Virginia Tech's WR room is in a period of transition entering the Duke's Mayo Bowl with Jaylin Lane and Da'Quan Felton preparing for the NFL Draft while Ali Jennings and Stephen Gosnell finish out their collegiate careers with one final game with the Hokies. With those four leaving, the Hokies will have a largely green wide receiver room with lots of young guys set to take on significant roles in 2025 who haven't played much, if at all in their college careers to date including Keylen Adams, Chanz Wiggins, and Takye Heath.
Tech does have one veteran in that room returning in soon-to-be junior Ayden Greene.
The Tennessee native has played 610 offensive snaps over the past two years with 18 receptions for 209 yards and two touchdowns plus seven carries for 63 yards and a touchdown. Greene has done all that despite being the fifth receiver on the depth chart.
Now, Greene heads towards 2025 as no longer the young up-and-coming wide receiver, but rather the veteran leader of the room. While Greene admits he's still quite young, he feels ready to embrace the leadership role that looms this year for him.
"I'm still 19 and these younger guys are calling me 'unc' and we're like the same age," Greene said. "Being a younger guy and our room being younger, I can relate to them more. Yes, I have less eligibility, but they look at me as a peer. So that connection between me and the guys really benefits us. I'm young, but I'm definitely ready to be a leader, I'm glad to be a leader. I think I can get in the right direction from the standpoint of the (WR) room and how we approach things with our mentality," Greene said.
Greene stepping into this type of leadership role comes as a surprise to no one given the transition that everyone has known was coming for this room and Greene's production early in his career. That includes WRs coach Fontel Mines who Greene has said he's had conversation with throughout the past year in preparation for the leadership role that he is about to take on.
"All the time, we had that conversation this season. We knew, I knew this is gonna be the last one (for the older WRs) so I need to take another step to get myself ready for that role. And now that it's here, I've prepared myself well enough, I think I'm gonna be prepared and ready for it in every aspect," Greene said.
Even during this season, Mines has pulled Greene aside and already talked about what it looks like to lead the room and how Greene wants to see things done in the WR room.
"He pulls me aside all the time to see where my mental is at, where I need to get the guys at, and just how we're gonna approach things with me leading the room forward," Greene said.
While the leadership part in the WR room is important, there's also the fact that Greene is going to be one of Virginia Tech's go-to passing options next season. That's a role that Greene hasn't held in his career to date working as the fifth wide receiver the past two seasons.
However, Friday's Duke's Mayo Bowl presents an opportunity for Greene to step into that role with both Felton and Lane opting out of this game. Greene recognizes the opportunity that this matchup with Minnesota will present for him along with the other young receivers like Keylen Adams, Takye Heath, and Chanz Wiggins to show that the yare ready to step up and shine on the field once Tech's veteran four WRs are all gone.
"It's definitely gonna be more of an opportunity for me. Older guys are stepping away, younger guys are stepping up, so it's a process. I want to bring everybody along with me. But me personally, I plan on taking full advantage of this game and the opportunity I'm gonna have because I will be stepping into that role. And I've prepared and worked for it, so I'll be ready for sure," Greene said.
After two years of being the top young WR in an old room, Ayden Greene is now preparing and embracing the veteran leadership role he's set to take on both in the WR room and on the field among his position group. Friday presents a first preview of that before Greene takes on a greater leadership role starting this spring.
Looking for the best coverage and analysis of the Hokies? Become a TLP Insider today here.
