Film Review: Not Much Separation at the top for Virginia Tech Quarterbacks

One of the narratives coming into spring football was the quarterback competition between Grant Wells and Baylor transfer Kyron Drones. Pundits and members of the Virginia Tech faithful alike expected Wells, coming off a relatively dreadful 2022 campaign, to lose the battle to the more mobile Drones. The spring game quieted that discussion, as Wells consistently led the Maroon offense down the field while Drones and the White offense failed to generate any points.

While Wells was clearly more effective, I don't think either individual performance separated Wells from Drones as much as many think. The corner pairing of Dorian Strong and Derrick Canteen limited Drones to much smaller throwing windows. The Maroon defensive line, working against a group of mostly freshmen and redshirt freshmen, put much more pressure on Drones, while Wells worked mostly with little pressure throwing to wide open receivers. For a true assessment, I went back to the film to see if each quarterback was finding the right receivers and then putting the ball where they had an opportunity to make plays.

Wells and the Weakest Links

Arm talent has never been Grant Wells' weakness. Under heavy pressure most of last season, Wells struggled when he locked on to a receiver pre-snap without properly reading the coverage, or checked down to his hot read well before the route structure developed. When Wells' first read was there, he was outstanding during the spring game.