Virginia Football Notes: Receiver Competition Could Be Interesting

Billy Kemp IV caught a steady stream of passes. Lavel Davis Jr. made waves in his debut. Ra’Shaun Henry and Keytaon Thompson made a big splash with multiple touchdowns on limited catches. Dontayvion Wicks spent the season at the wishing well following an injury. If coach Marques Hagans can stir those ingredients together for the Virginia football team, there’s enough in the pipeline to wash away any concerns for the receiving corps.

Not that there’s much worry among the group in 2021. While Kemp is the only receiver with at least 21 catches in his Cavalier career, there is confidence surrounding the group. Part of that comes from Hagans’ ability to repeatedly guide new faces through successful careers as he’s coached two of the program’s four 1,000-yard receivers and five of the program’s top 10 career receptions leaders. The rest comes from the blend of talent on hand that saw Davis, Henry, and Thompson combined for 12 touchdown catches last year on just 34 total catches.

Thompson said the offense started to settle in last season and has a chance to be even better in 2021 with versatile playmakers and an experienced quarterback and offensive line. Kemp said the competition is what makes everyone better.

“I think at a certain point last year, we started to click and started to get some rhythm within our offense,” Thompson said. “I’m really excited about this year. We have a lot of weapons coming back. We have some guys coming off of injuries. I feel like our offense is going to be really explosive and take a step ahead of where we were last year.”

“We have a ton of guys that can get out there and just make an impact for the team, make plays, and catch the ball. I feel like it will be interesting to see who gets out there and makes the most of it,” Kemp said.

Kemp, who officially is listed as a halfback on the roster, has been productive with his opportunities. He caught 67 passes for 644 yards and a touchdown in last year’s abbreviated 10-game season. That earned him honorable mention All-ACC recognition. As a three-year member of the rotation, he’s up to 102 catches for 933 yards and 2 TDs. He’s also gotten a few carries here and there in addition to punt return duties.

When it comes to ‘making the most’ out of their receptions, however, few can match Davis, Henry, and Thompson.

The 6’7” Davis finished No. 2 in the nation and No. 1 in the ACC with a 25.75 yards per reception average. He recorded 20 catches for 515 yards and 5 touchdowns in his debut season. Henry scored 4 touchdowns on just 7 receptions last season. A graduate transfer from St. Francis (Pa.), expectations were for a bigger role for Henry. He had 90 receptions for 1,118 yards with four 100-yard games at St. Francis in his final season. He didn’t break out at UVA, but with the NCAA allowing an additional year of eligibility due to the coronavirus pandemic, he’ll get another shot at the FBS level this fall.

Thompson, meanwhile, became a multi-purpose player for the Hoos. He lined up at receiver, running back, and quarterback as a Mississippi State transfer. He too got a lot of bang out of limited catches with 3 touchdowns in 7 receptions. Of course, he also carried the ball 39 times for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Throw in other players with potential too. Wicks, who was projected as a breakout candidate following some cameo chances as a true freshman, missed the season with an injury but has good chemistry with starting quarterback Brennan Armstrong. Another freshman Demick Starling got increasing reps in later games and scored a touchdown. Sophomore Nathaniel Beal III has been whispered as a possible emerging receiver at 6’4” and Jaylon Baker has flipped from cornerback so that’s something to monitor as well.

When asked how all of the potential at receiver and a returning quarterback could show up in the passing game, Hagans turned to the big picture instead. It’s not just about catching touchdowns at the rate of Henry and Thompson, moving the chains like Kemp, or threatening the defense down the field like Davis. It’s the whole package that has his attention.

“Whether that’s touchdowns, whether that’s blocks – whatever it takes – special teams,” Hagans said. “Score more points than the other team and whatever role we can play in that, whether it’s blocking for the guys running, whether it’s catching the ball when it’s thrown, covering kicks, returning kicks, it really don’t matter. The ultimate objective is to score more points and win every game that we play this year. That’s the ultimate goal.”

Do It All

Thompson remains an interesting piece of the puzzle simply because no one really knows which piece of the puzzle he actually is. He transferred in as a quarterback, but his role got repurposed due to an injury. As noted above, he emerged as sort of a do-everything option on offense and that helped produce those 6 touchdowns.

If the season started today, Thompson said he is not an option for a full-time quarterback role as he continues to rehab and strengthen his injured shoulder but that could change when the actual season arrives. Quarterbacks coach Jason Beck indicated that Thompson could be a short-term option at quarterback potentially even as much as a back-up for a full game, but that managing the reps overall remains the given outline for now.

That means the ‘slash’ role is still the top option for the 6’4”, 215-pound senior. Not that he minds. While he may have thought of himself as a quarterback first prior to this past season, he actually had a lot of fun wearing the different hats during the 2020 season. He said it was kind of like paying with your buddies in the backyard again.

“I look at it all as like one position, that’s playing football,” Thompson said. “Lining up at outside receiver, inside receiver, quarterback, running back – at the end of the day, I feel like I’m still playing football and still having fun so I would say they’re all pretty equal to me.”

Finding joy in that new role didn’t come immediately, though. When Thompson got injured, it was tough at first. A lot of the work leading up to that point suddenly got sidetracked. Fortunately, however, his previous time at quarterback and learning the offense actually turned into a positive when it came to the other roles. The QB needs to know how all the moving parts work together so he already had a sort of mental background at receiver and elsewhere. He just had to translate it physically now too, something that’s taken on a heightened focus this spring.

“It was really tough in the beginning, just learning a whole new offense is always tough and coming in and competing,” Thompson said. “I was able to learn the offense, which was tough, but that went well and then going into fall camp, the injury occurred. I partially tore my labrum and that was really, really tough for me just after learning the offense and putting in all the work and then suffering an injury, that really had an effect on me. I kind of like tried to make the best out of it and looked at it a positive light. That’s how I ended up playing the slash, receiver, running back, and quarterback and things like that. I guess some good kind of came out of the injury, but it was tough at first.”

Defense Doppelganger

If there’s a ‘jack of all trades’ equivalent for Thompson’s act on defense, it has to be senior De’Vante Cross. Entering an unexpected sixth year with the program thanks to the NCAA’s eligibility waiver due to the pandemic, Cross has played quarterback, receiver, cornerback, and safety in addition to some special teams. If a need popped up somewhere at a skill position as Bronco Mendenhall and company retooled and reshaped the roster, the hole-filling evaluation usually included the first recruiting commitment of the Mendenhall era.

Last season, the coaches decided to play him almost entirely at cornerback with other options available at safety. That came with some ups and downs, perhaps the most eye-catching up being an end zone interception against NC State and the most eye-catching down being a missed tackle opportunity on the sideline against Virginia Tech. He finished with 29 tackles, 4 pass breakups, 2 interceptions, and 1 sack last season. Overall, Cross has 105 tackles and 5 interceptions in his UVA career.

Nick Grant returned on an extra year as well and Louisville transfer Anthony Johnson came in at corner, while Brenton Nelson and D’Angelo Amos both moved on from the safety spot so the secondary mix is different in 2021. That opens up a spot at safety once again where most observers, coaches and outside analysts alike, think Cross fits the best. The hope is for him to get a full season in that position in his final year with the Hoos.

Mendenhall said it’s “fierce” how hard Cross is trying to prepare entering his final season.

“Luckily we had him as the program is and was building, growing, maturing and we just needed players in certain spots,” Mendenhall said. “With his metrics and when you look at his testing numbers, anytime you needed a good athlete who was smart and willing, he would just do whatever we asked him. Has that hurt his performance and production at any one spot? Certainly. It has. He’s learned just enough at each spot to perform, but not really excel. We’re so hopeful starting from this spring all the way through the fall, he can play one position. We’re so hopeful. I wish I could promise, but injuries always affect that. … For his sake. He’s a team first player if there is one. He’s so unselfish, which I appreciate, but I would love to give back to him and just let him play one spot to really excel rather than contribute out of necessity at so many different spots.”

Worth Quoting

Virginia receiver Billy Kemp IV on the influence of assistant coach Marques Hagans: “Coach Hagans had the biggest impact on me ever Being around a similar size, playing similar like punt return and things like that, taking everything that he says and writing it down and going over it trying to add things that he has in his game and add them to mine. Just trying to listen to everything he tells me.”