Virginia Tech’s NFL Draft Haul Just Made the 2024 Season Look Even Worse
The 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay should’ve been a moment of pride for Virginia Tech fans. Five former Hokies heard their names called—Bhayshul Tuten, Jaylin Lane, Aeneas Peebles, Antwaun Powell-Ryland, and Dorian Strong—all selected on Day 3. That kind of draft-day success usually signals a season full of wins, momentum, and buzz. Instead, it exposed the exact opposite: Virginia Tech had the talent in 2024 to be something special, and yet it completely flopped.
Let’s rewind.
Going into last season, the Hokies were supposed to turn the corner. Brent Pry, entering his third year, had retained key contributors and pulled in solid pieces from the transfer portal. Hype was brewing—some national outlets even dared to mention Virginia Tech and the expanded College Football Playoff in the same sentence. Optimism wasn’t just wishful thinking; on paper, the team had enough depth and experience to make real noise in the ACC.
But the excitement quickly vanished after an overtime loss at Vanderbilt in Week 1. From that point forward, the Hokies never found their footing. A controversial loss at Miami—where a would-be game-winning touchdown was controversially overturned—only added salt to the wound. The regular season wrapped with a 6-6 record, needing a Thanksgiving Weekend win over Virginia just to qualify for a bowl. Then came the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, where several players sat out due to the NFL Draft or transfer portal, and Tech fell flat against Minnesota to end the year at 6-7.
Now, with five players taken in the draft and others signing undrafted deals, the 2024 season feels like a glaring missed opportunity. This wasn’t a talentless roster. The Hokies had legitimate NFL prospects. They had a manageable schedule. They had everything they needed to win 8, 9, maybe even 10 games.
Instead, the program took a step backward.
Brent Pry, who genuinely seems to care deeply about building something in Blacksburg, had a real shot at reshaping the program’s trajectory—and missed. And now, with new assistant coaches stepping in and pressure mounting, the 2024 season might go down as a haunting “what could have been.” The players were ready. The schedule was favorable. But the execution just wasn’t there.
And now, the NFL Draft puts a national spotlight on just how big that miss really was.