Virginia Tech Football 2025 Offseason Outlook: Wide Receiver

The turnover of the 2025 Virginia Tech team is becoming glaringly obvious. The Hokies lost plenty of talent to the transfer portal and lost even more production to graduation. At wide receiver, the Hokies' roster is still deep with talent, but the experience level is less than desired. Virginia Tech added a couple of transfer portal players, and the Hokies will continue to built on the talent already at the position.

Who is leaving?

This list is long. The Hokies' receiving room will almost look entirely different in 2025.

Two-way athletic playmaker Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw from Bluefield, Virginia entered the transfer portal this offseason. Turner-Bradshaw recorded four rushed for 76 yards as a Hokie in 2023, and retuened one punt for 20 yards in 2024. Xayvion had one reception for nine yards in 2023. He transitioned to the defensive side of the ball this year, but Turner-Bradshaw is an extremely physically gifted wide receiver, and he has not yet found a transfer portal destination.

Redshirt freshman Chance Fitzgerald was another big loss in the transfer portal. Like Turner-Bradshaw, Fitzgerald was set for much more playing time in 2025 with a completely new depth chart. Chance played in twelve games primarily on special teams through two years, and recorded one tackle. Chance was a three-star recruit out of high school, and found a transfer portal destination in Vanderbilt.

Walk-on wide receiver Jordan Tapscott also entered the transfer portal after not seeing game action in two years with the Hokies' program. Tapscott transferred to D2 Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Former three-star wide receiver Marcell Baylor, who was not with the team in 2024, will not return in 2025 as he also found a new destination in the transfer portal. Baylor also transferred to a D2 program at Emory & Henry University.

There's all of the depth that the Hokies lost at wide receiver to the transfer portal, but the Hokies also lost all of their starters as they were all seniors.

The multi-faceted slot receiver Jaylin Lane is headed to the NFL.

A breakdown of Jaylin Lane's career and draft potential, per Virginia Tech Athletics:

"Versatility is a valuable trait to have when making the transition to the pros, and Lane displayed that on offense and special teams. The redshirt senior found the endzone in a variety of ways in 2024, with two receiving touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, a punt return touchdown and a passing touchdown. Lane’s impact on the offense was undeniable, averaging 12.7 yards per reception and over five yards per rushing attempt over two seasons. During his time as a Hokie, he corralled 79 receptions for 1,004 yards while totaling over 1,400 all-purpose yards."

The former Norfolk State wide receiver Da'Quan Felton is also headed to the NFL Combine.

Here's a breakdown of Felton's career at Virginia Tech and his potential draft prospects, also courtesy of Virginia Tech Athletics:

"The second of a trio of veteran receivers that transferred in 2023, which included Lane, Felton is a big-bodied downfield target who does a great job taking the top off a defense. In his two seasons donning maroon and orange, the graduate student surpassed 1,000 receiving yards with double-digit touchdowns. Felton’s strongest season came in his first year with the Hokies, posting 667 receiving yards and averaging 17.6 yards per catch, which included an 84-yard reception, a 70-yard catch and a 62-yarder. He showcased his speed this past season as well with a 55-yard catch and run on the road against Stanford."

The other starting wide receiver for the Hokies in 2024, Ali Jennings, is also headed to the NFL, even though he is not going to the Combine. Ali met with the Panthers and the Steelers at the Hula Bowl and he is almost certainly going to find a destination at the next level, possibly in the draft. Jennings struggled with injury the two years he was with Virginia Tech, and he only had 20 receptions. However, Ali had amazing years at Old Dominion in 2021 in 2022. Jennings combined for over 2,000 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns after only two years at the school.

The last senior who is also headed to the NFL Draft is Stephen Gosnell, the brother of Benji Gosnell. Stephen was one yard shy of a thousand yards in his collegiate career and he started 22 games over the past two years. Gosnell had 506 receiving yards in 2024, and was the most sure-handed player on the squad.

Who is returning?

The Hokies bring back plenty of talent at the wide receiver position, but they don’t exactly bring back much in terms of production. From last year’s roster, here’s who the Hokies retained at wide receiver: Takye Heath, Keylen Adams, Chanz Wiggins, Tucker Holloway, Ayden Greene, L.J. Booker, and walk-on Charlie O’Connor.

If the Hokies didn’t make any additions to this wide receiver room, they would have just seven players at receiver, with one of those players being a walk-on.

Takye Heath was in and out of the two-deep depth chart this year, and he stands out to me as a potential breakout candidate in 2025. He graded out at 60.7 by PFF, better than his peer Da’Quan Felton, granted with less playtime. Heath ran the ball once for six yards against Vanderbilt and caught one pass early in the season for five yards, but didn’t record a stat after that. I see Takye Heath battling with Ayden Greene and Tucker Holloway for downs at slot receiver.

Ayden Greene had the most production in 2024 out of any returning player at the wide receiver position. Greene recorded nineteen catches for 268 yards and he ran the ball nine times for 66 yards, an average of 7.3 yards per carry. Although his playing time was limited through the middle of the season, he was one of the most productive wide receivers on the 2024 roster when he got ample targets. Greene had 115 receiving yards against Minnesota in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. He also had seven games where he recorded 20+ receiving yards or scored a touchdown. To me, those numbers show impact, and he’s likely the starter at slot for the Hokies in 2025.

Tucker Holloway got the short end of the stick at the slot position. Holloway seemed prime for a breakout season as a receiver and punt returner after rushing for a 33-yard TD in his only rushing attempt, becoming the Hokies’ full-time punt returner, and hauling in 5 catches for 49 yards, but it just didn’t shake out that way. Tucker suffered an injury that kept him out of the entirety of the 2024 season. In his career, he’s returned 31 career punts for 449 yards and one touchdown. That’s good for over 14.4 yards per punt return, extremely solid at the Power Four level. It may take a second to get Holloway back up to speed, but he could have a lot of added responsibility in 2025.

Keylen Adams was one of the Hokies’ receivers who broke out in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. He ran the ball once for 47 yards and caught one pass for 17 yards. I’d like to see him get more reps in 2025.

Chanz Wiggins, the 6-foot-3 receiver, played in four games last year, but did not record a stat. He was a four-star recruit out of high school, and like Keylen Adams, I’d expect him to be one of the primary backup outside receivers.

L.J. Booker was a walk-on, but he was also a three-star recruit. Booker received offers from other FBS teams, but opted to stay home at Virginia Tech. He has yet to see game action, as he redshirted in 2024, but with the removal of the depth at wide receiver, Booker could get some reps in 2025.

Charlie O’Conner is the Hokies’ other walk-on at wide receiver. He still has four more years of eligibility, but it’s the same story as L.J. Booker. With all of that depth leaving, O’Conner could get his shot.

Who did the Hokies add?

The Hokies added two players likely to man the wide receiver positions.

Donavon Greene is the most proven wide receiver of the two. Greene, a four-star recruit out of high school was fairly consistent for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in four years with the school. He recorded more than 240 receiving yards in all four years, and recorded 380 or more in each of the last three seasons. He has proven production at the ACC level, including one game this year against Virginia with 166 yards and a touchdown, that type of dominance over Virginia proves how much of an impact Greene will have in Blacksburg.

Cam Seldon from Tennessee hails a different story though. Seldon was a wide receiver throughout high school, but transitioned to running back at Tennessee, and now he’s likely to switch back to his former outside role. Seldon averaged 5.1 yards per carry last year as a Volunteer. He also returned 3 kicks for 77 yards and ran for one touchdown. Seldon’s skills as a wide receiver weren’t used much at Tennessee, so he could shock the world in 2025.

The Hokies’ high school class was also stacked at wide receiver.

The only early enrollee at wide receiver was the two-sport athlete Micah Matthews. He is an incredibly athlete who will play both baseball at football at Virginia Tech. He brings gamebreaking after-the-catch abilities to the wide receiver position, and his stats at the high school level are undeniable. Matthews has a chance to be an impact freshman in two different sports at Virginia Tech.

The other three high school additions in the Hokies’ 2025 wide receiver class are not early enrollees.

Shamarius Peterkin is the most exciting of the bunch. A four-star recruit from North Carolina chose the Hokies over schools like NC State, North Carolina, and Georgia. He has every trait of an elite wide receiver, great ball skills, quick acceleration, and amazing routes. “Snook” Peterkin is a name to look out for in 2025.

Cameron Sparks, the Hokies’ most recent high school signee, announced his commitment to Virginia Tech during the beginning of February. He’s a very dependable wide receiver who had ran some really smooth routes at the high school level. His height, 6-foot-3, already translates to the next level, but we’ll see if his athleticism can get him some looks in his freshman season.

The final addition to the Hokies’ wide receiver room is Jayden Anderson, one of many Hokies’ signees from Green Run High School. Anderson recorded a time of 6.67 in the 55-meter dash and is listed at 5-foot-11 on 247Sports and 5-foot-10 on the Virginia Tech Athletics website. He likely grades out as a solid slot receiver once he puts on some weight. Virginia Tech Athletics has him listed at 160 pounds.

Additional Links:

Virginia Tech Football 2025 Offseason Outlook: Running Back

Virginia Tech Recruiting: 2026 LB Mathieu Kanu Sets Official Visit Date With Hokies

Virginia Tech Football 2025 Offseason Outlook: Quarterbac