With a short break in the calendar before summer workouts begin, the Virginia football team made a move in the transfer portal on Saturday. The Hoos secured a commitment from experienced linebacker Dorian Jones, who began his career at Louisville before spending last season at Cincinnati.
Jones, who had originally planned to go to UTEP, announced his choice on Instagram.
With that decision, Jones injects another dose of experience into a Virginia defense that already features multiple veteran players. Up front, Chico Bennett Jr., Kam Butler, Ben Smiley III, and Jahmeer Carter are among players in at least their fifth year of college football. On the back end, Jonas Sanker, Antonio Clary, and Malcolm Greene are all upperclassmen that have played snaps for the Hoos. Plus, UVA added Kendren Smith, Kempton Shine, and Corey Thomas Jr. as transfers before the spring semester.
At linebacker, James Jackson and Kam Robinson both return after strong seasons last fall with 80 and 71 tackles, respectively. However, the Cavaliers wanted some additional depth and Jones brings the experience wanted there. He played in 47 games between Louisville and Cincinnati. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
Jones redshirted in 2019 with the Cardinals and then became a contributor on special teams and defense from 2020-2022. He had 90 tackles and 4 sacks in 36 games. In 2021 and 2022, he started 7 games with 82 tackles. Once he transferred over to the Bearcats last fall, he logged 8 starts and a career-high 56 tackles. He also had a sack and an interception.
In the 247 Sports rankings, Jones carried a 3-star rating as the No. 41 inside linebacker in his class. The 6'0", 230-pounder carried a 3-star transfer rating from 247 as well. He's the 13th incoming transfer for this cycle at Virginia. Dartmouth offensive tackle Ethan Sipe also committed in May, while the other 11 players came in before spring practices.
With this addition, Virginia could send out a lineup of all seniors on defense at times if it wants to under coordinator John Rudzinski. Bennett, Butler, Carter, Smiley, Jackson, Jones, Thomas, Clary, Sanker, Smith, and Shine have all appeared in at least 31 career games and have a combined 420 appearances. Sanker, who made first-team All-ACC last season with 107 tackles, is actually the least experienced player on this list with 31 games played.
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