Dynamic QB AJ Brand Commits to Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech is coming into this season with one of the most comfortable quarterback situations in recent memory, but Kyron Drones and backup Collin Schlee have a tough decision looming next offseason. QB Coach Tyler Bowen and staff realize that, and have bulked the room with the prior commitment of Texas field general Kelden Ryan and the dynamic AJ Brand. Aaron “AJ” Brand, a 6-1.5 204-pound signal caller out of Irmo, SC has a game that is perfectly designed to operate out of the Hokies RPO style offense. He is ranked as 18th best prospect in the state of South Carolina by On3.

One of Brand’s first offers came from the state school at USC, but he let his recruitment play out and picked a few G5 offers and one from the newly displaced crew at Oregon State. Brand got up to the Carolina campus a few times and took his official visit of the weekend of May 31. He took his OV to Blacksburg on the 7th of June and he announced his decision to lock in his pledge to the Hokies at Bull and Bones on First & Main.

Brand led the Irmo Yellow Jackets squad to the state title game with a 13-0 record , but they fell to South Florence 21-28. The Yellow Jackets are lead by his father Aaron Brand. Sr. was recently named an Emory & Henry hall of famer for not only leading the Wasps to four straight ODAC titles on the gridiron, but also being the MVP of the Wasps crew on the diamond in 1997.

Brand threw for almost 3,000 and 45 touchdowns through the air and coupled it with 1113 yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground. He was awarded the state offensive player of the year trophy for his efforts. He also served as the team's punter, but they didn’t need him much, only booting the ball 8 times for an impressive 54.3 yards per kick.

Brand draws many parallels to the current top QB for VT in Kyron Drones, but he separates himself from him in a few facets of his game. While their clocked 40 times are similar, Brand seems to have more football speed and elusiveness than his counterpart. They both thrive when throwing the ball on the run, but Brand leaves some room for improvement on his deep shots.

Brand lets the game to him and seems very comfortable against formidable SC talent. The coaches wanted a second QB commitment to help push Kelden Ryan and other youngsters in Davi Belfort and Pop Watson. Brand’s exciting and high-powered play style gives the chance to break throw and compete for a starting job later on down the road.