Without question, the Virginia football team was aggressive in the transfer portal market this offseason. The Cavaliers added 31 transfers between the winter and spring portal windows, one of just 16 programs to bring 30+ players into the fold. 247 Sports ranked UVA’s class No. 26 nationally thanks in part to that high quantity of incoming transfers.
Much of the focus went to the trenches. The Hoos brought in 13 players along the offensive and defensive lines, accounting for nearly half of the transfer portal total. The D-Line added Hunter Osborne (Alabama), Cazeem Moore (Elon), Mitchell Melton (Ohio State), Daniel Rickert (Tennessee Tech), Jacob Holmes (Fresno State), and Fisher Camac (UNLV). That created depth at defensive tackle, defensive end, and on the edge, particularly when combined with returning players like Jahmeer Carter, Jason Hammond, and Anthony Britton, who each got chances to start last season.
Defensively, that’s provided the opportunity to reach coach Tony Elliott’s vision of a deep rotation that moves players in and out throughout a game. UVA Defensive Coordinator John Rudzinski said “it’s exciting to have as many bodies as we do” in the defensive front.
“Guys earn the right to play through what they put on film in practice and then also their body of work they’ve had throughout their career,” Rudzinski said. “You know what, we’re blessed. We do have a bunch of guys that we can roll throughout our defensive front. You try to match the different combinations and you just want to make sure as a coaching staff that we make sure we’re mixing those combinations throughout practice so if we’re running a pass rush game or the communication piece, that those different guys know exactly what we’re going to do.”
Indeed, the key now is to figure out how to use those pieces together the most effectively. Elliott often has described how a defensive line can cause problems for an offense through a deep rotation, noting that you can throw different styles at the opposing offensive linemen.
Facing a tackle that doesn’t deal with an speed rush on the edge as well? Maybe throw Melton or Rickert at them. The opposing line protects well, but the quarterback has issues with batted balls? Maybe Camac or Billy Koudelka causes problems with their 6’7” frames. Sense a team is weak up the middle? Pair Holmes and Hammond together as interior players with stronger pass rush moves. The bottom line is there are options.
Plus, anyone you choose should be facing lower fatigue if snaps can be spread out just a little bit more during a game.
“That means we can just keep everybody healthy and at 100% during the game,” Holmes said. “With us having so many of us, our wind will be a lot better. We won’t be as tired in games. We’ll be able to be at 100% when we go out. Instead of us being pretty tired by the fourth quarter, everybody will be pretty fresh. I really feel like with all the guys we’ve got, our rotation is going to be great.”
How About Hammond?
One returning player that appears on track to bounce back from an injury last season is Jason Hammond. The 6’2”, 295-pound tackle opened last season as a starter on the defensive line for the first four games. A shoulder injury took him out for the final eight games, however, and he sat out the spring recovering from a surgery.
Now that Hammond has gotten back on the field in the preseason, Rudzinski said he’s looked really good so far. Hammond had 11 tackles in those four starts last fall and Pro Football Focus credited him with 5 stops in the short season. A stop in the PFF data is a tackle where the offense gains 45% or less of the yardage needed for a first down on first down, 60% or less of the yardage needed for a first down on second down, and anything short of a first down on third and fourth down.
Hammond should still have his best football ahead with at least three years of eligibility remaining.
“Jason’s another young man who has worked his tail off. You look at his body, almost 300 pounds,” Rudzinski said. “He’s got unbelievable movement skills and his ability to transitional pass rush. We missed him late last season. He’s looked really, really good in camp. We’re excited to see him be able to win on some guards and be able to play different techniques and be able to move him throughout our front. He’s one of those young men we’re counting on to play a ton of snaps and play a ton of productive snaps this fall.”
Danley In The Mix
One of the bigger reports out of preseason camp so far has been an unconfirmed injury (Elliott will be available to the media early next week) to starting linebacker Kam Robinson. The junior with 19 starts over his first two years with the Wahoos missed the team’s first scrimmage and could be out for several weeks to start the season.
Virginia has experience at that position to absorb the loss with James Jackson and Trey McDonald having previous starts at UVA and Maddox Marcellus having the same at Eastern Kentucky before transferring. A player without a collegiate start yet is still in the mix too, though.
Landon Danley, a 6’3” redshirt freshman, has been taking reps with the first team during the preseason. Danley played in one game while redshirting in 2023 and then appeared in all 12 games last season. All of his snaps on defense last fall came in the second half of the season when injuries grew in the linebacker corps.
So far, Danley has been confident in his development in the preseason.
“I feel great. It’s been a grind for sure, but these past two years I think I’ve came along way and progressed for sure,” Danley said.
Rudzinski has been impressed with Danley’s progress since arriving at Virginia. He played multiple positions in high school, including both safety and quarterback for Dutch Fork High School in South Carolina. Danley has added more than 30 pounds to his frame over his two plus years with UVA and was “pretty excited” when he cleared a 500-pound squat and 300-pound power clean in the weight room as a sign of growth there.
“He’s gone from a 190-pound quarterback in high school to a 230-pound linebacker so that speaks for itself as far as the work that he’s put in,” Rudzinski said. “He took advantage of playing a lot of football last season. His ability to slip blocks, find the ball, and his overall understanding of the defense, it’s been awesome to see him mature. He’s going to be super productive on defense and special teams.”
Hoo-Tube
With kickoff inching closer, more previews and outside opinions continue to circulate around college football. The PFF College Football Show spent some time on the Cavaliers with PFF's Max Chadwick and Dalton Wasserman going through the outlook for 2025 based on Pro Football Focus statistics and more.
One comment from the show: “They upgraded their roster in the portal at quarterback, on the offensive line, and in the secondary. Still some questions on the team’s weaponary right now, but they did a good job in the portal.”
Watch the full segment here.
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