Fall camp is just about here for Virginia Tech and there are lots of Hokies who will be looking to show they have what it takes to become a starter or a serious contributor for the Hokies. That includes not just several players on the offensive side of the ball but also several defensive players who will be under pressure during the first fall camp of the James Franklin era.
Here's a look at six names to know.
DE Samuel Okunlola
It wasn't too long ago when Samuel Okunlola seemed destined to play on Sundays at least as a third round draft pick after having 13 tackles for loss including eight sacks during the 2023 and 2024 seasons at Pittsburgh and Colorado respectively. However, things got off track in 2025 as he only played in one game before injuries ended his season.
Now, Okunlola is involved in a wide open defensive end competition in a DE room that is entirely younger than him. He appeared to be limited this spring with it being hard to get a read on where he might fall in this competition heading into camp.
On paper, Okunlola is the most proven defensive end in this room by a lot and should be a serious threat to earn a starting job as long as he is healthy. However, there are no guarantees for how well a player will recover from injury and Okunlola will need to show signs that he can find his old form post-injury.
His teammates are excited to see what he can do in this fall including Preseason All-ACC DT Kemari Copeland who had high praise for Okunlola recently.
"He brings a lot. First, he’s a really good leader. You know, he's one of the older guys coming from Colorado. He's been to games a lot. He's been in college football a really long time. So, just that, his leadership. And then, secondly, how he pass rushes. He works real hard. I see him working pass rush drills after practice," Okunlola said.
There's no doubt that Okunlola has shown in the past he has what it takes to be a high-level impact defensive end but after a prolonged recovery from injury, it's unclear whether he can find that form again at Virginia Tech or not.
If he can become the player who had 13 TFLs, eight sacks, and 35 pressures during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, he should be well on his way to earning a starting job. If not, he may be looking for a new home in 2027 as long as he gets a medical redshirt for 2025, something that seems reasonable given that his season ended after only one game due to injury.
DEs Aycen Stevens & Jason Abbey
Aycen Stevens and Jason Abbey both fall into this category as redshirt juniors who need to show this offseason that they have what it takes to take the next steps in their development and become capable starters at the Power 4 level. VT clearly had some concerns about whether they could, especially given how many defensive ends of all ages that the Hokies brought in via the transfer portal this offseason.
So far, both are showing signs to varying degrees that they can take those next steps, but they face arguably the most wide open competition on this team for the two starting defensive end jobs.
Stevens enters camp as a slight frontrunner to earn one of those jobs after an impressive spring where he received tons of praise from coaches and teammates, and earned the lunch pail. His pass rushing has been the biggest area of concern for him but DL coach Sean Spencer expressed optimism in June that Stevens has made a big jump and could be a problem for opponents in that area.
"Well, just didn't know he was that good of a pass rusher. He's got some tools with him. Very good at setting the edge as an outside guy. I think that skill set where he played kind of like that jack position off the ball is helping him in the things that you're asking him to do. But you just didn't know. I didn't coach him. You don't know until you actually get your hands on the guys to see who they are. And he knows the game of football, just a leader in the room, first one in the drills, goes hard in practice. In the winter competition, he was one of the guys that stood out the most. And I'm like, oh, this guy got a chance," Spencer said.
Stevens enters fall camp in a solid position to earn a starting job, but with so much competition ready to push him, it's clear that he has continue to perform at the level he did this spring or else he could easily fall down the depth chart instead.
