If Virginia is to deliver on its promise to become a more physical and stronger running football team this fall, the fullback and tight end positions will need to emerge as key contributors alongside the offensive line.

The good news is that those positions are sprinkled with older players with a lot of college football practice, games, and strength training under their belts. The bad news is that the depth of that experience is thin. Still, the possibility exists for three redshirt seniors and a game-tested junior to become significant blue collar contributors this season on offense.

Returning tight end Rob Burns, converted fullback Vincent Croce, and transfer tight end Charlie Hopkins all are entering their fifth season of college football in 2015, while junior fullback Connor Wingo-Reeves has played from the start of his college career at UVa. That quartet is being called on to provide some lead-blocking punch in the run game in support of an offensive line that has started to make positive strides. During the spring, after all, the coaching staff started to insert more I-formation and H-Back style looks reminiscent of George Welsh and Al Groh days gone by. (Yes, it’s another shift in offensive philosophy in Mike London’s sixth year, but that’s a topic for another day.)

Offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild did not use the fullback position much during the past two seasons, his first two at Virginia, and the tight ends alternated with multiple receiver sets frequently. The goal behind the shift is to bolster a running game that ranked 77th (156.58) and 100th (137.75) nationally in rushing yards per game the past two seasons. In the red zone, the Cavaliers couldn’t punch the ball in the end zone frequently enough either as the running game averaged low numbers (2.40 yards per carry in 2013 and 2.26 yards per carry in 2014, which ranked 93rd and 103rd nationally in those years) and low touchdown totals (14 in 2013 and 12 in 2014, which ranked 81st and 95th nationally in those years).

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