Bronco Mendenhall formally welcomed two grad transfers on Monday – defensive back Anthony Johnson, recently of Louisville, and tight end Jelani Woods, recently of Oklahoma State.
Both have signed grant-in-aid documents and will enroll at UVA this February when the University’s spring semester begins.
Johnson and Woods will each have two years of eligibility remaining.
Johnson, who graduated from Louisville with a degree in marketing, appeared in 32 games in three seasons at Louisville, including eight of the Cardinals’ 11 games in 2020.
A three-star prep recruit, Johnson was on the field for 836 snaps over his three years at Louisville, recording 42 career tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, two interceptions, breaking up 15 passes, and allowing opposing passers to complete 56.1 percent of their attempts his way, for an 84.3 NFL passer rating.
Johnson (2020 Pro Football Focus grade: 64.9) will be a nice addition to a UVA secondary that had already received good news in the form of the returns of graduate-eligible players Nick Grant (2020 PFF grade: 63.7) and De’Vante Cross (2020 PFF grade: 49.5), the two incumbent starters at cornerback in 2020.
Woods (2020 PFF grade: 61.6) appeared in 34 games for Oklahoma State with 28 career starts in three seasons.
The 6’7”, 275-pound former quarterback was a two-time (2018 and 2019) All-Big 12 honorable mention honoree by the league’s coaches and also earned All-Big 12 Academic Team honors (second team) in 2020.
Woods, who graduated from Oklahoma State with a degree in management, leaves Oklahoma State with 31 career receptions on 45 targets (four drops) for 361 yards and four touchdowns.
In 10 games in 2020, Woods notched nine receptions for 129 yards and one touchdown.
A three-star prep recruit, Woods (2020 PFF run blocking grade: 72.6) helped pave the way for Chuba Hubbard to lead the FBS in rushing yards and earn All-America and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year status in 2019. Woods graduated from Oklahoma State with a degree in management.
Woods will help fill the void left behind by the pending departure of 2020 grad transfer Tony Poljan (2020 PFF grade: 71.0), who had 38 catches on 61 targets (four drops) for 411 yards and six TDs in 2020.
Story by Chris Graham
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