Virginia Tech Football 2026 Position Preview: Running Backs

Since Virginia Tech's portion of the 2026 ACC Kickoff has concluded, it's time to take a stab at the running backs that'll be on the roster this fall:

Returners:

Marcellous Hawkins (r-Sr.) — Hawkins started nine of the Hokies' 12 games as the primary back, logging a team-high 749 rushing yards and scoring once. He eclipsed the 100-yard mark twice, doing so against California (167 yards; Oct. 24) and Florida State (101 yards; Nov. 15). Twenty-three of his 118 runs went for 10 or more yards.
Darius Taylor (r-So.) — Taylor did not see game action in 2023 or 2025; however, he played in one game in 2024: the Duke's Mayo Bowl against Minnesota. He was listed as a linebacker from 2023-25, but his position was switched to running back ahead of this season.
Tyler Mason (r-So.) — A redshirt sophomore entering the 2026 campaign, Mason has played in seven games for the Hokies over two years. In that time, he's logged 59 rushing yards on 13 totes, and he logged a receiving touchdown against Old Dominion in 2025.
John Buetow (r-So.) — One of the team's walk-on backs, Buetow played in two games and redshirted 2024; he did not see the field in 2025.
Jeffrey Overton Jr. (r-Fr.) — Overton Jr. missed the first eight games of the season after recovering from a torn ACL sustained prior to the Duke's Mayo Bowl in the 2024 campaign. In the last four contests of 2025, he rushed for 146 yards (25 carries) and one touchdown — a 38-yard rush around the outside against Miami on Nov. 22, 2025.

Newcomers:

Bill Davis (r-Jr.) — Davis is the team's lone incoming transfer tailback for this season. The 5-9, 230-pound tailback spent the previous three campaigns at Louisiana; in 2025, he accrued 763 rushing yards and logged six touchdowns en route to an All-Sun Belt Third Team nod. In three years with the Ragin' Cajuns, he amassed 1,748 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns.
Gray Peterson (So.) — Peterson is one of the team's three walk-on running backs; he was named a three-time All-District player for Appomattox County High School, and he aided the team in reaching three district championships and claiming one VHSL state title.
Messiah Mickens (Fr.) — Mickens is the room's lone true freshman; as a two-year captain at Harrisburg High School, he accrued 1,214 yards and 21 touchdowns in his junior season en route to a 2024 Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year and MaxPreps All-American nod.

Who is favored to win the starting RB job?

Thanks to his healthy workload last season, Hawkins projects as the starting running back once again. Though he missed the spring with a nagging shoulder injury, Hawkins stated during the ACC Kickoff breakout session that he felt he could probably have played in the spring game April 18.

"[The recovery process], it was super important," Hawkisn said. "It all healed up super quickly, though. my body was feeling great. I could have probably came in and played that spring game."

Behind him, Overton projects as the likely second-stringer on account of his upside that he flashed over the latter third of the 2025 campaign, while it seems to be a battle between Davis and Mason for third-team reps.

Biggest question mark:

Beyond Hawkins and Overton, the question centers around how much depth there is beyond the 1-2 punch in the room. Davis carried a heavy load in his time at Louisiana, but during head coach James Franklin's presser in February, he remarked that at one point, Davis' weight when he came in was of note, sitting near 250 pounds. Davis is now listed on the site as a 230-pound back, so if he can handle the workload of a P4 No. 3 back, then this should be a non-issue.

Bottom line:

Virginia Tech's running back room is well-set at the top two spots, with Hawkins and Overton slotting in as one of the ACC's more dangerous 1-2 punches at the position. Though the depth behind those two may be questionable, the Hokies' running back room is one of the rooms set up best for the 2026 season.

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