Virginia Tech star QB Kyron Drones hasn't gotten off to the start that I think many including himself hoped for. While Drones has shown some signs of improvement, he's also struggled with inconsistency that has held him back.
Through four games, Drones is completing 59.8% of his passes for 765 yards with only four touchdowns compared to three interceptions. His completion rate is slightly up from 58.2% last season, but he's already matched his interception total from 2023 and his passer rating has dropped from 137.3 last season to 126.6 now. His performance against Rutgers brought those struggles more to the surface as he was 13-27 for 137 yards and one interception in the 26-23 loss.
He is running the ball fairly well with 209 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, and an average of 4.0 yards per carry that is down from 4.8 yards per carry last season but still solid especially since it includes sacks. Still, Drones has not had start to the season that many felt he could when he was considered a top ACC Player of the Year candidate, with his passing being at the crux of the struggles.
There are plenty of extenuating circumstances that are causing some of Kyron Drones' passing struggles from below-average pass blocking that has Drones uncomfortable to playcalling that seems to be making things harder for Drones than they need to be to general wear and tear.
Even with all that, Drones is still struggling with his accuracy and in general on non-play action dropback passes.
Let's start with the accuracy issues as he's missed some easy throws including an underthrown first quarter pass to the flat that had ACC Network's Mark Herzlich wondering if the wear and tear Drones takes as a wonder may be wearing down his arm strength, especially given how little Drones slides on runs.
He missed a couple throws over the top to Da'Quan Felton in this game that we saw Drones hit at a better rate last year which is concerning to say the least since that's throw we saw him hit at a reasonable rate for deep passes. There was also the 4th and 10 incompletion intended for Jaylin Lane where the pass was just too low in a moment where Lane had his man beat on the crossing pattern for a first down and more.
This isn't the first time we've seen Drones struggle with inaccuracy with the redshirt junior quarterback being completely out of rhythm in the first half of the season opener against Vanderbilt.
There seems to be a general discomfort that Drones seems to have a lot in the pocket, something that is certainly in large part due to a pass blocking group that is struggling. You can't blame Drones for feeling that discomfort in the pocket as Tech's pass blocking has shown no real improvement from last season.
A great example of this is the fact that he's been pressured on 32.3% of his passes per PFF compared to 35.8% last season. That's also against a schedule where half the teams so far are Group of 5 whereas most the teams last season were Power 4 programs. The offensive line issues are numerous from guys who are simply below-average at this level of CFB to decision mistakes including on the first quarter fourth down failure where Rutgers ended up with a free rusher despite only bringing four with Xavier Chaplin taking the inside guy oddly rather than the edge rusher.
Compare that to Rutgers' Athan Kaliakmanis who has been under pressure on 21.5% of his dropbacks after being under pressure on 32.7% of his dropbacks at Minnesota last year. That combined with an offense that is giving him easy throws, as we saw with the well-designed RPO to the tight end slipping behind the offensive line and into the flat on the opposite side, has certainly helped Kaliakmanis complete 62.5% of his passes so far this season compared to 53.1% last season. We'll get more into the lack of easy throws side of things later.
The reality is that when you have a quarterback who is uncomfortable in the pocket with an offensive line continuing to show no signs of improvement in pass blocking, you're likely going to have a quarterback who is unable to take the strides you want to see in the game.
Even with that, it's concerning that in Tech's two matchups against Power 4 teams, Drones has had clear struggles with accuracy.
There are some signs that he has possibly shown some growth with his deep ball accuracy completion 37.5% of those attempts so far this season compared to 21.4% last season. However, Drones has struggled with medium passes completing only 55.6% of passes travelling 10-19 yards compared to 63.2% last season. That's something that Tech will need Drones to improve to get their passing game back on track though Drones could also use some more time in the pocket to help him execute.
The other big concern is the fact that Drones seems to be late on his reads at times or even missing some including one late throw to Benji Gosnell on an out pattern that made a catch impossible during the first quarter of this game. This also isn't the first time this issue has come up with Drones flat out missing some open receivers during the Vanderbilt game whether it was Ali Jennings on a deep pattern or Ayden Greene on a downfield crossing pattern.
The interception in this game also wasn't a great read either as he not only missed a blitzing Robert Longerbeam (who made a spectacular play to be fair) but for that ball to be completed, it would have had to have been right on the sideline given where the defender was and how he was reading the play.
One thing I would like to see more of are crossing and mesh patterns especially ones attacking the middle of the field. Some of the best throws that Drones made were on crossing routes or mesh type situations. That's seemed like the case for a little bit now with the RPO that features a Jaylin Lane slant that was used often last season being a clearer example of that compared to some of the mesh and crossing patterns on true dropbacks that have been some of his more successful throws this season.
Offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen talked about sitting down with Drones this offseason and further building the offense to what fits his eye. Well it's hard to tell if they've truly done that given the lack of growth for Drones from 2023 to 2024.
I'd also like to see more play action, rollouts, and RPOs used by the Hokies to help Drones. When you have a quarterback who is showing signs of struggling to progress through reads, finding ways to simplify things and throw more things at the defense to throw them off should be a priority. The best offenses in college football is built largely on offensive coordinator designing easier throws for their quarterbacks that fit their eyes, something that doesn't seem to be happening right now with what's currently being run.
Drones is not only a number in the running game but a threat that teams have to be prepared for. Utilizing that better through RPOs and rollouts that throw off the defenses should be prioritized. One of his biggest areas of improvement this season is on play action as he's completing 66.7% of those pass plays compared to only 59.6% of play action last season. Despite that, Tech is running a lower percentage of play action this season at 32.3% than what they did last year at 34.9%.
Kyron Drones has shown some signs of improvement in certain areas of his accuracy to be fair. However, the lack of general development and the possible regression in his mid-range accuracy is concerning. It also raises questions about whether Tech's structure is set up right to develop a QB given that Tyler Bowen had never coached QBs prior to taking that role over in 2023, and given that co-QBs coach Brian Crist has primarily coached wide receivers during his career.
Having the offensive coordinator be the QBs coach is a little overrated in my opinion. What matters is if you have a staff that is in sync with what you want to accomplish and how you want to accomplish it. Tech should reshuffle things offensively this offseason to give their quarterbacks room a true QBs coach who knows how to develop a quarterback and has a proven track record of developing quarterbacks.
Kyron Drones has not made the jump that many hoped or expected for him to make, with a litany of factors beyond just his own struggles with accuracy and being on time with his reads. Among the other factors include wear and tear from his heavy usage as a bulldozing runner, below-average pass blocking having him uncomfortable, a passing attack that doesn't seem to be fitting his strengths, and a development structure that doesn't seem built for successful development of quarterbacks.
The good news is that much of this can be solved to help Kyron Drones. The bad news is that many of those solutions likely can't be put into place until after the season is over whether that's coaching, staff structure and assembly, talent acquisition on the offensive line, and development of offensive linemen which takes time. For now, Tyler Bowen has a clear responsibility to make schematic adjustments to help his quarterback out to make his job easier, maximize his strengths as a passer, and maximize the offense's strengths to help Drones further.
