UVA Football coach Tony Elliott lost the top three receivers from the 2025 team that won a school-record 11 games.
We knew going into the offseason that we’d be without Cam Ross (53 catches/79 targets, 543 yards), a sixth-year senior – but the losses of Trell Harris (59 catches/82 targets, 847 yards) and Jahmal Edrine (46 catches/72 targets, 564 yards) were surprises.
Harris ended up putting his name into the transfer portal, and ended up at Oklahoma.
Edrine decided to stay for a second season at Virginia, but was indicted on rape and abduction charges in February, and is no longer in the program.
So, it’s a clean slate heading into the 2026 season.
Wideouts room: 2026
- Jacquon Gibson (UMass): 63 catches/95 targets, 616 yards, 9.8 yards/catch.
- Da’Shawn Martin (Kent State): 33 catches/48 targets, 507 yards, 15.4 yards/catch, four TDs in 2025.
- Rico Flores Jr. (UCLA): 26 catches/37 targets, 274 yards, 10.5 yards/catch.
- Tyson Davis (Central Michigan): 25 catches/33 targets, 323 yards, 12.9 yards/catch, two TDs.
- Kam Courtney (Virginia): 25 catches/37 targets, 234 yards, 9.4 yards/catch.
Elliott on his wideouts
The following is from the assessment that Elliott offered to reporters at a press conference on Thursday.
On the transfer class
“Really excited about what the transfers brought in. I think Rico (Flores Jr.) is very, very steady, and he’s probably going to be a lot like JT (Jayden Thomas) in that he can play all three positions and give us really, really good production at each of those positions. Dede, Da’Shawn Martin, we call him Dede, he’s dynamic, so I think he’s got an opportunity. And then Jacquon (Gibson) has been probably the most steady and consistent of those guys.
“So, I think with the three additions, you got some really good raw material to work with. Now we just got to figure out now that we’ve really had 14 practices to evaluate which one of the spots do they really do they really fit in.”
On his returning guys
“TyLyric (Coleman) we talked about when we’re going to have to he’s going to have to continue to train in the direction he’s going. Kam Courtney, being the elder statesman from an experience standpoint, I thought he had a good spring, saw improvement there. I think he’s probably the most ready to be that consistent playmaker for us, has the most experience, the best understanding of the system, just because he’s been here and he’s played the most. I need the two young pups to continue to just progress, Dillon (Newton-Short) and Zay, Zay Robinson.
“Those two, and they’ve made strides. Josiah’s (Persinger) another one that’s been working really, really hard and been consistent, and I think that was the biggest thing with Josiah, is just, hey, let’s work on the consistency, and once we get the consistency where it needs to be, then I think the playmaking ability, and he made a couple plays out there today that you can see that because he’s focusing on the consistency. Now you’re starting to see some of the big plays come out of him.
“Dylan Cope has been a really, really pleasant surprise so quickly, right. I mean, when you get those mid-year freshmen or first-year receivers here, like, man, they’re swimming. But you see him, he can really run, and it doesn’t look like the intensity or the level of competition intimidate him. He was ready to jump right in.”
Options at slot receiver
“So, when you look at it, right now Kam Courtney, because he’s played there. Josiah (Persinger) has been in the slot for us. Jacquon (Gibson) was there for most of the spring. There’s even talk about giving Dede (Da’Shawn Martin) a shot inside now that we see kind of what his skill set is. Those are probably the four candidates for that position right there. And then they’ll also have to play the Z and possibly the X for us. And so that’s where we’ll start and I think we got enough competition there for somebody to be able to emerge.”
Overview
“We got what we need. We just, we’re still kind of figuring that that group out, and nobody’s really separated yet, and rightfully so. It’s in our system, with the way we ask them to block in the run game, the complexity of that, and then just the things we do from a from a route-tree standpoint, and the conversions. It takes a little while, so these next, what I call 16 practices of skills and drills are going to be big for those guys.”
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Chris Graham
