Can Keytaon Thompson lead Virginia back to the ACC Championship Game?

Keytaon Thompson is headed to Virginia as a grad transfer, but can he lead the Cavaliers back to the ACC Championship Game?

Keytaon Thompson entered the transfer portal just before last season started, but he wound up staying at Mississippi State for the entire campaign. He re-entered the transfer portal in late-April, and on Friday Thompson announced he is transferring to Virginia.

Thompson has earned his degree from Mississippi State, so he will be immediately eligible to play with two years of eligibility left.

Thompson played in 20 games for the Bulldogs, with two starts. His first start came in place of an injured Nick Fitzgerald against Louisville and Lamar Jackson as a true freshman in the 2017 TaxSlayer Bowl, a 31-27 win for Mississippi State where he had three rushing touchdowns. The second was in the 2018 season opener, in place of a suspended Fitzgerald, and Thompson threw for 364 yards and five touchdowns against Stephen F. Austin in 63-6 victory. He threw just eight passes over the rest of the 2018 season.

Then-Bulldogs coach Joe Moorhead welcomed grad transfer Tommy Stevens last year, and he beat Thompson out for the starting job. Thompson made just one appearance in a game last season, with no pass attempts and one reception.

New Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach brought in a grad transfer of his own, K.J. Costello from Stanford, so the writing was clearly on the wall for Thompson again On April 20, he put his name back in the transfer portal.

In four seasons under head coach Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia has gone from 2-10 to nine wins and an ACC Coastal Division title last year. But Bryce Perkins, who set school records for passing yards (3,538) and total offense (4,307 yards) last season, is gone. Sophomore Brennan Armstrong saw action in seven games as Perkins’ backup last year, going 15-for-20 through the air for 196 yards.

Mendenhall spoke about the addition of Thompson, and the value of having two capable quarterback in a quest to repeat as ACC Coastal champions.

"“Keytaon is big, physical, fast, dynamic, an exceptional athlete,” Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall said on a video posted to Twitter on Friday. “To win the Coastal division and the ACC championship, two quarterbacks are always necessary, not just one. So in addition to Brennan Armstrong, that we already love, we get a chance to now welcome Keytaon Thompson to our program. That just increases our chances to have the season we’re all hoping for.”"

Thompson is big (6-foot-4, 225 pound) and mobile, as he accounted for 18 touchdowns (eight passing, 10 rushing) during his time at Mississippi State. Coming out of high school in New Orleans, 247 Sports ranked him the No. 5  dual-threat quarterback in the 2017 class. So the dual-threat component Perkins brought to table could be seamless with Thompson.

Assuming there is any sort of meaningful preseason camp this year, Thompson has experience on his side in what’s likely to be a competition with Armstrong for the starting job.

Replacing Perkins will be no easy task for whoever starts. But Thompson just might be up to the task and lead the Cavaliers back to Charlotte for a likely repeat matchup against Clemson.