With a new coaching staff in town, Virginia football players have spent the several months adjusting to new schemes. For the defense, that means a switch from a base 4-3 alignment to a base 3-4 alignment. For the players up front, D-Line coach Ruffin McNeill said, that means changing from a one-gap mindset to a two-gap technique.
Still, that change doesn’t mean that the front line is going to be passive. McNeill said the players have to have great footwork and eye discipline in order to stay on task. Plus, coach Bronco Mendenhall includes plenty of wrinkles around the base concept that will allow those linemen to make plays. That could mean good things for players like Donte Wilkins and Andrew Brown, who were in the same rotation at defensive tackle in the old scheme but now are at nose tackle and defensive end, respectively.
The coaches have praised Wilkins throughout the spring and preseason practices, but Brown has gained some recognition of late as well. Mendenhall told TV reporters Friday that he loves Brown. McNeill said Monday that he brings some unteachable athleticism to the table and that will be a big plus.
”I like Andrew’s size,” McNeill said. ”I like his quickness even more. I like his twitch even more. I like his explosion to contact even more. … I like what Andrew brings quickness wise and twitch wise – those things and explosion. So he’s done a really good job of that and now we’ve just got to keep honing in on his technique.”
McNeill also shared some thoughts on Arizona State transfer Jack Powers. He did not play in 2015 so he is immediately eligible at UVA. He played in every game for ASU in 2014 as the Sun Devils went 10-3. Most of his time came on special teams. That experience, however, plus his size at 6’5” and 290 pounds has made him a valuable piece of the D-Line at Virginia.
”Jack’s been a welcome addition,” McNeill said. ”He brings size and experience. He’s been in Division I camps. He has a no drama personality – he just works. You can push him as hard as you want to. … He’s going to be a big benefit for us up front.”
Another player that has emerged in media conversations lately is Steven Wright. The redshirt freshman out of Georgia has yet to see the field, but he was named scout team player of the week twice as a freshman – once on defense and once on offense – under the previous coaching staff. He is listed at just 6’4” and 235 pounds, but McNeill noted the proverbial size of the fight in the dog is what really matters.
“Steven has great technique, great punch. He’s about 250 right now,” McNeill said. “I believe in the technique and the strike. Size is overrated.”
Position Flow Chart
The Virginia football team wraps up preseason practice early this week and preparations for the season opener with Richmond will follow later in the week. With kickoff less than two weeks away, many of the expected contributors are starting to take shape around the roster. While a depth chart isn’t known, it’s possible to sketch out who many of the players that will see the field early this season are.
QB: Kurt Benkert, Matt Johns/Connor Brewer – while no official announcement has been made, all signs point to Benkert getting the QB1 nod for the opener.
RB: Taquan Mizzell, Albert Reid/Daniel Hamm/Jordan Ellis – running backs coach Mark Atuaia has indicated that he plans to use all four running backs this season
WR/TE/FB/H-Back: Doni Dowling, Olamide Zaccheaus, Andre Levrone, Keeon Johnson, Warren Craft, and David Eldridge are among the players working at receiver (Zaccheaus and Levrone have missed time with injuries); Connor Wingo-Reeves, Evan Butts, and Richard Burney (FB/TE/H-Back) are the flex position contenders. Don’t be surprised if you see other names end up on this list – with so many snaps, formations, and playing time to go around, you’ll likely see others take the field too.
OL: Jackson Matteo (center), Eric Smith (tackle), Michael Mooney (tackle), Jack English (tackle), Jack McDonald (guard), Sean Karl (guard), Jake Fieler (various), and Steven Moss (guard) have emerged as the 7.5 bodies (Moss got a half-ready rating from offensive line coach Garett Tujague) expected to be in the rotation early
DE: Andrew Brown, Eli Hanback, Steven Wright, and Mark Hall have been mentioned by D-Line coach Ruffin McNeill as possible options on the ends.
DT: Donte Wilkins, Jack Powers, and James Trucilla are options in the middle per McNeill. Powers can also line up at end.
ILB: Micah Kiser and Zach Bradshaw are the starters with both receiving praise from Mendenhall late last week. Mendenhall mentioned Eric Gallon as a good surprise since he switched from the outside to the inside. C.J. Stalker and Jahvoni Simmons could be in the mix as well.
OLB: Malcolm Cook and Chris Peace appear to be the leading candidates to start. Cory Jones is a name to monitor as well.
CB: Tim Harris and Juan Thornhill are the likely starters based on early camp feedback from Mendenhall. He recently mentioned Bryce Hall as a good camp surprise as a true freshman and Kirk Garner as the likely nickel back. There are a lot of freshman at this position so battles are ongoing.
S: Quin Blanding and Kelvin Rainey are the likely starters with Rainey showing well as preseason practice progressed, according to Mendenhall. Garner, Chris Sharp, and Wil Wahee are in the mix to be the third safety on the charts.
Special Teams: The starter at punter is Nicolas Conte and he could be the holder as well. The kicking competition has mainly been between senior Dylan Sims and freshman Nash Griffin. The Hoos need a new starting long snapper as Tyler Shirley is academically ineligible per Mendenhall. Zach Bradshaw and Richard Burney are the leading candidates there. The returners could be Taquan Mizzell, David Eldridge, Daniel Hamm, or several others as this was a deep battle during camp.
Virginia Football Loves Numbers
Virginia’s coaches love to have data to back up their decisions, something that has been evident from Mendenhall’s first days on the job all the way to the present. In his most recent interview with reporters, he discussed the quarterback competition again and one of the key components to picking a starter will be one really obvious number: points. In describing that process, however, Mendenhall called the statistics known to impact outcome a core pillar of the program.
“It really follows the core pillars of our program and what statistics we know impact outcome,” Mendenhall said. “The first one is points scored. Whoever drives the team, in whatever situation they’re placed in, with the most frequency to the end zone is the one I want. And it’s the one I think the team wants. Ultimately that is what determines outcome. So that’s first and foremost. I think any statistic beneath or below or beside that is secondary in nature. Points to me is everything.”
The players get numbers on points, first down, third down, and more every day at the end of practice. The coaches want the players to know how they did with target numbers and goals for varying components of offense, defense, and special teams as well as if and when progress is made. At least one player, linebacker Zach Bradshaw, likes having the instant feedback with numbers to back up the coaching.
”I’m a numbers guy. I love numbers,” Bradshaw said. ”You can kind of get a sense during practice – you can tell if you’re having a good defensive day or a bad defensive day, but it’s hard to tell how were we on first down compared to second and third down. … I like having the goals and numbers. It helps reinforce.”
