One Position James Franklin Needs to Figure Out for Virginia Tech Football

Even with Virginia Tech's roster overhaul, there is one position battle that should be settled before the Hokies open the 2026 season.

Virginia Tech Athletics

With Virginia Tech's season opener against VMI now less than two weeks away, the past several weeks have been inching towards answering one of the most important questions facing his new program: Who should be on the field when the Hokies take their first snap of the 2026 season?

There are still a few decisions to be made, but many of the biggest questions have started to take shape. Ethan Grunkemeyer appears to be the likely choice at quarterback; the wide receiver room has developed into a legitimate competition for the third starting spot, and Virginia Tech has some depth to work with on the defensive side of the ball.

I do believe that Virginia Tech should lock down who will be the starting five on their offensive line relatively soon, however.

Virginia Tech has more depth and competition along the offensive line than it has had in quite some time. The Hokies added multiple transfers to the room, including Logan Howland (Oklahoma) and Justin Terry (Ohio State, West Virginia), while returning players such as Kyle Altuner, Layth Ghannam, Montavious Cunningham, and Brody Meadows — the latter two back from injuries that cost Cunningham most of the 2025 season and Meadows all of it — give the coaching staff some established options. But Franklin still has to determine which combination of five players gives him the best chance to protect Grunkemeyer and establish the running game.

The offensive line was one of Virginia Tech's biggest weaknesses last season. The Hokies struggled in both run and pass blocking, and that contributed significantly to an offense that struggled to consistently move the football. That fueled an aggressive search for offensive linemen both in the portal and in high school recruiting, though the latter should start seeing results down the line beyond this season.

Virginia Tech brought in four offensive line transfers and signed seven high school offensive linemen, giving the program the kind of numbers it desperately needed. The Hokies also retained offensive line coach Matt Moore, allowing the position to have some continuity despite the significant personnel changes.

That process has been complicated by an injury to Johnny Garrett, who was expected to be an important piece of the offensive line before suffering a long-term injury early in fall camp. Howland and Terry also missed most of the spring; both are active in the fall and figure to be the two battling to start left tackle.

At the moment, Terry and Montavious Cunningham have received plenty of work at tackle, while Ghannam, Altuner, and Meadows provide experience on the interior. Rather than searching for five competent offensive linemen simply because they don't have enough players, Virginia Tech is looking for its best five out of a much deeper group on paper.

Franklin has made it clear throughout fall camp that he isn't going to rush decisions simply for the sake of announcing a depth chart. He's evaluating players through practices and scrimmage situations, and Virginia Tech not publicly locking down every starting position is intentional to keep the competition going. Eventually, however, that competition must come to a close.

And I think the offensive line is the position where getting that answer right could have the biggest impact on the entire season.

Virginia Tech already has a solid idea of where its offensive playmakers will come from. Grunkemeyer is expected to be the quarterback. Marcellous Hawkins gives the Hokies a dynamic running back, with Jeffrey Overton Jr. serving as a lighter, more shifty option, and one who can operate as a 1B-type back to Hawkins. Ayden Greene and Que'Sean Brown give the passing game legitimate weapons, while Luke Reynolds could become a major piece of the offense at tight end. Those benefits become more irrelevant, however, if the offensive line can't consistently win at the line of scrimmage.

That is particularly prescient for Grunkemeyer. Even an experienced quarterback can struggle if he's constantly under pressure, and Virginia Tech needs to give the Penn State import enough time to get the ball to those playmakers. At the same time, the Hokies need to be able to run the football when defenses know they're going to run it.

The encouraging part is that the competition itself seems to be trending in the right direction. The Hokies have more bodies to withstand injuries and enough newcomers to potentially raise the ceiling of the group, though the answer to who represents the group that comes out is still TBD. That's why, with kickoff approaching, the offensive line remains the one position I still believe the Hokies need to figure out.