Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – From a combination of raw strength, agility and explosiveness, the 2025 version of the Virginia Tech defensive line is looking to be a force this season. With just a few weeks until the Hokies take the field against South Carolina in the 2025 Aflac Kickoff Game, defensive line coach J.C. Price’s unit has been diligently working through fall camp as the team barrels towards a late August start. In this week’s Position Preview, we review the student-athletes who are poised to raise “Sacksburg” to new heights this fall.
Price returns for his ninth overall season year in Blacksburg. A former defensive lineman himself, Price has been integral in the success of several key Hokies, including but not limited to the NFL-bound duo of Antwaun Powell-Ryland and Aeneas Peebles. With those two in the pro ranks, Tech’s defensive line will look slightly different, but key members of the front have returned to wreak havoc once more in Blacksburg.
Keyshawn Burgos is one of those members. Standing at a towering 6-foot-5, 260 pounds, Burgos enters 2025 after playing in all 13 games a season ago. The Chesterfield, Va. native tallied 33 tackles over four starts in 2024, including a pair of TFLs alongside a half sack, and was instrumental in getting to opposing quarterbacks throughout the season. Burgos also finds his rhythm in special teams schemes, evidenced by his blocked-kick-turned-touchdown against Clemson on Nov. 9, 2024. With 36 career appearances over three years in Blacksburg, fans can expect the senior to make a profound impact under first-year defensive coordinator Sam Siefkes in 2025.
Joining Burgos is redshirt senior Kelvin Gilliam Jr. Entering his second year as a Hokie after spending three at Oklahoma, Gilliam also featured in all 13 matchups and tallied 35 tackles over six starts. Gilliam’s 6-foot-3, 295-pound frame bodes well for getting after the quarterback, something Tech fans were able to witness from his additional 3.5 TFLs and his quarterback hurry against Virginia last fall.
Joining fellow Hokies at the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte, N.C. this past July, Gilliam had a chance to step to the microphone and discuss the mentality of the defensive line this season. “These are the same guys that show up to work each and every day since January, and I told these guys, ‘We are on a mission...a mission for success.’”
Redshirt junior Kemari Copeland is also someone Hokie fans should keep their eye on during the 2025 campaign. Copeland first garnered national attention when he obliterated the Virginia Tech all-time squat record in 2024, repping a staggering 605 pounds ten times to set the new team best. Now entering his second season with the Hokies, it seems as if nothing has changed: Copeland just recently landed himself on The Athletic’s 2025 “Freaks List” for the second consecutive year for squatting 685 pounds and benching 455 this summer. It’s also been reported that the 6-foot-3, 283-pound athlete was measured with a 32.5-inch vertical jump and a 9-foot-5 broad jump. Look for that athleticism to be on full display for Price and the Hokies this season.
Head Coach Brent Pry and the Tech football staff utilized the transfer portal to help provide depth to the defensive line in 2025. Key additions include Texas State’s Ben Bell, Eastern Michigan’s James Djonkam, Mercer’s Arias Nash, South Florida’s Immanuel Hickman, North Dakota State’s Kody Huisman, and Georgia Southern’s Elhadj Fall. The six newly acquired Hokies all come to Blacksburg with resumes that suggest their talents will transfer over nicely for Tech football.
A fifth-year student from Cedar Park, Texas, Bell finds his way to Blacksburg after earning Lombardi and Bednarik Award Watch List nods in 2024. The 6-foot-1, 235-pound transfer played in four games in the Bobcats’ 8-5 effort last year, registering six TFLs for 39 yards and 3.5 sacks for 33 yards. Joining Bell at the edge position is Djonkam, who led the Eastern Michigan defense with 98 tackles in 2024 and put up 11.5 TFLs with three sacks. The incoming graduate student stands at 6-foot-2, 258 pounds and demonstrated speed behind his three pass breakups, four hurries and a forced fumble last year.
Fall, Nash, Hickman, and Huisman round out a strong transfer class for the Hokies. Fall played in 13 games last season, recording 20 tackles, including 4.5 TFLs and two sacks in 477 snaps. 2024 was productive for then-junior Nash, who enters his senior year after posting nine sacks in 14 games for the Bears. Hickman provides depth with his 6-foot-3, 307-pound frame and joins Tech as a graduate student from Chesterfield, Va., while senior Huisman brings tackling skills to the trenches (37 in 2024) after winning an FCS national title.
A host of other returners along the line make the position among the deepest on the roster. Redshirt sophomores Aycen Stevens and Jason Abbey are part of a group battling in the trenches. Stevens played in all 13 games last year, after making the move from linebacker, showing promise with three tackles, a sack, and a quarterback hurry. Abbey has played in 17 games over the last two years, including every game last year.
Alongside Stevens and Abbey is a pair of redshirt freshman tackles in Emmett Laws and Andrew Hanchuk. Laws played in two games last season out of DeMatha Catholic High School in Maryland and is poised to have a bigger impact in 2025, while Hanchuk has worked his way back nicely from an injury.
Redshirt freshmen Deric Dandy and Gerard Johnson, along with redshirt senior James Jennette provide even more depth and competition. Jennette has played in 21 games the past two seasons, primarily on special teams.
Three freshmen defensive linemen have made their way to Blacksburg eager to learn and grow with their first taste of college football, Virginia products, Zeke Chinwike and Christian Evans, along with Sherrod Henderson.
With the season inching ever closer, Price and the defensive line are deep in their offseason preparation. Purchase tickets now so you don't miss out on your chance to see the Hokies take the field in Lane Stadium later this fall!