UVA Football coach Tony Elliott has solidified his QB room in the past two days, with the acquisitions of grad senior Chandler Morris, who threw for 3,774 yards and 31 TDs at North Texas in 2024, and Danny Kaelin, a big arm from Nebraska who has four years to develop.
Roster building, in the NIL era, follows the NFL model, where you take care of your needs at QB first, then the guys who block for him, and finally, the guys who catch his passes; and then, on the other side of the ball, you go after guys who pressure the QB, and the guys who cover the guys he throws the ball to.
The attention in the UVA Football program, with the QB room taken care of, now turns to the other position groups, with Elliott picking up three new guys in the past couple of days on the defensive side of the ball.
We’ll start with former Fresno State defensive lineman Jacob Holmes, a 6’3”, 280-pounder with 28 QB pressures, four sacks and 16 run-play tackles in 2024, and 18 pressures, six sacks and 10 run-play tackles in 2023.
On3 has Holmes as a three-star portal recruit with an 87.82 rating.
Next up is Louisville defensive back Devin Neal, who had 71 tackles, four INTs and six pass breakups in 2023, then played four games with the Cardinals in 2024 before deciding to hit the portal.
Neal spent three seasons at Baylor, from 2020-2022, getting on the field for 358 snaps in 2022.
Neal is listed as a three-star portal recruit by On3, with an 88.01 rating.
We’ll wrap up this report with Ja’son Prevard, a big (6’3”) cornerback from Morgan State, at the FCS level.
The sophomore from Atlantic City had 41 tackles, two INTs and 14 PBUs in two seasons at Morgan State.
On3 has Prevard as a three-star portal recruit with an 83.29 rating.
Video: UVA Football playing big boy football
Share
Chris Graham
