Midseason Stat Nuggets

I like to preach the importance of sample size.

It takes time to gauge how strong or weak a team really is. Consider this: Virginia Tech is six games into its college football season. If this were college basketball, the season would be 18% over. In college baseball, it'd be 10% over.

Of course, it would be futile to wait around for such an equivalency in football ("Check back in 2027 when I tell you about the Virginia Tech run defense!"). But most of the literature suggests it takes about 6-7 games for numbers to start evening out in the sport once known as gridiron.

And so we've arrived. With the Hokies' 2024 campaign halfway done and flying by fast, I sifted through the numbers and picked out some key stats to paint the story of the season thus far.

Drone(s) Strike

From an efficiency perspective, Kyron Drones had one of the best passing games of his career last Saturday against Stanford. The final line: 14-of-19 for 201 yards, two touchdowns, and no picks.

It was a welcome sight for a passing game that has struggled for the majority of the season. As a team, the Hokies rank 99th in drop-back success rate and 67th in yards per attempt.

And yet the studious folks at Pro Football Focus rate Drones as the 24th-highest-graded quarterback in the country.

Now, stop and think about that. Here are Drones' PFF ranks this year compared to last year.

2023: 64th overall QB, 101st passing, 11th rushing
2024: 24th overall, 41st passing, 15th rushing

That's a 60-spot improvement in passing from his sophomore season! Drones has always been a threat with his legs, but he has now morphed into a capable thrower, at least according to PFF.

Accepting that PFF grades should be taken with a grain of salt, it begs an interesting question: what do the graders see in Drones that might not be reflected in his stat-line?