High-Upside, Dual-Threat Quarterback Had ‘30’ Visit With Packers

The Green Bay Packers lost their premier backup quarterback, Malik Willis, in free agency.

Could Virginia Tech’s Kyron Drones, who has a similar size-speed-arm skill-set, be the eventual replacement? Drones had a “30” visit with the Packers. He and Texas Tech’s Behren Morton were the only quarterbacks who visited during the predraft process.

Drones spent his first two seasons at Baylor. In three seasons at Virginia Tech, he completed 58.3 percent of his passes for 5,566 yards and 44 touchdowns. Along with 1,798 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns, he piled up 7,364 total yards and 64 total touchdowns.

The numbers actually are better than that.

According to Pro Football Focus, 48 FBS-level quarterbacks in this draft class dropped back to pass at least 200 times in 2025. Drones finished 47th with a 55.8 completion percentage. However, 9.7 percent of his passes were dropped, the sixth-highest rate in the class.

Moreover, among the draft-worthy quarterbacks, none was pressured at a higher rate than Drones. According to Pro Football Focus, he faced pressure on 39.8 percent of his dropbacks. Arkansas’ Taylen Green was next at 36.1 percent.

On the other side of the spectrum, Miami’s Carson Beck was pressured on a draft-class-low 17.0 percent of his dropbacks. Texas Tech’s Behren Morton, who also had a “30” with the Packers, Connecticut’s Joe Fagnano, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier and Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson were all around 25.0 percent. Heisman Trophy-winner and presumptive No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza faced pressure a middle-of-the-pack 29.9 percent of the time.

“When we do a good job of giving Kyron [Drones] time, good things happen for us,” Hokies interim coach Philip Montgomery said last year.

NCAA rushing stats include sacks. Taking those out of the equation, Drones rushed for 816 yards (5.5 average) in 12 games as a senior, including 154 yards and two touchdowns against Cal.

In the 2023 bowl game, he ran for a rather ridiculous 206 rushing yards (176 with sacks) against Tulane. In a 2024 game against Georgia Tech, he accounted for touchdowns as a passer, runner and receiver, becoming the first FBS player to accomplish the hat trick since 2000.

Explosive Skill-Set for Packers

Drones measured 6-foot-1 5/8 and 226 pounds with 9 3/4-inch hands. He ran his 40 in 4.62 seconds and finished with a Relative Athletic Score of 9.58.

Before being a third-round draft pick by the Titans in 2022, Willis measured 6-foot 1/2 and 219 pounds. He did not go through testing. Of course, with the Packers, he showed an elite combination of arm talent and scrambling ability.

Virginia Tech Hokies quarterback Kyron Drones celebrates a touchdown against the Florida State Seminoles. | Melina Myers-Imagn Images

Drones, of course, isn’t Willis, but, roughly speaking, they share similar skill-sets.

“I feel like I did good,” he said after pro day. “I showed what I was supposed to show. Had a good overall day. I’m excited for what’s next.”

The Packers have a pair of former draft picks set to battle behind Jordan Love. Desmond Ridder, a third-round pick by the Falcons in 2022, has 18 career starts under his belt. Kyle McCord, a sixth-round pick by the Eagles in 2025, didn’t play in a game as a rookie.

As a possible late-round pick or undrafted free agent, Drones would have to show the long-term upside in order to get a chance to watch and learn behind Love.

“Me and my trainer, we practice with the game on the line that you got to make that throw,” he said at the Shrine Browl. “So just knowing that pressure is a privilege. You’ve done a lot to get here and you’re here for a reason. Just go out there and seize the opportunity. Don’t look at it as, ‘Oh, I’m scared if this happened, I’m scared if that happened.’ Just go out there and make that play.”

At the Shrine Bowl, he was eager to show scouts what he had been working on.

“Like I knew before I got into this, I knew I need to work on my footwork, especially being in the pocket, staying poised, and just leaving early and making the throws that I need to make,” he said. “I feel like that’s my main focus is that this week, and then just getting better each and every day, just showing I’m still progressing.”

Growth As Senior

Virginia Tech Hokies quarterback Kyron Drones (1) throws a pass against the Louisville Cardinals. | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Injuries limited Drones to nine games in 2024. He was faster and more confident entering 2025, the coaches said.

“I let it get to my head, listening to the outside world, and going through that up and down year, and then getting the criticism,” Drones said before the season. “But that’s what you’re going to get in the league (NFL). So, it just made me better, to be more mature, to not really worry about the outside, and just let me just deal with the people that I’ve got around me in the building working with me and just let me have that confidence in myself that no matter what, I’m the best on the field.”

He grew as a leader, too.

“You’ve just got to go out there, and even when you feel like you don’t want to say anything, you’ve just got to go say it," Drones said at ACC Media Days. “Everybody knows I’m not that rah-rah screaming type of guy. I’ve got my own way of being a leader.

“You’ve just got to know who you’re talking to, know if you’ve got a person next to you that you can yell at and get on somebody that they can take it. And then a person that can’t really take, you’ve just got to go out there and talk and see what they’ve got going on. Just really getting to know my brothers and getting to know them and seeing how I’ve got to lead them to get them to my standard and the team’s standard and get them coming along.”

Drones and young Titans star Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, are cousins and were training partners.

“We definitely got closer as we started training together,” Drones told ESPN. “It gets real competitive. Real talking trash and picking each other’s brain on how to get better. We’re all trying to get to that end goal, which is the NFL.”

Drones picked the brains of former Virginia Tech quarterback standouts Michael Vick and Tyrod Taylor.

“He really just told me to go out there and be myself. I know what type of quarterback I am,” he said of his conversation with Vick. “And then me just owning that and then just going out there and be myself, being able to work hard and going out there and try to lead the team to win every week.”

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