Kyron Drones Or Grant Wells? Neither Brent Pry Nor Virginia Tech's Depth Chart Is Saying

Andy Bitter

Senior Staff Writer

September 19, 2023 42

Will Grant Wells or Kyron Drones start for Virginia Tech on Saturday at Marshall? (Ivan Morozov)

If you were looking for the Virginia Tech depth chart to offer clarity about who will start at quarterback on Saturday at Marshall — Kyron Drones or Grant Wells, it reads — think again.

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2023 VT-Marshall football

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42 Comments

Tallwino September 20, 2023 at 8:45 PM

It's easy for all of us to sit back and say what the coaches should be doing and not doing. But if you are really that good at this then why aren't you getting paid big bucks to coach a team? Give Pry and his staff some time. Remember how great Beamer was once he got it going. It's not always you can build a house overnight. Lay the foundation, bring up the walls, etc. Coach is doing the work. Look at his job recruiting players. Many of those don't arrive until next year and then they may not be ready to play right away. Time. Patience. We are gonna get there. I believe!! Go Hokies!!!!!!!!!
nkhooch September 20, 2023 at 3:04 AM

Pry has always said he wants teams to have to prepare for both QB's. So, I think he will be as coy as possible until its clear to everyone from game time that he has settled on one guy.
Cau12 September 19, 2023 at 11:11 PM

It's frustrating to watch games be lost on what really boils down to 2 or 3 bad plays. Take away the fumble at the beginning of the game and the rushing TD that Rutgers ripped off and it's a whole nother ball game. I liked what I saw from Drones and I hope he gets more opportunities. I also like how that helped get our running backs going. I still would like to see Holloway get some more looks at wr. The kid is so explosive and Id just like to see him get a screen look, reverse, or anything to see if he cant bust the field open. I honestly feel like that's what our offense is missing is those explosive plays and or players that can score at any moments notice. Our offense is pretty predictable. First down run, second down run or a short pass towards the sideline and on 3rd down try to throw a 40 yard hail mary pass. I love Pry and hope he pulls it together, but im afraid winning games is going to be a part of that turnaround equation.
1hokies1 September 19, 2023 at 10:32 PM

JC Price. He is a lower level D line coach. Turlink was much better. Hokie or not he needs to go.
Roland Lazenby September 19, 2023 at 8:50 PM

Pry and his Hokies have a lot to fight through. I think that calls for fans to be aware and discerning in regard to the circumstances. A little patience will go a long way here.
uvabasher September 19, 2023 at 8:23 PM

The actual depth chart for the Marshall game will let me know the judgment of this staff. Drones should be the starter Meadows needs more snaps, our guards suck The freshman RT needs to rotate with clements We need another option at safety other than Jones or even Phillips
1. jscott September 19, 2023 at 10:10 PM
  
  ray charles would be better than parker clements; brody needs reps
  1. DCL September 19, 2023 at 11:20 PM
    
    Clements has like the rest of the OL stunk up the field. Guy has shown zilch improvement since Freshman year
LXNTN_HOKIE September 19, 2023 at 8:19 PM

The big question is: Should we stick with Schick? Lol.
MKD September 19, 2023 at 8:02 PM

Andy, I'm so glad you're on the Techsideline staff. Really enjoy your articles.
1. Andy Bitter September 20, 2023 at 3:56 PM
  
  I'm glad to be writing them here.
HokieByWater September 19, 2023 at 6:28 PM

I still am hopeful for Pry as our HC, but if he starts Wells, I’ll have a hard time saying that next week.
Chasesfish September 19, 2023 at 6:13 PM

Andy - The uncomfortable question I hope to see you take up in a podcast or mailbag shortly: What results / outcome get Pry's seat warm this year? Is it a 2-10 year? I know VT isn't going to (nor should) part ways this season or maybe next, but at some point in time a loss such as losing to Rutgers by 19 will be equivalent to JF's 45-10 loss at Duke he never recovered from. It started to come up on the recap show this week with the comments about "the reality of college football now is look at Duke, look at Colorado, look at Tennessee, (add TCU), you can have success early". You can also be Mel Tucker at MSU before the off the field stuff. Will touched on it in his column with the London / Sabre (le butter knife) comparison. We all know the team is so young, but there's so little progress statistically or with the eye test and it looks like nothing was done to address the offensive line in almost two years.
1. Hokiefisch September 19, 2023 at 7:11 PM
  
  I deeply believe Pry is the solution, but like Beamer, he may need to deal with some significant coordinator decisions this off-season.
  1. hokieblitz September 19, 2023 at 9:15 PM
    
    Defense looked good down the stretch last season so I think it’s more of a personnel issue there. Our DTs are underperforming in their senior season. Our safeties are both injured and the staff really blew it not having a MLB ready to play this year. On offense I would definitely get a seasoned OC who has been a recruiter for years at the Power 5 level with extensive experience running an offense with a mobile QB. We obviously will always need a mobile QB for VT to be successful so therefore trying anything else behind Center is a ridiculous waste of time in futility.
  2. Chasesfish September 20, 2023 at 7:56 AM
    
    I *hope* he is the solution. There's so much to like about the guy and the reality is sometimes you can change a coach that's good with Xs and Os and get some early success, but fails at things like roster management and recruiting. We've come such a long way as VT fans, even when it comes to recruiting. The fan base used to lose their marbles when a 5* recruit from Virginia Beach goes to Florida (Percy). Now VT regularly loses on any 4* recruit in the state, even if they're 30 minutes away, and sometimes not competitive on 3* in the state in areas of specific need. This is a major rebuild, hopefully Pry is the right guy. If the season is 4 wins or less, he gets at least another year through the obligatory staff shakeup.
2. HokieJB September 20, 2023 at 7:04 AM
  
  Do we really have to start with the, "What record gets Pry fired?" Let's just support the Coach and the team and enjoy football.
  1. atlhokie1 September 20, 2023 at 10:31 AM
    
    Not really much to enjoy at the moment. Yes, team is young and has injuries but the lack of patient improvement individually is perplexing.
3. Hipshot September 20, 2023 at 11:05 AM
  
  I like to win as much as the next guy, and the last few years have been frustrating. However, I like what I've seen from Coach Pry on the field, in the community, and especially on the recruiting trail. ust like Coach Beamer, Pry started at VT with nothing in the tank. Beamer's first 6 years he was 24 & 40. He second 6 years he was 53 & 27, averaging 8.8 wins per year. It took him time to build a program. It will take Pry time to rebuild a program. No one has more incentive to work hard and get it right than the head coach. Let's get behind the man!
4. Andy Bitter September 20, 2023 at 4:00 PM
  
  People always say Fuente didn't recover from that Duke loss, but that feels like revisionist history. The Hokies won six of their next seven and would have won the Coastal Division if they could have tackled Bryce Perkins once. To me, the Baylor dalliance, COVID disrupting what was primed to be a decent season and the somewhat related mishandling of the QB situation that followed is what led to his downfall. That 2019 Duke game was just a blip. So we'll see where this goes with Pry. It's not great right now, but it's still just three weeks in to Year 2.
khakiblue September 19, 2023 at 5:35 PM

Not sure Marshall is worried about either. Need to stop this back and forth crap and just play Drones.
MKD September 19, 2023 at 4:38 PM

I have a feeling Wells will get about half of the first team reps this week because he wants to play against his previous team. Only getting half the reps with the starters will have a significant and negative impact on Drones development and limit his preparedness for Marshall. I think Wells could possibly start on Saturday and will get hurt again quickly which will put Drones at a disadvantage because of less practice reps. If all of that which I stated above occurs, I blame the head coach and O coordinator if VT under performs or looks sloppy. It's pretty telling when a true O line freshman plays better than the upperclassmen. In my opinion, the player development of both the O and D line has been horrible. Go Hokies, Beat Marshall
1. HokieDelNorte September 19, 2023 at 7:06 PM
  
  Doubt it. Might be true backup this week though.
ToledoHokie September 19, 2023 at 3:57 PM

Doesn't matter, we lose with either one...
1. am3gregt September 19, 2023 at 4:04 PM
  
  If we lose this one we need to stop play football!
  1. ToledoHokie September 19, 2023 at 5:56 PM
    
    LOL! I see no way this team wins this game, but I've accepted it's going to be a long rebuild.....and a long, long season. Still and always will love em' though!
    1. atlhokie1 September 20, 2023 at 10:33 AM
      
      Agree
    2. George Baylor September 20, 2023 at 1:49 PM
      
      Toledo, you are spot-on! Marshall will more than cover the 7.5.. Hope we are wrong..
2. dobrohokie September 19, 2023 at 4:25 PM
  
  Good grief . . . .
  1. VAHokie89 September 19, 2023 at 4:34 PM
    
    Good thing we didn't stop when we were 2-8-1
  2. Will Stewart September 19, 2023 at 7:20 PM
    
    That's ToledoHokie's shtick.
    1. ToledoHokie September 19, 2023 at 7:45 PM
      
      Just calling it like I see it Will….thanks for the shout out though! I don’t post nearly enough to think anyone would every notice me. I guess pointing out the negative brings attention. I’d love to be wrong!
      1. Femoyer74 September 19, 2023 at 9:34 PM
        
        No posting would be your best alternative
        
        ToledoHokie September 19, 2023 at 11:35 PM
        
        Agreed. Most can’t handle the truth here….plus it’s sort of a waste of time, it doesn’t change anything. We are what we are.
        
        atlhokie1 September 20, 2023 at 10:35 AM
        
        No, I don't want to be on a message board where everyone is drinking the Kool-Aid. Pretty boring.
        
        phoenixhokie September 20, 2023 at 12:36 PM
        
        Drinking any Kool-Aid is a fool's errand. But so is the VAST majority of these subscribers -- with professions other than major college sports -- pretending they know how to run a major college athletic department. The message boards during games and these comment sections are laughable.
        
        cybburghokie September 20, 2023 at 4:23 PM
        
        Kool-aid is excellent beverage, you're way off.
VaPoly07 September 19, 2023 at 3:34 PM

IMO it’s KDs job. He proved to me he can throw better than we were told before the season. Plus he can run it better.
1. ThePrideofVPI September 19, 2023 at 7:41 PM
  
  I agree. There is really no decision to be made. Drones gives us the best chance to win.
  1. LXNTN_HOKIE September 19, 2023 at 8:30 PM
    
    Agreed. The coaches know more about it than we do, though.
    1. rtoofast September 19, 2023 at 10:14 PM
      
      And what they know has proven to be a losing strategy and they have been out coached by some lesser paid opposing coaches.
    2. atlhokie1 September 20, 2023 at 10:36 AM
      
      Do they? (hahaha)

Kyron Drones Or Grant Wells? Neither Brent Pry Nor Virginia Tech's Depth Chart Is Saying

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