Ranking 50 Years of Hokie Quarterbacks: A Four-Part Series (Part III)

We’re back for Part III of a four-part series ranking Virginia Tech starting quarterbacks of the past 50 years. Today, we complete our ranking of the 25 full-season starting quarterbacks in Tech history by celebrating the Top 5.

In case you missed the first two installments of this series, or would like to refresh your memory, we covered #25-16 in Part I and celebrated #15-6 last week in Part II. 

Without further ado, let’s get to the Top 5…

Years as a Starter: 2011-2013

Record as a Starter: 26-14

Logan Thomas’ first collegiate touchdown came as a tight end on a two-yard pass from Tyrod Taylor against Wake Forest in 2010. His last ever score also came as a tight end, a 15-yard reception on Christmas Eve 2023 for the Washington Commanders (former Hokie Joey Slye had the PAT, by the way), capping a stellar 8-year NFL career. Sandwiched between those two catches, the Lynchburg native managed to put up numbers worthy of consideration as one of the best Virginia Tech quarterbacks of the last 50 years.

Thomas became the Hokie starting quarterback in 2011 after Taylor’s graduation and started every game for the rest of his career. In fact, Thomas is the only Virginia Tech quarterback to ever start three consecutive seasons without missing a single start. His best statistical season was 2011 (234-391, 3013 yards, 19 TD, 10 INT, 135.5 Passing Efficiency). Certainly, having the top two receivers, yardage-wise, in Tech history at the time (Jarrett Boykin, Danny Coale) plus an all-world running back (David Wilson) made for a nice transition into the starting role. 

The talent around him dropped off after that, and so did his efficiency. The Hokies leaned on him, perhaps too much, in the running game. Thomas accounted for 37% of all carries in his final two seasons, and he had more rushes than any running back on the roster. But he was nevertheless the unquestioned leader of the team for three years running.

His cumulative numbers were prolific. With 40 starts under his belt, Logan Thomas’ 9003 passing yards is tops in Virginia Tech history by nearly 2000 yards. His 52 touchdown passes are also first all-time, but he did throw 39 interceptions. He’s third in Hokie history in wins by a starting quarterback (26), but his .650 career winning percentage is a modest 11th out of the 25 on this list. He also tore it up on the ground. Among quarterbacks, Thomas is first in Tech history with 24 rushing touchdowns, second in rushing attempts, fourth in rushing yards (1359) and he even led all Hokies in rushing yards in 2012.

After getting drafted as a quarterback by the Arizona Cardinals, he struggled to cement a role as a quarterback. The Detroit Lions first switched him to tight end, but it was with Buffalo in 2017 where he started to make a name for himself in his new (old) position. He ended up with 2002 career NFL receiving yards and 16 touchdowns. In 2025, Thomas returned to Brookville High School where his career started to join their coaching staff.

Best moment: October 8, 2011, “These people are losing their minds!” The urge to give the nod to his 2011 win at Georgia Tech was high, but we have to go with this epic 38-35 win at Lane Stadium a month earlier. With talent all over the field, Thomas matched Miami QB Jacory Harris play for play, going 23-25 for 310 yards and 3 touchdowns (a 235.8 rating), and closed out the scoring with a heroic 19-yard rushing touchdown with 56 seconds left prior to Hokie fans “losing their minds.”

Check out the thrilling last six minutes here, with Tyrod Taylor watching on the sidelines and the spectacular call on ESPN by the late, great Mike Patrick.

Years as a Starter: 1995-1996

Record as a Starter: 20-4

Jim Druckenmiller grew up in the Allentown, PA area as a football and baseball player who was lightly recruited to say the least. Penn State offered him a walk-on spot, but that was about it. He opted to go to Fork Union Military Academy (like Will Furrer before him), and it earned him precisely one Division I scholarship offer: Virginia Tech. 

As Druckenmiller sat behind Maurice DeShazo in the QB room, he quickly developed a weight room reputation, earning Super Iron Hokie honors multiple times and endearing himself to the offensive line. When DeShazo graduated after the 1994 season, the job was Druckenmiller’s. 

His debut was inauspicious.

The Hokies began the Jim Druckenmiller era by losing their first two games, including a 16-0 home shutout loss to Cincinnati (still the last time Tech was shutout). In fact, through his first five games, Druckenmiller threw five touchdowns, six interceptions and toted a modest 109.1 passing efficiency rating. 

But this story ends far better than it started. 

After those first two losses, Tech didn’t lose another game in 1995, and they went 20-2 for the rest of Druckenmiller’s career. And after those first five games? He threw 32 touchdowns versus only 11 interceptions in his last 19 games, and posted a passing efficiency rating of 131.2. Over that period, the Hokies outscored their opponents by an average of 34-17.

Druckenmiller beat Miami twice (the first two times the Hokies ever won that matchup), and beat rivals West Virginia and Virginia twice as well. At a time where expectations were starting to grow in Blacksburg, Druckenmiller was the man who met them head on and didn’t blink. 

Among Hokie quarterbacks with at least 20 starts, no one tops Druckenmiller’s .833 winning percentage as a starter (20-4 record). He shared the 1996 Big East Offensive Player of the Year with Donovan McNabb. He was also the first quarterback to lead the Hokies to two major bowls, including a Sugar Bowl win over Ricky Williams, Tony Brackens and the Texas Longhorns in 1995. Druckenmiller was a first-round draft pick by the San Francisco 49ers.

Best moment: November 18, 1995, “The Greatest Comeback I’ve Ever Seen!” Those words were given to us by legendary Hokie broadcaster Bill Roth after Jim Druckenmiller hit Jermaine Holmes for a 32-yard touchdown with 47 seconds left. The score and ensuing PAT gave the Hokies the lead after having been down 29-14 after three quarters. 

Antonio Banks followed with a walk-off pick six courtesy of Mike Groh, capping a 22-0 fourth quarter for Tech and setting off a wild celebration with Hokie fans in the UVa end zone. Druckenmiller was carried off the field on the shoulders of the Tech faithful. The win cemented a Sugar Bowl berth that would have been inconceivable nine weeks earlier, while also cementing Druckenmiller’s place in Hokie lore.

Years as a Starter: 2002-2004

Record as a Starter: 27-12

Leadership is a powerful trait, even if it’s not always fully understood or appreciated in the moment. The 2004 season was one that tested the mettle of the Hokies (and their fans), and required a team coming together for it to turn out the way it did. 

The leadership Bryan Randall provided Virginia Tech in 2004 cannot be overstated. 

But that special senior season for Randall was the culmination of a career’s-worth of experience and lessons that readied him. Randall played mostly mop-up minutes as a freshman and entered his sophomore season as the backup to Grant Noel. But when Noel went down with an injury during the LSU game, Randall took the reins. He won his first six starts, more often using his athleticism in lieu of passing heroics. But then reality hit. Tech lost four of their last five regular season games before rallying to win the Diamond Walnut Bowl in San Francisco. Randall’s sophomore season saw him throw for 2134 yards, 12 TD and 11 interceptions. He only eclipsed 200 yards in a game once, though that one time was a 504-yard outburst in a loss at Syracuse. Randall’s yardage in that game is second only to Don Strock on the single-game passing list.

More adversity hit in 2003, as the super-talented Hokies again started hot (6-0) before flagging late. Though Randall started every game, he was frequently looking over his shoulder at Marcus Vick, who found his way onto the field often throughout the season. The defense struggled mightily, putting more pressure on the offense. A perfect encapsulation of this was the Insight Bowl against Aaron Rodgers and Cal to end the season. Randall threw for 398 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, but the Hokies still lost 52-49. Two straight years of hot starts and poor finishes.

Then came his senior season. After a heartbreaker of a loss against Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and the USC Trojans at FedEx Field, Randall led the Hokies to wins in 10 of their last 11 regular season games. There were blowouts (Western Michigan, Florida A&M, Maryland), but there were plenty of close wins and comebacks too. 

One of the most notable was at Georgia Tech in late October. Down 20-12 with 5:44 left in the game, Randall hit Eddie Royal (80 yards) and Josh Morgan (51) on long touchdown passes to seize the lead. When Roland Minor’s pick six with less than a minute left capped the onslaught, the celebration was on in the visiting locker room, with Randall in the center. He was the undisputed leader of this team, and his teammates clearly responded to his leadership.

A Williamsburg native and graduate of Bruton High School, Randall’s superb college career earned him admission to the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. He’s currently the quarterbacks coach in his hometown at William & Mary. 

Best moment: December 4, 2004, “ACC Champs.” There was no ACC Championship game in 2004, as NCAA rules required a conference to have 12 teams in order to hold such a contest. The ACC wouldn’t add #12 until the 2005 season. The Hokies nevertheless played a de facto ACC Championship game at Miami to end the 2004 season. After an Eddie Royal punt return put Tech in fantastic field position, Randall proceeded to hit Royal in stride for a 39-yard score to break a 10-10 tie in the fourth quarter. Randall later hit Jeff King on a clutch 12-yard pass and catch on 3rd and 10 to keep the clock moving before the defense put the game to bed and gave the Hokies an ACC championship in their first year.

Years as a Starter: 1999-2000

Record as a Starter: 18-1

The most electric player to ever play for the Hokies, Michael Vick transformed the program and the university in ways no one else had before or has since. Vick’s arrival and performance paved the way for a decade-plus of elite-level football, putting Virginia Tech into another echelon in the college football landscape, as well as spurring unfathomable economic growth in Blacksburg and Southwest Virginia.

Vick electrified the home crowd in his collegiate debut as a redshirt freshman in 1999, rushing for three touchdowns against James Madison before injuring his ankle. It was an injury that limited him for several weeks, but he made a meaningful difference in every game he played and began captivating the nation as the season wore on. His 180.4 passing efficiency rating led the nation and was a record for a freshman. When he wasn’t throwing lasers, he was showcasing video-game moves and lightning speed while making defenders look silly.

The only game Vick didn’t win as a starter was the 1999 National Championship game, and he had his team leading in the fourth quarter of that game. His .947 winning percentage (18-1) as a starter is tops all-time at Tech.

Following the 1999 season, Vick was named Big East Offensive Player of the Year, the inaugural winner of the Archie Griffin Award as college football’s most valuable player, and finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting. 

The only thing that slowed Vick down in 2000 was an injury suffered against Pitt in the season’s 8th game that prevented him from meaningfully contributing to the Hokies’ only loss of the season at Miami. He nevertheless extended his highlight reel with a 210-yard rushing performance at Boston College, a 233-yard passing effort against West Virginia and much more. Despite being ranked 5th in the final BCS Rankings, the Hokies were passed over in favor of lower-ranked Notre Dame and Florida, and Vick ended his career with a thumping of the Clemson Tigers in the Gator Bowl. 

Vick was selected #1 overall in the NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons. He was a Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame inductee in 2017, and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2025.

Best moment: November 6, 1999, “It’s a Miracle in Morgantown!” The national championship game doesn’t happen without the heroics of Michael Vick on a cool November evening in northern West Virginia. All of the ingredients for a crushing upset loss were there. But when you’ve got a player like Vick on your side, you always feel like you’ve got a chance. Vick drove the Hokies down the field with the season on the line and his electric sideline-dancing sprint set up Shayne Graham’s clutch game-ending field goal.

Years as a Starter: 2007-2010

Record as a Starter: 34-8

Tyrod Taylor was a legitimate 5-star player coming out of Hampton high school, and was listed by some as the #1 dual-threat quarterback in the country. Twice, the Hokies tried to redshirt him. Twice, they pulled the redshirt early and thrust him into action. Along the way, Taylor went from athletic change-of-pace spark plug to a generational leader, dynamic passer and runner with a penchant for putting the team on his back.

Taylor’s first two seasons featured a mix-and-match approach with Sean Glennon and battling ankle injuries. But there were moments of greatness in these early years. Chief among them were his performance in the 2007 Florida State game. Taylor converted the famous 3rd-and-31 with an electric run on his way to throwing for 204 yards and two touchdowns while running for 92 yards and another score. It led to coach Beamer’s only victory over Bobby Bowden. 2009 was Taylor’s first as the entrenched starter, and he led the Hokies to a 10-3 record, a top 10 finish and a win over Lane Kiffin and the Tennessee Volunteers in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on new year’s eve.

His senior season of 2010 bore at least some resemblance to past seasons like 2004 and 1995, as it featured tough losses early followed by an avalanche of wins and ending with a conference title. Throughout the season, it was Taylor leading the way. In winning eleven straight games, Taylor put up 2743 passing yards with 24 touchdowns and only five interceptions. It was good enough to earn him ACC Player of the Year honors, which he capped with an ACC Championship Game MVP.

Of course, an argument can be made for Michael Vick to be ranked #1. But no one has won more games as a starter in Tech history than Tyrod Taylor, and it’s not particularly close. No one has as many rushing yards as a quarterback in Tech history and that’s not very close either. Taylor played an integral role on three conference championships (2007, 2008, 2010). His 7017 yards passing are second all-time at Tech, as are his 23 rushing touchdowns.

Tyrod Taylor just finished his 15th year as an NFL quarterback, a career that has seen him make a Pro Bowl, throw for over 13000 yards and 73 touchdowns and run for 20 more scores. He was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2024. 

Best moment: September 19, 2009, “Tyrod did it, Mikey! Tyrod did it!” Things looked bleak. Really bleak. Staring a 1-2 record in the face if they didn’t win, Taylor and the Hokies greeted the Nebraska Cornhuskers to Blacksburg. Nebraska, led by Ndamukong Suh, would finish the season #1 in scoring defense with 10.4 points per game. And they stymied Taylor and the Hokies for most of the day. Thankfully, the Hokie defense was up to the task as well, limiting the Huskers to five field goals and keeping them out of the end zone.

Nevertheless, the Hokies found themselves down 15-10 with 1:44 remaining. After running 17 plays for only 53 yards in the entire second half, they stood 88 yards away from the touchdown they needed to win the game. On second down from his own 16, Taylor found Danny Coale streaking wide open down the right sideline for an improbable 81-yard gain to the 3-yard line. Three plays later, he rolled out, waited, scrambled, waited, scrambled more, and finally found Dyrell Roberts in the back of the end zone to complete the epic comeback. 

Folks, that’s a truck full of memories and frankly, we barely scratched the surface covering 25 players who will forever be a significant part of our history. With our countdown of the 25 Hokie quarterbacks who were primary starters complete, we have one more task before us. 

Next week, we’ll turn our attention to eleven guys who contributed at least one start in the Chicago Maroon & Burnt Orange in the past 50 years. There’s a little of everything in this group, from saviors to journeymen, and quite a few fun memories. So stay tuned next week for our final installment of this series. We will also share a complete statistical listing of all 36 quarterbacks to give you some of the math behind this exercise. 

Thanks for reading!