I started hearing last week that the big UVA Football O-line get from the 2025 transfer portal, Monroe Mills, a 6’7”, 315-pound tackle, late of Louisville, had suffered a torn ACL in practice and would be expected to be out for the 2025 season.
I wasn’t able to jump on with O line coach Terry Heffernan on his scheduled post-practice Zoom with reporters this past Wednesday to try to learn more, and from a scan of the transcript, the subject of Mills didn’t come up.
What I’m continuing to hear from those who would know is that Mills has suffered a significant injury, and that the sixth-year is not expected to be available going forward.
This, obviously, would be a big loss for the O line.
What I’m told is that Mills, who was on the field for 566 snaps at Louisville in 2024, grading out at 82.3, per Pro Football Focus, was a seven-figure NIL/transfer portal pickup when he committed in January.
Virginia was to be the fourth stop for Mills, who was at Oklahoma State for two seasons, barely getting on the field there, before spending two seasons at Texas Tech.
At Texas Tech, Mills logged 1,750 snaps, and was deemed responsible for three sacks and 40 total QB pressures on 1,000 pass dropbacks.
At Louisville in 2024, Mills allowed one sack and seven total QB pressures on 300 pass dropbacks, while splitting his time between right tackle (306 total snaps) and left tackle (260 total snaps).
Mills was listed as a four-star transfer recruit by 247Sports.
The money part of the issue being what it is, Heffernan and head coach Tony Elliott have depth on the O line.
In addition to landing Mills off the portal, the unit added from the portal Tyshawn Wyatt, a JMU alum, who will compete as a sixth-year player, and Kevin Wigenton, an O lineman from Illinois.
Wyatt missed the 2024 season at JMU with an injury that he suffered toward the end of JMU’s 2023 campaign.
Wyatt was on the field for 2,157 snaps in four seasons at JMU, allowing 14 sacks and 65 total QB pressures on 1,086 pass dropbacks for a 96.2 percent efficiency rate.
Wyatt logged 900 snaps at left guard at JMU in 2021, before shifting to left tackle in 2022 and 2023.
I was figuring Mills would slot in as the starter at left tackle, so Wyatt would seem to be in the mix to be the next man up at that spot, along with two returning guys who split the snaps at left tackle in 2024 – McKale Boley (463 snaps) and Jack Witmer (358 snaps).
Right guard is where Wigenton looks to fit in. The 6’5″, 330-pounder only got 36 snaps in three games with the Illini in 2024, after transferring from Michigan State, where he had played 470 snaps at right guard in 2023.
In 549 career snaps across three seasons in the Big Ten, Wigenton has yet to surrender a sack and has been dinged for 10 QB hurries on 308 pass dropbacks, for a 98.3 percent efficiency rate.
The O-line room also returns the guy who got the bulk of the snaps at left guard, Noah Josey (703 snaps), and Blake Steen, who got 736 snaps at right tackle.
Two other guys of note in the O line room: Drake Metcalf and Ethan Sipe both missed the 2024 season with injuries.
Both are listed as grad students on the UVA Football roster page, so, presumably, they’d need to get approval for a medical redshirt year.
Metcalf has primarily played at center in his three college seasons, logging 200 snaps at center at Central Florida in 2023 – allowing one sack and two total QB pressures on 90 pass dropbacks.
Sipe logged 672 snaps at right tackle at Dartmouth over the 2022 and 2023 seasons, and allowed just three sacks on 282 pass dropbacks.
Any post-spring practice needs could be addressed in the brief April 16-25 transfer-portal window.
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Chris Graham
