Our 2022 Virginia Tech Football preview continues with a look at each of the players our staff is most excited to see for the Hokies this season.
Tim Thomas: Jaden Keller
This was going to be Malachi Thomas but his injuries took him off this list. Grant Wells would also be a top pick of mine but personally, I wanted to spotlight someone else as well given the loads of intrigue already around Wells.
That honor goes to Jaden Keller who has been at the top of the hype machine during fall camp with loads of praise across the board from fellow teammates all the way to head coach Brent Pry.
Before fall camp, I didn't even think that this would be a competition for the will LB job with Alan Tisdale returning after a solid 2021 season. However, Keller not only created a competition there but seems poised to be the starter especially given how he's been getting loads of work in drills from what we've seen alongside Dax Hollifield.
There's no doubt that Keller has plenty of the athletic tools that coaches dream of in a linebacker and the praise he's received from highly-respected linebacker coaches adds even more to the hype machine. The question now is can he live up to it?
Carter Hill: Grant Wells
It may be a bit cliche to go with the starting quarterback. But personally, for me, I’m ecstatic to see what Grant Wells does for Virginia Tech in 2022. A two-year starter in his time at Marshall, the 6-foot-2, 208-pounder threw for over 5,600 yards during his stint with the Thundering Herd.
That’s not all. The Charleston, West Virginia native is coming off a season in which he connected on 66.3% of his passes for 3,532 yards and 16 touchdowns, putting together quite the campaign for the Hokies’ starting signal-caller. Additionally, the 2020 Conference USA Freshman of the Year owned eight career 300-yard passing games in his time in Huntington, including a 434-yard performance against East Carolina a season ago.
Though the question does loom about Wells’ ability to transfer that production to the Power Five level, the redshirt junior certainly adds much-needed experience to Virginia Tech’s offense that does have quite a few question marks across the board.
Although there’s plenty of uncertainties surrounding the Hokies heading into 2022, Wells’ deep ball accuracy, production and play-making ability certainly aren’t some of them. When quarterbacks coach Brad Glenn mentioned that Wells may be the most accurate quarterback the longtime offensive coordinator has ever coached, that’s hard to ignore. Just ask Virginia Tech fans, they’d almost certainly concur.
Peyton Seay: Grant Wells
Look, it has been a while since the Hokies have had solid play from the quarterback position, and the hope is that Marshall transfer Grant Wells might just be able to change that. Tech has had six different opening-week starters in the last eight seasons, so some consistency is needed to say the least.
Wells won the starting job this spring over South Carolina transfer Jason Brown. Head coach Brent Pry raved about his accuracy and decision-making during the Hokies’ training camp which went into that decision and these abilities are what stick out when you see the Marshall tape on Wells.
There’s no doubt playing in the ACC will be a tougher challenge than Conference USA, and Wells will have a very young group of Hokie wideouts to work with this season, but there is room for optimism. Wells has his chance to be the first Hokie QB since Ryan Willis in 2018 to throw for over 3,000 yards after Wells threw for 3,535 yards and 16 touchdowns for the Thundering Herd in 2021.
