Virginia Tech 2024 Report Cards: Quarterbacks Struggle, but Future is Bright

The quarterbacks for Virginia Tech were supposed to shine in 2024. Kyron Drones was healthy, the team around him all returned, and the Hokies added quality backups in case Drones got injured.

Everything wasn’t so merry though.

The reason why Virginia Tech was looked at as a dark horse ACC contender threat heading into the year wasn’t just the amount of returners to the roster, it was the fact that they had a quarterback who was perceived to be one of the best in the conference. In his first year after transferring from Baylor, Kyron Drones looked solid. More than solid actually, he put the world on notice with some of his throws and it seemed like the Hokies had a true NFL talent under center.

Whether it was the lack of help around him, a tough schedule, or both, Drones was not as efficient in 2024. In a year where he battled injuries, the quarterback threw three more interceptions on seven less touchdowns and a quarterback rating that was 8.5 points lower.

Is this all his fault? I’m going to confidently say no. He was too inconsistent to be viewed as a great quarterback for his play in 2024, but it’s not fair to not consider outside factors. We’ll get into offensive line report cards at some point, but to say that the blame relies on Drones would be silly. Kyron is sometimes too afraid to make mistakes, but there were plenty of recallable times this season where Kyron did not get much help from the boys up front, and he was forced to make decisions that he regretted. Brent Pry spoke on this to a certain extent early in the season when asked about Kyron Drones, “He is pretty hard on himself, I don’t know that it’s to a fault. He doesn’t want to make a mistake. He doesn’t want to hurt the team.”

Kyron has all of the talent in the world at quarterback. Even with the injuries he was battling this year, he is still a viable dual-threat quarterback, he has pro-level arm talent and accuracy, but the mental game was a separater for him this season. Granted, the team around him needs to get better, and with the additions of Kyle Altuner, Tomas Rimac, Lucas Austin, and others, Kyron has to put it all together in 2025. Like Brent Pry has said on plenty occasions, Drones always wants to get better, and always wants to fix his mistakes, and now that it is announced that he’ll return for the 2025 season, he has to fix some mental errors.

As the talent was there for Kyron Drones, the talent is there for Pop Watson as well. He won’t have the keys to the team just yet, but he showed flashes of his potential and ability to be the primary play caller in 2024. Watson played briefly against Duke, but absolutely balled out against Virginia. Pop had a 87.3 PFF grade likely due to his patience all throughout that game.

Nov 30, 2024; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies quarterback William Watson III (18) scores a touchdown during the third quarter against the Virginia Cavaliers at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

The young signal caller did not turn the ball over once and showed all of the physical talent and traits that he had flashed beforehand. He finished that game with 254 passing yards and added 48 yards on the ground. He had three plays of 40+ yards in that game, and even though his stat sheet for the 2024 season doesn’t look too pretty, Watson definitely passes the eye test. Similarly to Kyron Drones, he needs a little bit more time to put all of it together, but Watson has plenty more time to work with and his talent already stands up with some of the top quarterbacks in the conference.

One other quarterback played this year for the Hokies and it was UCLA transfer and former Kent State Golden Flash Collin Schlee.

Schlee was the main backup for most of the 2024 season, only seeing action when Kyron Drones went down, but Collin would suffer an injury of his own, propelling Watson into action. In Collin Schlee’s limited time at quarterback, he definitely showed flashes, and if it weren’t for the sour ending against Syracuse, Schlee would’ve picked up a win as a starting quarterback.

Alike every other quarterback that was under center for Va Tech, Schlee was inconsistent, finishing the year with a 50% completion rate. In all honesty though, his season wasn’t bad. He had three passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, and only one interception. Schlee, again, had all of the physical traits and led the Hokies through some rough waters when star players like Bhayshul Tuten were injured. Schlee was a fine transfer portal addition in his short time at the helm.

All in all, the Hokies’ quarterbacks were and still are talented. Collin Schlee won’t return to the squad next year as he has declared for the 2025 NFL Draft, but for Pop Watson and Kyron Drones, the sky is their ceiling.

A 6-6 season doesn’t get you an A grade, but taking into account all of the other factors, I feel like the Hokies did okay at quarterback in 2024. There’s still room for improvement, and I think the quarterbacks will be better in 2025, but the season wasn’t that bad.

Virginia Tech 2024 Report Cards: Quarterbacks Struggle, but Future is Bright

Virginia Tech On SI Grade: C-

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