UVA Football fans are used to, this time of year, mid-November, already looking ahead to next year, but it’s different this year, because this year still has meaning, for the first time in forever.
But we also have the latest possible bye week you can have – technically, it wouldn’t be a bye week next week, because then the season would already be over.
With the bye week upon us, meaning, not much to write about, I decided to spend a couple of hours tonight looking at the current roster, with an eye on, what could we have coming back, and thus, where are the needs.
Most obvious need: depth at QB
Redshirt freshman Daniel Kaelin was a big-time prep recruit for Nebraska, and was reportedly a big-dollar transfer-portal guy when Virginia nabbed him in the offseason.
With Chandler Morris moving on after the season, the need here will be, hit the transfer portal for depth.
The QB room, after Kaelin, has Cole Geer, a freshman, who warmed up on the sidelines when Kaelin tweaked his knee in the second quarter of the loss to Wake Forest a couple of weeks back, suggesting he’s the third-stringer; then it goes to another freshman, Bjorn Jurgensen, and a sophomore, Boone Lourd.
Geer and Jurgensen were both three-star recruits in the Class of 2025; Lourd was a walk-on in 2024.
O-line: needs everywhere
Man, everybody who is anybody here is done after this season – center Brady Wilson (525 snaps, 78.0 PFF grade), left tackle McKale Boley (710 snaps, 72.4 PFF grade), left guard Noah Josey (749 snaps, 66.4 PFF grade), right guard Drake Metcalf (717 snaps, 65.8 PFF grade), and right tackle Jack Witmer (675 snaps, 52.4 PFF grade).
The big offseason transfer-portal pickup, left tackle Monroe Mills, who went down in the spring with a torn ACL, could – emphasis on could – come back.
Young guys who have been getting reps this season that can factor in include sophomore tackle Ben York (167 snaps, 72.7 PFF grade), sophomore guard/center Grant Ellinger (42 snaps, 63.1 PFF grade) and freshman left tackle Jon Adair (41 snaps, 67.9 PFF grade).
Millions will be spent from the NIL/House settlement budget here, clearly.
Skill positions: need depth
The wide-receiver room loses the top three guys from this season (Trell Harris, Cam Ross, Jahmal Edrine), but can build around pretty good in-house talent – junior Suderian Harrison (23 catches/29 targets, 257 yards over three seasons), sophomore Kam Courtney (29 catches/40 targets, 290 yards, 10.0 yards/catch over two seasons) and freshman Dillon Newton (3 catches/9 targets, 39 yards, 13.0 yards/catch this season).
The tight-end group can bring back redshirt junior Dakota Twitty (22 catches/34 targets, 214 yards, 9.7 yards/catch over three seasons) and sophomore John Rogers (6 catches/8 targets, 74 yards, 12.3 yards/catch this season).
The tailback room can bring back redshirt junior Xavier Brown (948 yards, 5.1 yards/attempt, three TDs in three seasons) and junior Noah Vaughn (294 yards, 5.0 yards/attempt in two seasons).
Defense: a lot returning
And this is good, no, great news, considering how solid the D has been this season.
Starting with junior linebacker Kam Robinson (416 snaps, 71.6 PFF grade), the linebacker room can build around juniors Maddox Marcellus (255 snaps, 72.7 PFF grade), Landon Danley ( 221 snaps, 64.5 PFF grade) and Caleb Hardy (96 snaps, 65.6 PFF grade).
The D line can build around redshirt junior edge rusher Fisher Camac (335 snaps, 77.4 PFF grade), and three interior guys, all juniors – Anthony Britton (188 snaps, 70.9 PFF grade), Jason Hammond (286 snaps, 66.7 PFF grade) and Hunter Osborne (229 snaps, 63.6 PFF grade).
The secondary can bring a few key guys back – with junior Emmanuel Karnley (295 snaps, 62.3 PFF grade) and true freshmen Corey Costner (79 snaps, 67.1 PFF grade) and Josiah Persinger (33 snaps, 64.6 PFF grade) at corner, plus two guys who missed the 2025 season with injury, Jam Jackson (329 snaps, 54.0 PFF grade in 2024) and Dre Walker (66 snaps, 51.0 PFF grade in 2024); and junior Ja’Son Prevard (543 snaps, 74.0 PFF grade) and sophomore Ethan Minter (457 snaps, 71.8 PFF grade) at safety.
Special teams
We’ll need to hit the wire for a new placekicker, with four-year guy Will Bettridge moving on after the season.
The punter/kickoff specialist situation looks good, with junior Elijah Slibeck (42.3 yards/punt, 38 touchbacks on 55 kickoffs) returning.
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Chris Graham
