The rosters are starting to take shape across the country and a good glimpse at what fans can expect from their favorite teams has started to appear. With the transfer portal ravishing rosters from a year prior, the turn of every new year gives hope for fanbases across the country.
For the Virginia Tech Hokies, head coach Brent Pry has his team looking for continued success from a group that returns more production than anyone else in America.
Virginia Tech Returns 86% of Production from 2023
Using the data from ESPN’s Bill Connelly’s Returning Production Rankings, one thing is clear: returning production is hard to come by in college football; unless you’re Virginia Tech (or Iowa State).
The Hokies lead the way, with 86% of their production slated to return in 2024. Iowa State was the only other team to cross the 80% mark (85%) as No. 3 on the list checked in at 77% (Nebraska and Oklahoma State).
It helps when you return your blossoming star quarterback, but the Hokies certainly return more than that this fall. Kyron Drones returns to lead a potentially dominant offense that propelled Tech to win three of their last four games and five of their last seven a season ago.
The Drones-led Hokie offense scored at least 41 points in three of their final four games to close out the season, and they continued to improve as November progressed. Drones threw for 17 touchdowns and over 2,000 yards while adding over 800 rushing yards and five more scores on the ground.
His dual-threat ability saw him climb the list of ACC QB Rankings as the season went along and Drones is set to return to virtually the same backfield this fall.
However, it could be stated that the most important aspect of the returning production rankings is that up front. Returning a core of players on the offensive line is going to set a college football team apart from their opponents, especially when all five starters from last season return.
This total pushes Tech’s total offensive returning production number to 95%, far above second-best at 90%, and once again one of just two figures to cross over 90%.
Virginia Tech may not be topping any charts to win the ACC just yet, but with their core returning on offense — and the 73% returning production figure on defense — this team could very well make some serious noise in 2024. While it’s likely the lion’s share of their success is on that of Drones, his cast around him will put him in a better place to succeed than most other current ACC offenses.
Here’s how the ACC teams stack up on Connelly’s returning production chart:
1) Virginia Tech: 86% (1st nationally)
2) Virginia: 76% (5th)
3) Syracuse: 74% (10th)
4) Cal: 73% (14th)
5) Wake Forest: 68% (36th)
6) Stanford: 67% (37th)
7) Boston College: 67% (40th)
8) Louisville: 66% (44th)
9) Miami: 66% (45th)
10) Georgia Tech: 66% (46th)
11) Clemson: 65% (54th)
12) SMU: 62% (66th)
13) NC State: 59% (80th)
14) Florida State: 58% (53rd)
15) Duke: 55% (88th)
16) North Carolina: 37% (127th)
Miss any action from the top college QB Rankings during the 2023 football season? Want to track all the movement with the college football transfer portal? College Football Network has you covered with that and more!