Stock Up, Stock Down For Virginia Tech After First Two Practices of Fall Camp

Who gained or lost ground at Day 2 of fall camp?

Virginia Tech Athletics

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Tech football is on an endeavor to produce a vastly superior 2026 season than the disappointing campaign that preceded it. The Hokies' fall camp is underway, having started three days ago. Based off the brief glimpses we got in Practice No. 2, here's who and which groups I think have gained or lost the most stock in this brief time.

Stock Up

WRs Luke Stuewe, Tyseer Denmark

When I asked Virginia Tech cornerback Isaiah Brown-Murray who were some of the receivers that had caught his eye, Stuewe and Denmark were some of the relatively greener players that caught his eye.

"[He's] been making plays each and every day," Brown-Murray said of Stuewe.

Stuewe, the son of three-year Hokies football letterwinner Michael Stuewe (1995-1997), was a three-star recruit coming out of high school; the 6-foot-2, 199-pound wide receiver logged 317 receiving yards and two touchdowns as a junior at Avon Lake High School, playing as both a wide receiver and a defensive back. He did not see game action in 2025 and redshirted.

Denmark, a 5-foot-10, 183-pound redshirt sophomore, played in 12 games over two seasons at Penn State, logging 45 receiving yards on six catches. He was rated a four-star prospect by ESPN coming out of high school.

Brown-Murray also mentioned Duke import Que'Sean Brown (presumable starter; 846 yards, five TDs at Duke last season), incumbent No. 1 wideout Ayden Greene (presumed starter; 516 yards, three touchdowns last year for Virginia Tech), Louisiana Tech transfer Marlion Jackson and quarterback-turned-wideout A.J. Brand.

WR Chanz Wiggins

After the practice, Franklin complained of the minutiae, remarking of the irritation about players cramping.

"The No. 1 ability is availability," he said.

That serves as a benefit in and of itself to redshirt sophomore Chanz Wiggins, who missed all of 2025 due to injury. The 6-foot-3, 196-pound wideout is an able-bodied big option that hasn't logged any receptions at the collegiate level, but his recruitments is one of the high marks in the tenure of wide receivers coach Fontel Mines.

Wiggins was ranked as the No. 5 overall Virginia recruit in the 2023 class by Rivals and was ranked as a four-star wideout by ESPN and Rivals. In his senior year, he compiled 815 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns on 47 catches at King George High School.

TE Luke Reynolds

Reynolds' stock appeared to already be high entering fall camp, but Thursday served as a further demonstration that the former five-star recruit should be set for a standout junior season.

In two seasons at Penn State, Reynolds totaled 368 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown on 35 catches. He compiled a game-high 69 receiving yards at April 18's spring game, and on Thursday, he hauled in a sideline catch in a one-on-one rep against safety Tyson Flowers where he managed to keep both feet in bounds. He belted out, "And that's two f——ing feet!" after the snag.

"There's a fine line to [the trash-talk]," Franklin said. "I want it to be extremely competitive. I don't mind them talking a little trash back-and-forth, but then when it's done, we're Virginia Tech. Some guys can't do that... [but] I think we need more of that."

Stock Down

S Tyson Flowers

Flowers figures to be one of the two starters in the safeties room, a position group that returns Jordan Bass, Sherrod Covil, Brennan Johnson and Sheldon Robinson, as well as welcoming back Quentin Reddish from a season-ending shoulder injury.

Flowers looked solid at points during the spring practice, but on several occasions, the wideouts appeared to have the jump on him — particularly on one rep where Reynolds got by for a sideline catch where he managed to keep both feet inbounds.

OL group

Grouping together the whole offensive line, the entire group is down a man in regard to depth, at least for the time being. Per Virginia Tech, redshirt senior Johnny Garrett is out with a "long-term injury", one that has no concrete timeline at the time of writing. He started 10 games last season and allowed only two sacks across 619 offensive snaps.

Under the NCAA's new age-based eligibility rules, Garrett is out of eligibility following the season regardless of if he misses the entire seasons or not, since medical redshirts are now a thing of the past. Virginia Tech ran with Justin Terry, Layth Ghannam, Kyle Altuner, Brody Meadows and Montavious Cunningham as the first-teamers on Thursday.