The first weekend of the single transfer portal window for college football fired off a flurry of activity across the country. Thousands of players entered their names, visits stacked up everywhere, and the business of roster building cranked into full gear. Virginia was in the thick of the action.

The Hoos had a good start too. By the end of the weekend, they had secured three commitments. Middle Tennessee running back Jekail Middlebrook, Virginia Tech safety Christian Ellis, and Rutgers cornerback Jacobie Henderson all made the call for the Cavaliers. Each cover high priority positions for UVA this cycle.

Middlebrook played three years at MTSU. He took a redshirt while playing four games in 2023 followed by the 2024 and 2025 seasons. He made the Conference USA All-Freshman team in 2024 and earned Honorable Mention All-CUSA honors in 2025.

That latter recognition came after he led the team with a career-best 752 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns along with a career-best 40 receptions for 412 yards and 3 touchdowns in 11 games. That made Middlebrook the first Middle Tennessee running back with 1,000+ all-purpose yards since 2016. Earlier in his career, he had 85 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns in his four 2023 games. In 2024, the 5’10”, 196-pound back posted 273 rushing yards with 2 touchdowns plus 163 receiving yards and a touchdown.

For Virginia, Middlebrook helps reset the running back room with both J’Mari Taylor and Harrison Waylee, this year’s leading rushers, finished with their eligibility. UVA expects to have both Xavier Brown, Noah Vaughn, and Xay Davis back at the spot. Brown and Vaughn each have some injury history, including this past season so it is important for the Cavaliers to create depth at the position.

Ellis picked the Wahoos after redshirting at Virginia Tech earlier this season. He played in four games for the Hokies to start the season and recorded 7 tackles, but left the team when the program removed Brent Pry as head coach in order to preserve a year of eligibility.

The 6’1”, 208-pound safety played three years at New Mexico prior to transferring to VT. He had 59 tackles with 4 passes defended in 2023 and 99 tackles with 4 passes defended in 2024. The 2024 season included a fumble return for touchdown as well on the way to Honorable Mention All-Mountain West honors.

On Sunday, Henderson joined Ellis as a secondary commit. The cornerback comes to Virginia after previous stops at Marshall and Rutgers. He played three years with the Thundering Herd, redshirting while seeing action in four games in 2022.

Henderson had 73 tackles with 16 passes defended, including 2 interceptions, at Marshall. Last season at Rutgers, he came up with 42 tackles and 5 pass breakups. The 5’11”, 198-pound corner started 31 games over the last three years and earned 2024 All-Sun Belt Conference honors.

For Virginia, these two players add flexibility to the secondary. While the Hoos expect to have Donavon Platt and Emmanuel Karnley back after they started at corner for the majority of the games this past season, they needed more options there. With Ja’Son Prevard transferring out from the nickel back/third safety role, there is also a need for different options. UVA also lost experienced safeties in Devin Neal and Antonio Clary as they wrapped up their careers.

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