Which Transfers Have Started To Emerge for Virginia Tech So Far In Fall Camp?

Virginia Tech’s transfer class is already making its presence felt, with several newcomers emerging as potential contributors before the season begins.

Virginia Tech Athletics

Virginia Tech football's prospects for the 2026 season are built just as much by who it brought in as who it retained. While the Hokies are built by some of their returners — most notably, running backs Marcellous Hawkins and Jeffrey Overton Jr., wide receiver Ayden Greene and defensive tackle Kemari Copeland — its fortunes ride just as heavily on the production of the players who arrive from elsewhere.

That starts under quarterback, where Virginia Tech's belief is that one of Ethan Grunkemeyer (1,339 yards, eight touchdowns, four interceptions at Penn State in 2025), redshirt freshmen Bryce Baker and Kelden Ryan, or three-star true freshman Troy Huhn, will provide a higher ceiling under center than the Hokies have had in recent memory. Grunkemeyer remains the overwhelming favorite; he's received the first-team reps in camp and he enters the 2026 campaign as the oinly signal-caller in the room that's actually played in a college football game (disregarding April 18's spring game). Still, there being depth behind Grunkemeyer if the Penn State transfer struggles or is injured is critical.

At wide receiver, it seems like it's been two transfers that have stuck out by mention beyond Que'Sean Brown: Tyseer Denmark and Marlion Jackson. Denmark transferred from Penn State to join head coach James Franklin in Blacksburg; in his two years of action, he compiled 45 receiving yards. Jackson produced more last season, albeit at a lower level. At Louisiana Tech in 2025, he accrued 370 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. Jackson has 753 receiving yards in his career, and if he's named a starter alongside what'll presumably be Greene and Brown, he could be primed for a stellar season. Brown himself could make a case to be the Hokies' top receiver in 2026 after a 846-yard, five-touchdown season with the Blue Devils in 2025.

Justin Terry has been one of the intriguing notes on the offensive line. He and Oklahoma transfer Logan Howland were hobbled in the spring due to injury and both missed the spring game, and when both came back for the fall, it was Terry that manned the first-team reps for the Hokies' first media-open practice. Terry logged 129 total snaps in 2025 at Ohio State, and he was at West Virginia the year before under Virginia Tech's current offensive line coach Matt Moore.

On the defense, the main name that's popped out is Troy transfer Jaquez White. While White was already presumed to start — he was ranked No. 13 of all cornerbacks in overall defensive grade on Pro Football Focus with a 87.4 overall tally — there are naturally questions that abound when a Group of Five corner moves up to tackle Power Four competition. That applies doubly so considering that White sustained a serious injury during the spring. White tore his MCL and partially tore his ACL, though he was only shelved for roughly six to eight weeks.

White essentially has assuaged those concerns thus far in fall camp. He isn't a full-go yet, but he said at Media Day on Sunday that he expects to be fully cleared soon.

“I thought it was over with,” White said. “All the work I put in, I thought it just went down the drain. All I could do is just cry... It was just hard. All I could do was just tell God thank you for giving me the opportunity to get to this point.”

Virginia Tech's season starts on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 7:30 p.m. ET against VMI on the ACC Network; the meeting between the two schools is the first since the 1984 season.