James Franklin left Penn State for Virginia Tech, and his first offseason move was raiding his old roster, headlined by Ethan Grunkemeyer, a quarterback who arrives with 48.1 PPA and will factor heavily into the competition to replace Kyron Drones. That's the defining story here: a proven-caliber head coach in his first year using the portal aggressively to jump-start a program that finished 3-9. The offense projects as top-tier in JP+'s qualitative outlook, bolstered further by receivers Que'Sean Brown from Duke and Marlion Jackson from Louisiana Tech, replacing departed wideouts Isaiah Spencer, Cameron Seldon, and Devin Alves. The defense grades as roughly average with mostly stable continuity, no major role-loss flags surfaced there, and special teams profile as a genuine strength. Overall, the program shapes up above average, though the quarterback question — Grunkemeyer or another option winning the job — remains the swing factor for how quickly the offense clicks.

JP+ projects 7.0 wins, a notable step forward from last season's three-win finish, with the toughest tests coming on the road against Miami, Clemson, and SMU, and the softest spots at home against Stanford, Old Dominion, and VMI. The gap between preseason skepticism and this projection largely comes down to the portal investment: Virginia Tech added 114.6 PPA worth of production against only 37.8 lost, a heavily favorable transfer ledger even accounting for departed backup pieces like Terion Stewart and Donavon Greene. If the new signal-caller settles in quickly and the receiving corps gels around Brown and Jackson, this offense could carry a defense that only needs to be ordinary for Virginia Tech to threaten seven or eight wins. If the QB competition drags into October or the concentrated receiving corps stumbles, 6.9 could end up as the ceiling rather than the floor.