The Biggest Decision Facing Virginia Tech Coach James Franklin Before Camp Begins

With Stewart out of eligibility and Drones in the NFL, the question isn't finding the carries. It's dividing them.

Nov 22, 2025; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Miami (FL) Hurricanes safety Zechariah Poyser (7) attempts to tackle Virginia Tech Hokies running back Marcellous Hawkins (27) during the first quarter at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Virginia Tech's backfield lost a lot this offseason. Terion Stewart and his 469 rushing yards are out of eligibility. Kyron Drones and his nine rushing touchdowns are off to the NFL. Strip that out of a run game that carried the offense last fall, and you'd expect a hole.

Except there isn't one. If anything, James Franklin has the opposite problem: too many good backs and about a month to decide how the carries get split.

Deep Backfield

Sep 27, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies running back Marcellous Hawkins (27) makes a touchdown and celebrates during the first half of the game against North Carolina State Wolfpack at Carter-Finley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Start with Marcellous Hawkins, because everyone else is measured against him. The Central Missouri transfer led the Hokies with 749 rushing yards in 2025 at 6.3 a carry, drew the roster's top Pro Football Focus grade at 84.6, and piled up 562 yards after contact.

Most of that came after the first hit, against defenses that stacked the box because Tech couldn't throw. Give Ethan Grunkemeyer a functional passing game, and those boxes loosen. Hawkins is the presumed No. 1, though he missed most of spring hurt.

The back who makes this a debate is Jeffrey Overton Jr. The former four-star missed the first eight games of 2025 rehabbing a torn ACL, then flashed over the final four, running for 146 yards and a score, including a 38-yard touchdown against Miami.

The profile is the draw. Overton has the size to run inside, the burst to break one and the hands to stay on the field on third down. That's a bell-cow skill set, not a complementary one. The only question is the knee.

So the top of the room is a real one-two, not a starter and a caddie. The rest of the carries get sorted out underneath them. Louisiana transfer Bill Davis showed up with nearly 1,800 career rushing yards and a build made for the hard stuff, down from about 250 pounds to 230. And there's a job waiting for a back like that. Hawkins crossed the goal line just once on the ground all season, and Drones' nine rushing scores walked out the door with him.

Someone has to finish drives from inside the 5. Davis fits the part. Tyler Mason gives the room a change-of-pace gear, and four-star freshman Messiah Mickens has the most upside of anyone on the depth chart, even if a spring injury slowed his start.

The complication is what happens when the offense actually works. Ty Howle wants to run the ball, but the better Grunkemeyer throws it, the fewer carries there are to spread around, even as the ones that remain come against lighter boxes.

Best guess: Hawkins and Overton handle early downs, Davis takes the short stuff, Mason rotates in. That's if everyone's healthy, and Hawkins, Overton, and Mickens all missed time this offseason. So the question that lingers into the fall isn't who runs out with the ones in August. It's how much of the load Overton can carry once he's back to himself.