The first spring football of the James Franklin era at Virginia Tech has come and gone with Saturday's Spring Game bringing this spring to a close. While this game was only a singular data point among 15 spring data points, there is plenty that can be taken away from this game.
So with that in mind, here are four offensive takeaways from Virginia Tech's 2026 Spring Game.
Quarterback Room Is Improved
One thing that seems clear is that Virginia Tech's quarterback room is much stronger this year than last year.
Obviously, that's something you'd hope would be the case given that Kyron Drones isn't on the NFL radar whatsoever and your QBs 2 (Pop Watson) and 3 (Garret Rangel) landed at UMASS and UT-Rio Grande Valley respectively. However, this Spring Game showed a quarterback room that looks stronger than last year's group, especially throwing the football.
VT's four quarterbacks went a combined 42-66 (63.6%) for 428 yards, three touchdowns, and only one interceptions with all four quarterbacks completing at least 55% of their passes. This was a passing attack that looked much better in the Spring Game than we've seen in many other recent Spring Games.
Ethan Grunkemeyer looked the part in his first public performance in front of Tech fans as he went 13-17 for 136 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Outside of the interception that was either a misfire or a miscommunication with Takye Heath, Grunkemeyer looked in control all game. Notably, Grunkemeyer did a good job getting the ball out quick often while also being able to make some good throws down the field that you would be hoping to see.
While Tech's coaches weren't ready to name Grunkemeyer the starter publicly yet, I'd be very surprised if he wasn't the starting QB this fall.
Meanwhile, Bryce Baker looks like a very solid QB2 who could probably be a QB1 for a decent amount of Power 4 programs if he wasn't in Blacksburg. He wasn't as efficient as Grunkemeyer but he did well especially while working with primarily the expected backups as he was 15-27 for 140 yards and a touchdown while also running for 32 yards. He also brought a lot more to the table as a runner than Grunkemeyer but make no mistake, Baker doesn't need his running ability to be a playmaker in the passing game.
Kelden Ryan looked much more competent this year than he did in his first Spring Game last year as he went 9-14 for 88 yards and a touchdown in what was an encouraging sign that VT's quarterback development will be much improved under Franklin's leadership. Early enrollee Troy Huhn showed promise as he went 5-8 for 64 yards, but he did look like a freshman a lot as shown by how he was sacked six times.
Overall, Saturday's Spring Game made clear that Virginia Tech's quarterback room is definitely improved and the Hokies will have much greater competency from their quarterbacks through the air this fall at minimum.
