Home Mailbag: Tony Bennett-Pack Line D, would things be different with Jay Woolfolk at QB?
Basketball, Football

Mailbag: Tony Bennett-Pack Line D, would things be different with Jay Woolfolk at QB?

Chris Graham

Any chance Tony deviates from all Pack Line?

reece beekman
Photo: ACC/N. Redmond

Curious to your opinion on if UVA will run anything besides their Pack Line D. They potentially will have Reece Beekman (top 5 defender in the country, if not the best) Dante Harris (Tony Bennett said he is one of the best on-ball defenders he has coached), Ryan Dunn (the second coming of Scottie Pippen?) and Jordan Minor (defensive player of the year in his conference). 

It seems with that much defensive firepower, UVA might run more traps or press. Also, UVA will not be big inside so the Pack Line staple of doubling the post might be tougher than in years past. 

As much as I would love to see us push the defensive pressure and create turnovers and some easy transition, I would bet we just play Pack Line.

– Russell M.


I don’t see Tony ever deviating from the Pack Line. I view the guys you mentioned fitting perfectly into his system.

Dunn, at the four spot, could be this group’s De’Andre Hunter, athletic enough to guard all five positions on switches, which takes away pick-and-rolls with his guy.

The hard hedge on the pick-and-roll is effectively a double-team aimed at getting the ball out of the point guard’s hands, forcing the ball to move across the court rather than using the pick-and-roll to attack the paint.

I wouldn’t want to be a point guard facing a Dunn-and-Beekman or Minor-and-Harris double-team.

The ball pressure from Beekman and Harris should be next-level.

The post doubles should help negate the size disadvantage in the post, and it helps having a big-time shot blocker like Minor on the back end.

– C.G.

Could Jay Woolfolk been a difference-maker at QB?

jay woolfolk
Photo: UVA Athletics

Another nail-biting finish. They seem to be turning the corner now.

Do you think the football record is better if Jay Woolfolk had decided to play football?

Just seems like his athleticism would make a difference. Maybe two more wins.

Just a thought.  

– Bryan P.


You know, I don’t have a problem with either of the two QBs and how they’ve played this year.

I’m not sure that Woolfolk is worth an extra win or two. Both Tony Muskett and Anthony Colandrea seem to be plenty mobile in the pocket, and they’ve been using Muskett well the past couple of games on QB draws.

Muskett’s issue with sacks, to me, is a function of his decision-making. It looks to me that at times, he lets himself get flustered by pressure coming up the middle, and takes his eyes off his receivers downfield in those instances.

I don’t know, either, that we saw enough of Woolfolk when he was with the football program to get a good feel for how he would fit into the pro-style scheme of Tony Elliott and Des Kitchings.

I assume that factored at least a tiny bit into his decision to forego football to focus on baseball.

– C.G.

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Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to Substack or his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].

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