Boston College · W 21-14
No catches.
Pittsburgh · L 33-35
No catches.
California · L 20-25
No catches.
Clemson · W 20-16
1 catch, 6 yards
The other 4 games average 19 yards. This one was 13 below.
Hairston has catches in 5 of Virginia Tech’s 8 games: none against Boston College, Pittsburgh and California.
Dashed line: 100 yards.
Ja'Ricous Hairston
Played for two head coaches at Virginia Tech: Brent Pry and James Franklin. A game that shows it: 35 receiving yards and 2 receptions against Old Dominion — Week 2, 2026.
81 receiving yards · 6 catches · 2 receiving TD
Play style
Is the first read once you cross the 20.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Fans first named Ja'Ricous Hairston vs Old Dominion.
Against Clemson on Oct. 24: 1 catch for 6 yards. In the 5 games drawn here: 6 catches for 81 yards. Virginia Tech has thrown to him 8 times in 169 passes.
Each game is split into its four quarters, so the columns line up from game to game; inside a quarter, plays keep their order. Third and fourth downs are marked under the line, bold when he moved the chains.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Virginia Tech | 6 | 81 | 13.5 | 2 | 33 |
| 2025 | Virginia Tech | 12 | 112 | 9.3 | 3 | 33 |
| Career | 18 | 193 | 10.7 | 5 | 33 |
Last game (Wk 8): 6 receiving yards, 1 catch.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 6 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 73-3vs VMI | 1 | 33 | 33.0 | 0 | 33 | |
| Wk 2 | W 44-21vs Old Dominion | 2 | 35 | 17.5 | 0 | 30 | Season-high 35 yds |
| Wk 3 | W 35-26@ Maryland | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Wk 6 | L 20-25@ California | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Wk 7 | W 34-24vs Georgia Tech | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 1 | 5 | |
| Wk 8 | W 20-16@ Clemson | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Total | 6 | 81 | 13.5 | 2 | 33 |
Week 7 · 2026
W 34-24
vs Georgia Tech
1 rec · 5 yds · 1 TD
With Q. Brown — 6 rec · 182 yds · 1 TD · 12 rush yds (1 car) · E. Grunkemeyer — 250 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 62.3 · 25 rush yds (13 car) · 1 TD
Ratings of the games shown run from -15 to +5 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 6 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 1.3 | 24.3 | 18.5 | 0.3 |
| Road3g | 0.7 | 2.7 | 4.0 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 1.0 | 15.0 | 14.4 | 0.4 |
| Weeks 8+1g | 1.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
James Franklin
Pass share
48.9%
277 pass / 289 run
Plays / game
70.8
8 games
Team sack rate
9.0%
290 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
Fewer catches a game than most FBS tight ends who play every week.
Recognition
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-ACC
Based on 2025: #21 of 22 ACC TEs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).
2026 is in progress.
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
3 coachesPlayed under 3 different head coaches: Brent Pry, Philip Montgomery, and James Franklin. Multi-era developmental context.
