On Tuesday, the watch list for the 2025 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award was unveiled, featuring a lone Hokie: Kyron Drones. The annual award recognizes the top senior or upperclassman college football quarterback of the year, based on athletic performance and personal character. The watch list consisted of 57 other quarterbacks in addition to Drones.
Conference of QBs represent once again 📈 13 ACC Quarterbacks named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List. pic.twitter.com/9thewgApmU
— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) August 21, 2025
In 2024, Drones compiled 1,562 passing yards, 10 passing touchdowns and six interceptions. The then-redshirt junior missed four games and was sidelined for the remainder of the season after going down against Clemson. Drones ended the year with a quarterback rating of 53.1, good for No. 80 in the nation.
“I was trying to show that I can throw, especially in the first early games where I wasn’t really truly being myself,” Drones said to Adam Breneman on Breneman’s “Next Up” podcast. “And then I would say going into that Miami game, I really just changed the switch and just like went out there and started being me again until I couldn’t play anymore.”…