Virginia is set to lose another top player from its defense to the transfer portal – middle linebacker Nick Jackson.
The three-time All-ACC Football selection entered his name into the portal on Monday.
Jackson led Virginia in 2022 with 104 tackles and four QB hurries, was second in sacks (five), and third in tackles for loss (7.5) and pass breakups (four).
His 73.5 Pro Football Focus grade was third among members of the defensive unit who played 100 or more snaps in 2022.
The loss of Jackson, who has one year of eligibility remaining, adds to the rebuild that coach Tony Elliott and defensive coordinator John Rudzinski will have to do on that side of the ball.
The unit had already lost top cornerback Fentrell Cypress to the transfer portal last week.
Cypress, who will have two years of eligibility remaining, earned a team-best 87.8 Pro Football Focus grade and first-team All-ACC honors from PFF, and second-team honors from the media and coaches voting.
A three-star prep recruit, 247Sports now lists Cypress as a four-star recruit on the transfer portal.
Cypress played on 661 snaps in 2022, recording 35 tackles, and in coverage, he allowed 18 receptions on 40 targets, a 45.0 percent completion rate, for 179 yards, with nine pass breakups and a 58.2 NFL passer rating against.
These are elite numbers, ranking eighth in all of FBS among cornerbacks with at least 300 coverage snaps in 2022, according to PFF.
The secondary also loses the other starting corner, Anthony Johnson (PFF grade: 82.2), who would have one year of eligibility remaining, but has declared his intention to enter the 2023 NFL Draft.
Also on Monday, offensive lineman John Paul Flores (PFF grade: 60.2) announced his entry into the portal.
Flores, a transfer from Dartmouth, was on the field for 433 snaps for Virginia in 2023, allowing 15 QB pressures (zero sacks) on 259 pass-block snaps.
There was some good news from the portal for Virginia: Northwestern wideout Malik Washington (PFF grade: 71.3) announced his commitment to UVA on Monday.
Washington, in 2022, had 65 catches on 101 targets for 701 yards and a TD.
Back in 2021, Washington had 43 catches on 61 targets for 575 yards and two TDs for the Wildcats.
Washington has one year of eligibility remaining.
He will have to step in for a wideout corps that won’t have any of its top four targets back in 2023.
Third-team All-ACC selection Keytaon Thompson (PFF grade: 73.0), Dontayvion Wicks (PFF grade: 59.0) and Billy Kemp IV (PFF grade: 56.2) are all headed toward the NFL Draft.
Lavel Davis Jr. (PFF grade: 55.2) was one of three football student-athletes shot and killed in the Nov. 13 mass shooting on Grounds.
That shooting also took the life of a redshirt wide receiver, Devin Chandler, and linebacker D’Sean Perry.
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Chris Graham
