Whatever happens over the next two weekends, UVA Football coach Tony Elliott is going to have a lot of work to do, and pretty much right away, to piece together a working roster for 2025.
Elliott’s 2024 Virginia roster has 20 seniors and 23 grad students, so, just off the top, that’s 43 guys, barring a random guy here and there getting a medical redshirt, that have to be accounted for.
Then you factor in that Elliott lost 15 guys from the 2023 roster to the transfer portal, and 14 back from the 2022 roster.
This might be the mother lode of all roster overhauls, is what I’m getting at here.
It’s worth looking at how the guys that Elliott and his staff have been able to get from the transfer portal have done for UVA Football this season, to get a handle on what to expect after the season finale on Nov. 30 at Virginia Tech, which is when you can expect the portal activity to commence.
Key contributors
- Kam Butler, defensive end, Miami (Ohio) (2022): Butler was supposed to be a one-and-done guy in 2022, but got the extra year after the Nov. 13 shootings, then a medical redshirt after going down to injury early in 2023. In 2024, Butler (Pro Football Focus grade: 76.8) has just one sack, but his 37 QB pressures ranks in the Top 20 nationally.
- Kempton Shine, cornerback, Eastern Michigan (2024): Shine (PFF grade: 77.5) is the embodiment of shutdown corner, allowing just 12 catches on 34 targets in pass coverage, with five pass breakups and a 66.7 NFL passer rating against.
- Corey Thomas, safety, Akron (2024): Thomas (PFF grade: 76.5) has been on the field for 538 snaps, with 42 tackles, 24 of those on run plays, and a 90.8 NFL passer rating against in pass coverage.
- Kobe Pace, tailback, Clemson (2023): Pace (PFF grade: 72.5) has 479 yards on the ground on a team-high 107 attempts this season, and 20 catches on 26 targets for 184 yards out of the backfield.
- Tyler Neville, tight end, Harvard (2024): Neville (PFF grade: 67.5) has 31 catches on 46 targets for 352 yards and two TDs in 2024. His run blocking grade (67.0, on 232 run snaps) is solid, though his pass blocking grade (50.1, albeit on just 38 pass block snaps) isn’t.
- Brian Stevens, center, Dayton (2023): Stevens has been a two-year starter on the O line, logging 869 snaps with a 76.8 PFF grade in 2023, and 643 snaps with a 66.8 PFF grade in 2024. It’s not arguable to say that he has buoyed the O line the past two years.
- Kendren Smith, cornerback, Penn (2024): Smith is getting plenty of run (420 snaps, 57.3 PFF grade), and has been good in pass coverage (89.0 NFL passer rating against).
- Jam Jackson, cornerback, Robert Morris (2024): Jackson (627 snaps, PFF grade: 56.6) is a feast-or-famine guy (five PBUs, four TDs allowed, 105.7 NFL passer rating against).
Honorable mention
- Trell Harris, wide receiver, Kent State (2024): Would have loved to have seen what Harris could have done to stretch defenses based on the early returns (13 catches/18 targets, 201 yards, two TDs in three games, 69.9 PFF grade).
- Tony Muskett, quarterback, Monmouth (2023): Muskett (74.1 PFF grade in 2023, 73.6 PFF grade in 2024) could very well be the starter for the final two weeks, with Anthony Colandrea (71.6 PFF grade in 2023, 66.5 PFF grade in 2024) regressing the past three weeks.
Getting snaps
- Chris Tyree, wide receiver, Notre Dame (2024): Tyree (PFF grade: 57.4) has been a disappointment – 23 catches on 35 targets, just 127 yards in 2024.
- Andre Greene Jr., wide receiver, North Carolina (2024): Greene (PFF grade: 54.9) is another disappointment – nine catches on 19 targets, 74 yards in 2024 for the former four-star recruit.
- Ugonna Nnanna, offensive line, Houston (2023): Nnanna (PFF grade: 53.3) keeps getting thrown out there (377 snaps in 2024), despite his unit-low pass block grade (37.2).
Injured list
- Dorian Jones, linebacker, Cincinnati (2024): Jones (PFF grade: 63.7) only got on the field twice in the opening seven games, but he’s been on for 97 snaps in the past three.
- Jimmy Christ, offensive line, Penn State (2023): Christ has gotten on the field in four games (77 snaps), but he hasn’t been effective (PFF grade: 52.1).
- Sage Ennis, tight end, Clemson (2024): Ennis (PFF grade: 60.1) was in on 72 snaps over four games before re-injuring a knee that had cut his 2023 season at Clemson short.
- Ethan Sipe, offensive line, Dartmouth (2024): Sipe got 20 snaps in the season opener with Richmond, suffered a broken foot, and was lost for the season thereafter.
Analysis
Elliott and Co. have been able to plug some holes through the portal, but aside from what we saw from Malik Washington in 2023 (110 catches, 1,426 yards), the portal hasn’t elevated the overall talent level in any of Elliott’s three years.
If the past two years’ trends continue, Elliott will need to replace not only the bulk of those 43 grad students and seniors from this year’s roster, but another 12-15 guys who will hit the portal either in search of more snaps or a chance to play for a winning program.
Elliott indicated in an interview on the ACC Network last week that it’s hard to work the portal at UVA because of the strict academics that limit him to either guys who have just completed their freshman year or grad students.
Flip side, prep recruiting isn’t going so great, either – 247Sports has the 2024 UVA class 15th in the ACC and 88th nationally, behind the likes of Toledo (66th), North Texas (69th), Western Michigan (71st), Charlotte (74th), Arkansas State (77th) and South Alabama (83rd).
It took a roster of 43 seniors and grad students to get Virginia to 5-5 with two games to go in 2024.
Next year, with the bulk of those 43, and additional 12-15, off to the working world or greener pastures, promises to be another Year 1 rebuild.
Video: UVA Football transfer portal recruiting
Share
Chris Graham
