Virginia Tech Football 2026 Position Preview: Safeties

Read below for a look at each of the Hokies' safeties for the 2026 season.

Aug 31, 2025; Atlanta, Ga.; South Carolina running back Rahsul Faison (1) is tackled by Virginia Tech safety Quentin Reddish (0). | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In part 7 of our Virginia Tech football position-by-position previews, I'll be giving an in-depth look at the Hokies' safeties unit, previewing the returnees from the 2025 unit and who's new, who's favored to start this year, the biggest question mark surrounding the group and what the bottom line to take away from the unit is.

Previous Installments

• Quarterbacks
• Running Backs
• Wide Receivers
• Tight Ends
• Offensive Line
• Defensive Line

Returnees:

• Tyson Flowers (r-Sr.): Flowers was the lone safety to start all 12 games last season. He made a room-high 49 tackles — 26 of those were unassisted — and registered two pass breakups, two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble. Before that, he spent three years at Rice; in 2024, he logged 3.0 tackles for loss, two picks and two pass breakups.
• Jordan Bass (Sr.): Bass is in his second year at Virginia Tech after spending two at Pitt as a linebacker. He played 19 games for the Panthers, totaling 25 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and a sack. At Virginia Tech in 2025, he started five games and played in all 12, logging 22 tackles (10 unassisted), 1.0 tackles for loss and one quarterback hurry. As a high schooler at Phoebus High School, the Virginian intercepted 10 passes, taking four back to the house.
• Sherrod CovilCovil enters his final year of eligibility after one year at Virginia Tech and three at Clemson. He's logged 23 tackles over his four-year college career, and projects as a depth option as he's started in one of his 36 collegiate appearances. Last year, he played in four games, collecting one solo tackle.
• Quentin Reddish (r-So.): Reddish started once in 2024, tallying 20 tackles, but he upgraded his role in 2025. Reddish started each of the first three games and totaled 15 tackles — and an interception — in that timespan. However, he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury to end that campaign. The 6-foot-2, 193-pounder, however, is back and presumably ready to go for 2026.
• Brennan Johnson (So.): The in-state product played in eight games last season and recorded 17 tackles, also forcing a fumble against Cal on Oct. 24. In his senior year of high school at Highland Springs High School, the Richmond native accrued 113 tackles, five sacks, 11 tackles for loss, two picks, four forced fumbles and six pass breakups en route to the 2024 Region 6A Defensive Player of the Year award.
• Sheldon Robinson (So.): Robinson tallied 21 tackles in 2025 and made four starts as a true freshman, registering 10 solo tackles and 1.0 tackles for loss. In high school, he was a three-time all-state defensive back, claiming a prep league title at Woodberry Forest High School after a 45-tackle, two-sack, five-pick season.

Newcomers:

• Knahlij Harrell* (So.): Harrell was on last year's team, but the Green Run product switched from nickel to safety before this season. He played in eight games last season, negating his redshirt — redshirts are discarded under the new age-based clock, though, removing the potential restriction on playing true freshmen — and making three tackles. He was a three-time All-District selection and made 28 tackles in his senior year at Green Run.
• Tyrell Grant Jr. (Fr.): The lone true newcomer that wasn't on last year's roster, Grant, a 6-foot, 200-pound in-state product from Nansemond River, was primarily a quarterback in high school. As a senior, he went 78-of-129 for 1,655 yards and 23 touchdowns. He was a consensus three-star athlete, and he also was a member of his school's state champion track team in 2025.

Who are the projected starters?

Reddish and Flowers feel like the 1-2 in some order since that was the option the Hokies chose to go with to start 2025. Reddish appeared to progressing at a rapid pace before his shoulder injury cut his 2025 campaign short, but if he can rediscover that early form, the Hokies may have their starting slots set.

Beyond that, I believe that Johnson, Robinson and Bass are the next three to factor into the two-deep in some order.

Virginia Tech's safeties did struggle in relation to their grades on Pro Football Focus. Reddish graded out the highest with a 73.5, which ranked No. 6 on the defense and highest of all defensive backs. The next highest was Christian Ellis, who's now off to Virginia. Flowers logged a 63.8 grade but struggled in tackling (45.4), while Covil's grade was solid in run defense (65.0) but also poor in tackling (27.8). The same holds for Bass, who graded out OK vs. the run (62.3) but poor in tackling (29.1). Bass' overall grade was 43rd of Virginia Tech's 47 eligible defensive players. Harrell was last of the 47, though he took only 20 snaps in 2025. He finished with a 34.5 overall grade, a 62.3 grade against the run and a 37.9 tackling grade.

Johnson shined against the run (79.3) but also was unremarkable in tackling (43.0). Perhaps the one to shake off the trend was Robinson, who posted a 65.1 grade against the run and a 73.6 grade in tackling.

Biggest question mark:

Can this group become more reliable from snap to snap? There's enough experience in Virginia Tech's safety room to feel comfortable about the talent level at its peak, but consistency remains the biggest concern. Flowers is the veteran leader, yet tackling issues plagued him at times in 2025. Bass and Covil also struggled in that area, while the Pro Football Focus grades paint a picture of a unit that too often missed opportunities to finish plays. Reddish looked like the breakout player of the group before his season-ending shoulder injury, but he'll need to prove he's fully back and capable of picking up where he left off.

The Hokies also have several intriguing young options in Robinson and Johnson, both of whom flashed physicality against the run as true freshmen. If one or both can take a significant sophomore leap, Virginia Tech suddenly has the depth needed to rotate bodies without a major drop-off. But if the tackling woes continue and Reddish isn't quite the same player after his injury, this could once again become an inconsistent position group that gives up too many explosive plays.

Bottom line:

The safety room is not devoid of talent. Virginia Tech returns six players who saw meaningful action last season, adds another year of experience across the board and has what appears to be an emerging star in Reddish if he's healthy. Flowers provides veteran leadership, while Robinson and Johnson offer plenty of upside after encouraging freshman campaigns.

The biggest improvement has to come in tackling and limiting the mental mistakes that led to chunk plays in 2025. If Reddish returns to his early-2025 form and Flowers cleans up some of the inconsistencies, the Hokies should have a dependable starting tandem with quality depth behind it. If not, the safety position could once again be one of the defense's more volatile units.