Grant Wells will start at quarterback in Virginia Tech’s opener against Old Dominion, Hokies head coach Brent Pry announced on a subscription NIL podcast Wednesday.
Wells got the nod over Baylor transfer Kyron Drones, who came to Virginia Tech in January. Pry said Drones will play “each and every week.”
"In the end, right now, we feel like Grant ... he's the furthest along," Pry said.
Though the pair alternated days with the first team throughout all of August camp, Wells always felt like the frontrunner as the incumbent and someone who had a better spring game showing. Pry touted Wells’ grasp of the offense above everything.
“As we said from day one, he's got a very accurate arm,” Pry said. “He made really good decisions.”
Wells started all 11 games last season, throwing for 2,171 yards, with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions, hardly eye-popping stats, though Tech’s skeleton crew of reliable play-makers contributed to the paltry numbers.
His 117.5 QB rating was a career low, nearly 22 points below his final season at Marshall, and he finished the season with a 45.9 rating on ESPN’s QBR metric, which takes into account total quarterback play, ranking 96th nationally.
This will be Wells’ fourth season at a starter, however, dating back to his time at Marshall, and with added weapons like Ali Jennings, Jaylin Lane and Da’Quan Felton at receiver and Bhayshul Tuten at running back, the Hokies’ offensive outlook in 2023 seems better than last season.
A sheer lack of experience likely played a factor for Drones, who saw sparse playing time at Baylor before transferring to Virginia Tech, completing 14 of 23 passes for 219 yards and one passing touchdown in limited action across five games.
“His understanding of the offense grew," Pry said of Drones's performance during fall camp. "He's in a much better place than he was in the spring. Any time you've got a guy his size who can run the ball and is willing to run the ball, it presents problems for the defense.
“There were days when Kryon's passing ability was on par with Grant's."