing NFL scouts they belong on a roster. Here is how each of them got there.

QB Kyron Drones

Drones began his career at Baylor before transferring to Virginia Tech ahead of the 2023 season, where he started 11 of 13 games in his first year and never relinquished the job. In his final season in 2025, he totaled 2,563 yards on 56.5% passing with 26 touchdowns responsible for on the year. His biggest selling point heading into the draft process is his size and mobility at 6-foot-2, 235 pounds, a combination that has kept NFL teams interested despite inconsistency as a passer throughout his college career.

RB Terion Stewart

Stewart spent five seasons at Bowling Green, missing the 2022 season entirely before returning in 2023 to rush for 762 yards and 8 touchdowns in nine games, earning second-team All-MAC honors. In 2024, he took another step forward, totaling 898 yards and 6 touchdowns on 166 carries to earn first-team All-MAC recognition. He transferred to Virginia Tech for his final season, where he recorded 82 carries for 469 yards and a career-high 175 rushing yards in a win at NC State. His calling card throughout his career has been elusiveness. His 2023 missed tackles forced per attempt rate ranked No. 1 in PFF College history at 0.616, a number that outpaces Ashton Jeanty's 0.41 mark the year he went sixth overall.

OL Tomas Rimac

Rimac spent four years at West Virginia, where he started all 13 games in 2024 and posted a 78.6 overall PFF grade, ranking fifth among Power Four guards and earning at least a 75.0 grade in both pass protection and run blocking across 935 snaps. He followed offensive line coach Matt Moore to Blacksburg for his final season, playing everywhere but center. The 6-foot-6, 317-pound Brunswick, Ohio native gives teams a plug-and-play option with four years of Power Four starting experience.

DT Kelvin Gilliam Jr.

Gilliam spent three seasons at Oklahoma mostly as a reserve before transferring to Virginia Tech, where he combined for 69 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and five quarterback hurries across two seasons. In 2025, he was a full-time starter and team captain, carrying the lunch pail out with him in every game after Brent Pry was relieved of his duties. At Pro Day, he logged a 9-foot-9 broad jump and 34 reps on the bench press, drawing interest from the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals.

DE Ben Bell

Bell transferred from Louisiana Tech to Texas State, where he set the program's FBS single-season sack record with 10 in 2023. An injury limited him to four games in 2024 before he transferred to Virginia Tech, where he posted 3 sacks and 32 total pressures with an 83.8 PFF pass-rush grade. The 6-foot-1, 235-pound Cedar Park, Texas native is undersized for an NFL edge rusher, but his motor and efficiency give him a case as a rotational option for teams that prioritize quickness off the edge.

LB Jaden Keller

Keller spent his entire career in Blacksburg, working his way up from a depth piece to a team cornerstone. He recorded 25 tackles in 2022 and 23 in 2023 before leading the team with 83 tackles in 2024. In 2025, he posted 50 tackles in 11 games in a more rotational role. His development arc from reserve to team leader in the same program is the kind of story NFL teams tend to notice when evaluating character alongside production.

DT Kody Huisman

Huisman spent four seasons at North Dakota State, recording 73 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks as part of two FCS national championship teams. He transferred to Virginia Tech for his final season, where he posted 38 tackles and was named All-ACC Honorable Mention. Winning two national titles and earning a Power Four conference honor in the same career is an unusual resume for a Day 3 prospect.

DB Isaiah Cash

Cash spent six seasons across three programs before landing in Blacksburg. He ranked third on the team with 95 tackles as a freshman at Houston Christian in 2021, then posted 67 tackles, two interceptions and 10 pass breakups at Sam Houston State in 2024, earning a 77.4 PFF grade in his first FBS season. In 2025 at Virginia Tech, he had 41 tackles and an interception in 12 games. His versatility between safety and the slot gives him a profile that fits multiple schemes.

DT Immanuel Hickman

Hickman spent time at East Carolina, South Florida and Virginia Tech, totaling 84 tackles and 18 tackles for loss across 44 career games at his first two schools. His best season came in 2021 at ECU with 26 tackles and 8.0 tackles for loss. An injury limited him to one game in 2024, but he bounced back to play in all 12 games at Virginia Tech in 2025 with 13 tackles and a forced fumble. The production is modest, but the experience and the frame give him a shot as a camp body.

K Kyle Lowe

Lowe spent his entire career at Virginia Tech as the team's kickoff specialist, never the most glamorous role, but one he handled as well as anyone in the conference. Over four seasons as the primary kickoff man, he averaged 64.0 yards per kickoff in his final season and consistently generated touchbacks that gave the Hokies' defense a field position advantage. His leg has drawn comparisons to Joey Slye's in terms of raw power, which is the primary trait he is selling to NFL special teams coordinators.

P Nick Veltsistas

Veltsistas chose a preferred walk-on opportunity at Virginia Tech over scholarship offers from Air Force and Army, and was rated the No. 8 punter in the country out of high school. He spent four seasons learning behind two-time All-ACC punter Peter Moore before getting his shot in 2025, when he averaged 45.5 yards per punt, placed 16 inside the opponent's 20-yard line and earned a spot on the Ray Guy Award watch list.

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