Virginia’s Offensive Line Depth Remains Thin

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Jackson Matteo made all but one snap last season as Virginia’s center. ~ Kris Wright

The decisions of Eric Tetlow and Sadiq Olanrewaju to retire from the Virginia football program for medical reasons did not create a giant hole on the depth chart at offensive line. Both players, after all, have battled injuries throughout the past two years and had not recovered to the point to change the depth chart.

Thursday’s announcement did provide a stark reminder of just how thin the depth chart situation is on the offensive line. New UVA coach Bronco Mendenhall discussed the deficit within two months of being hired and the Cavaliers have been working to bolster the numbers for future years through recruiting. Three 2017 linemen, Bryson Speas, Harry Crider, and Tyler Fannin, have pledged to the program so far. Still, that doesn’t solve the immediate issue for the 2016 season.

Even a quick glance at the roster for this fall unveils the dearth of experienced scholarship linemen for Virginia. The Hoos are expected to have only 13 linemen on scholarship: Jackson Matteo, R.J. Proctor, Jack McDonald, Steven Moss, Sean Karl, Ryan Bischoff, Jack English, Jake Fieler, Eric Smith, Michael Mooney, Jared Cohen, Ben Knutson, and Dillon Reinkensmeyer. Walk-on Trenton Jenkins got a mention as having a good spring from Mendenhall and Ben Trent is an incoming walk-on freshman.

That’s 15 players known to be part of UVA’s offensive line equation in 2016 (some walk-ons may be added as fall camp and fall practice open). Most coaches prefer to have 20 or 25 at least at varying degrees of development. Mendenhall and new offensive line coach Garett Tujague don’t have that luxury.

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