As Virginia Tech's 2024 recruiting class starts to fill up, we are kicking off our annual two-week series where we go position-by-position and take a look at the targets to watch for Virginia Tech. You can check out the rest of our stories at the links below.
Let's start at the most important position in modern football, quarterback, as the Hokies look at possibly adding one more in 2024 and the 2025 target board starts to come into focus.
2024 Has a Star But May Not Be Done
Virginia Tech has already landed one of their top offensive targets in the 2024 cycle at the quarterback spot in four-star Davi Belfort out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The son of UFC great Vitor Belfort chose the Hokies over fellow finalists Texas A&M and Michigan State along with a host of other offers in what was a tremendous recruiting trail victory for Tyler Bowen. There's no doubt that Belfort was a priority target for the Hokies and was very high on Bowen's board at the quarterback position.
Belfort has shown plenty of promise so far completing 65.7% of his passes as a junior while throwing for 1,756 yards, 11 touchdowns, and only 5 interceptions plus 6.3 yards per carry and 2 rushing TDs in 7 recorded games as a junior per MaxPreps. He is also young for his as he reclassified from the 2025 to 2024 class early during his time in high school so he may have more upside long-term than most QBs in this class.
In many cases, Tech would probably be done at quarterback for this recruiting cycle, but there is another quarterback that the Hokies would be comfortable adding in to this class, three-star QB Khristian Martin of Richmond area powerhouse Highland Springs.
Martin will be a multi-year starter for a program that has been one of the best for years and is consistently producing multiple Power 5 players every year including VT 2023 scholarship signees Braylon Johnson and Takye Heath. Martin is the best in-state quarterback for years and absolutely looks the part having lots of arm talent that I got to see briefly in person last year during his junior season on the weekend right after Tech's Thursday night game against N.C. State.
Bringing in two quarterbacks after signing two last cycle may seem like a lot, but the Hokies are also back down to four scholarship quarterbacks for this upcoming season after Devin Farrell and Tahj Bullock both entered the transfer portal. In some ways, bringing in multiple guys to compete makes a lot of sense especially as you try to build a strong depth chart in the transfer portal era at QB.
2025 Still Coming Into Focus
Quarterback recruiting usually happens faster than most positions in each recruiting class so we should start to see the primary targets to watch for Virginia Tech come into greater focus over the summer heading into the fall.
Here are some early names that I have my eye on.
One quarterback who visited Virginia Tech this spring is four-star EJ Colson out of Ellenwood, GA with that visit going well as he discussed with us. He has a solid offer list that also includes Arkansas, Nebraska, Cincinnati, and others.
Another quarterback who was on campus this past spring was three-star Bryce Baker out of Walkertown, NC. Baker has built up a strong, regional offer list that also includes NC State, Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Louisville, Maryland, and others.
Four-star Stone Saunders is out of the same high school as 2023 Virginia Tech OL signee Gabriel Arena in Harrisburg, PA. Brent Pry has loads of connections personally in the Harrisburg area from his time at Penn State which could be valuable for a guy who also has offers from Georgia, Texas A&M, Michigan, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Nebraska, and many others in addition to the Hokies.
Four-star Malik Washington out of Baltimore was one of Virginia Tech's first QB offers in this class and seems likely to be a top target for the Hokies. RBs coach Elijah Brooks, the former DeMatha Catholic head coach, has proven to have loads of strong recruiting ties in the state of Maryland that could boost the Hokies' chances. Washington already has a solid offer list that also includes Penn State, Maryland, Duke, Arkansas, West Virginia, and others.
Unlike last year where you already Khristian Martin on the board, there isn't a clear in-state pure quarterback to keep an eye on at the moment. Four-star safety Kendall Daniels Jr out of Maury HS in the 757 does play some QB and could potentially be a QB target though he is evaluated by the recruiting services as a safety at the moment.
