Virginia Football coach Tony Elliott picked up two more commitments from the transfer portal on Thursday – Central Florida offensive lineman Drake Metcalf and Penn cornerback Kendren Smith.
Metcalf, who will be a grad transfer with two years of eligibility remaining, played one season at UCF after a two-year stint at Stanford, where he played for the current UVA offensive line coach, Terry Heffernan.
At UCF, Metcalf, a 6’2”, 292-pound center, logged action in six games, getting 213 snaps, and allowing one sack and a total of two QB pressures on the 90 pass-drop snaps that he was in on.
His Pro Football Focus grade for 2023 was 63.0.
At Stanford, Metcalf played on 173 snaps in his two years.
Metcalf had offers from Southern Cal, Oregon and TCU, among others, so, this is a nice get for Elliott and Heffernan.
Smith is also a nice get. Also a grad transfer, the big (6’1”, 205) corner got more than 600 snaps in each of the past two years, including 696 in 2023.
He had two 80.0+ PFF season grades in 2022 and 2023, topping out at 85.1 in 2023.
The Charlotte native was a plus defender at Penn, allowing 23 catches on 43 targets in 2023, with six pass breakups and a 63.9 NFL passer rating against.
The transfer portal brought in one other notable possible contributor that I’d overlooked in my earlier report this week – Akron safety Corey Thomas Jr., who should fit in well as a hybrid linebacker-safety, given his past usage.
Thomas, a 6’4”, 215-pounder, logged snaps as an edge rusher, linebacker, slot corner and free safety in 2023.
In 598 snaps, he had 51 tackles, two QB pressures, and allowed 16 catches on 27 targets, with two PBUs and an 83.4 NFL passer rating against.
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Chris Graham
