Penn State Quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer Expected To Commit To Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech expected to land top transfer quarterback. Read more below.

Nov 29, 2025; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer (17) celebrates after a touchdown pass during the first half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at SHI Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Big news drops for the Hokies and their transfer portal hopes, as CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz reports that Penn State quarterback transfer Ethan Grunkemeyer is expect to commit to James Franklin and Virginia Tech.

Penn State quarterback transfer Ethan Grunkemeyer is expected to transfer to Virginia Tech, sources tell me and @chris_hummer.

Was a Class of 2024 top-100 overall recruit. Started the final seven games of the season for Penn State. pic.twitter.com/36QnwMTs1J

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 5, 2026

Grunkemeyer, coming off of his redshirt freshman season with Penn State, had a very strong season with the Nittany Lions, completing over 69% of his passes for eight touchdowns and four interceptions. He had an average of 7.5 yards per attempt with 1,339 yards as a whole.

Grunkemeyer took over at Quarterback in October following an injury of Penn State's starter, Drew Allar. Initially, things were a bit slow. Through his first three complete games, Grunkemeyer completed 64.4% of his passes for a total of 457 yards with just one touchdown and four interceptions.

The last of that three-game stretch was the game against Indiana, where Penn State nearly knocked off the current national championship favorite. In the four contests that game, Grunkemeyer has completed 73.8% of his passes for 777 yards with six touchdowns and zero interceptions. In that time, he led Penn State to a 4-0 record and a win in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Grunkemeyer finished the season with a 68.2 overall grade per PFF. He paired that with a 68.4 passing grade and a 63.4 rushing grade, showcasing his ability to improvise, though he is not what I would consider a dual-threat quarterback.

Grunkemeyer was best in the intermediate game, completing 62% of his passes from 10-19 yards downfield for an average of 15.2 yards per attempt. He had an 83.0 PFF grade on those pass attempts.

He is also much better in a clean pocket, as most quarterbacks are. He had a 79.0 offensive grade when in a clean pocket, but that grade dipped down to 49.3 when he was put under pressure. He was under pressure on 35% of his snaps at Penn State, which makes it very important that Virginia Tech build an offensive line around the young quarterback.

Grunkemeyer is ranked as the No. 11 quarterback in the portal and a top 40 prospect overall with three years of eligibility remaining. Out of high school, he was the No. 105 player in his class and the No. 7 quarterback. All rankings are courtesy of the 247Sports Composite.

Virginia Tech entered the portal in desperate need of a quarterback, and they got one. Grunkemeyer has been uber-efficient in his last four games and led a dead-to-rights team on a four-game winning streak to close out his time at Penn State.

We will have more as this story develops,