UVA Football: John Rudzinski addresses potential of his 2026 defense

UVA Football head coach Tony Elliott said last week that he thinks his roster on the defensive side of the ball heading into the 2026 season is “probably the deepest … we’ve had.”

The architect of the Virginia defense, John Rudzinski, was more cautious when he talked with reporters after practice on Wednesday.

“Time will tell. I think at the end, well, I’ll have a better idea, but I know that we’ve got a lot of really good pieces,” Rudzinski said, perhaps playing coy because he doesn’t want his guys to be impressed by their press clippings.

Do people still clip items about them from the press?

I haven’t had anything in print in years myself.

I used to clip my articles every Sunday, saved them in photo albums, now stacked in the garage, not looked at in years.

I digress.

Training camp, a week and a half in, has been “really, really competitive,” Rudzinski said, “not only for our ones, but for our twos, and then also the ability to mix the different pieces.”

You’ll get a sense of that when you scroll down and get a gander at what Rudzinski has to work with.

D line

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Rudzinski should have eight guys with significant college-level experience to rotate in and out of the lineup along the defensive front.

• DE Fisher Camac (Virginia): 428 snaps, 18 QB pressures, five sacks, 36 run-game tackles.
• DE Ezekiel Larry (Yale): 577 snaps, 46 QB pressures, 10 sacks, 31 run-game tackles.
• DE Matthew Fobbs-White (Baylor): 387 snaps in 2025, with 33 QB pressures, 20 run-game tackles.
• DE Nnanna Anyanwu (UTSA): 278 snaps, 20 QB pressures, five sacks, 11 run-game tackles.
• DT Jonathan Allen (UAB): 390 snaps, 14 QB pressures, three sacks, 32 run-game tackles.
• DT Jason Hammond (Virginia): 360 snaps, 18 QB pressures, three sacks, 28 run-game tackles.
• DT Anthony Britton (Virginia): 227 snaps, 11 QB pressures, one sacks, 16 run-game tackles.
• DT Darrion Henry-Young (Coastal Carolina): 134 snaps, 11 tackles, three QB pressures.

The objective in camp “is to get as many guys ready as we can,” Rudzinski said.

Eight means the staff should be able to rotate guys in and out at each position, keeping guys fresh and thus able to better attack off the ball and shed blocks.

The diversity of talents within that group is also an advantage, in terms of game planning.

“What’s fun now is, we get to get a little bit more in our exotic packages, get to see what it looks like as far as our ability to put a package together, and see if these guys can work together to get to the passer,” Rudzinski said.

Linebackers

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With preseason first-team All-ACC ‘backer Kam Robinson leading the group, “really the culture of our defense will go be that glue that’s in the linebacker room,” Rudzinski said.

“It’s their ability to communicate, it’s their ability to get lined up, and again, they’re going to have to play with elite effort. Sometimes they’ve got to shove their face in a 330-pounder, and then other times they’re going to have to cover a 180-pound running back,” Rudzinski said.

“It takes a unique confidence, but then it also takes a unique preparation to do it at a high level. And there’s a bunch of young men in that room that have played a ton for us,” Rudzinski said.

• Kam Robinson (Virginia): 416 snaps, 64 tackles, two INTs, one PBU, nine QB pressures, two sacks.
• Maddox Marcellus (Virginia): 334 snaps, 11 QB pressures, three sacks, 26 run-game tackles, two pass breakups, INT.
• Landon Danley (Virginia): 299 snaps, 49 tackles, four QB hurries.
• Caleb Hardy (Virginia): 157 snaps, 17 tackles, three QB hurries.

Secondary

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I wrote last week that the secondary is an obvious position group of strength, and that’s true in terms of numbers and in terms of what the guys lining up back there have done at the college level.

It helps this year’s group that Rudzinski had the bulk of his secondary group in place in January.

“Getting, for the most part, most of our roster here in January, having the opportunity to have them with us for spring practice, it gives you an opportunity for them to get 15 practices before they even get into summer workouts and then into fall camp. And so, yeah, I’ve been really, really, happy with where we are at this point,” Rudzinski said.

• CB Donavon Platt (Virginia): 576 snaps, 29 catches/49 targets, one INT, three PBUs.
• CB Jam Jackson (Virginia): missed 2025 with an injury; in 2024, 760 snaps, 45 catches/71 targets, five PBUs.
• CB Patrick Campbell (Dartmouth): 534 snaps, 40 tackles, 20 receptions/34 targets, one INT, three PBUs.
• CB Ja’Maric Morris (Georgia State): missed 2025 with an injury; in 2024, 212 snaps, nine tackles, 9 receptions/16 targets, two INTs, two PBUs.
• CB Jacobie Henderson (Rutgers): 600 snaps, 40 tackles, 28 receptions/50 pass targets, two PBUs.
• CB Justin Ross (Navy): 466 snaps, 30 tackles, 18 receptions/26 targets, one INT, three PBUs.
• CB Omillio Agard (Wisconsin): four-star prep recruit, redshirted in 2024, did not play in 2025.
• S Christian Ellis (Virginia Tech/New Mexico): played in four games at Tech in 2025, with eight tackles, one reception/five targets, three PBUs. At New Mexico: 900 snaps, 92 tackles, 23 catches/33 targets, four PBUs, one INT, four QB hurries, one sack in 2024.
• S Jaylen Jones (Georgia State): 563 snaps, 69 tackles, 13 catches/14 targets, one INT, one PBU.
• S Brandyn Hillman (Michigan): 545 snaps, 56 tackles, 9 receptions/15 targets, one INT, three PBUs.
• S Jalen McNair (Buffalo): 543 snaps, 50 tackles, 14 receptions/27 targets, two INTs, four PBUs.
• S Ethan Minter (Virginia): 523 snaps, 47 tackles, 10 receptions/17 targets, one INTs, two PBUs.
• S Corey Costner (Virginia): 260 snaps, 28 tackles, 9 catches/16 targets, two INTs, one PBU.