The 2026 transfer portal cycle appears to be wrapped up for Virginia Tech as the Hokies added 25 new players and have the fifth best ranked transfer portal cycle according to On3. This was a class largely defined by younger, Power 4 talent with the Hokies only adding one player who had only one year of eligibility remaining with 20 of the 25 transfers coming from Power 4 programs.
There are also some interesting similarities between a few of these transfers and past transfer additions that the Hokies have made. Let’s dive into those player similarities between this year’s transfer class and past transfer additions.
Ohio State DT Eric Mensah: Kelvin Gilliam
The parallels are heavy between Kelvin Gilliam and Eric Mensah. Both players were highly-regarded recruits who chose out-of-state elite brands over Virginia Tech. Both showed on-field promise but held very limited roles while doing so. Both then choose to search for a chance to play rather than wait any longer and ended up transferring back home to the Commonwealth of Virginia to play for the Hokies.
Mensah only played in one game this past season due to injury but seemed to be right in the hunt to break into Ohio State’s DT rotation next season as a redshirt sophomore. Instead, Mensah chose to reset and return to his home state at a school he previously committed to in high school before flipping to the Buckeyes.
Similar to Gilliam, the opportunity is also there for Mensah to immediately come in and earn a two-deep spot, especially with Kemari Copeland and Emmett Laws being the only contributing DTs returning, and it being unknown if Elhadj Fall will stay at DE or move inside to DT.
