During the Bronco Mendenhall era to date, the Virginia football team’s rushing attack has evolved through two different looks. In the first two seasons, UVA relied mostly on the running back position with receiver runs mixed in to produce rushing yards. In the next two seasons, the quarterback spot joined in as a lead producer while carries for receivers or running backs reduced. Throughout that time, the offensive line has been considered to be an ongoing rebuilding project.

Personnel changes occurred alongside, and likely contributed to, some of the shift. In the first two seasons, pocket quarterback Kurt Benkert started all but one game. At the same time, future NFL back Taquan Mizzell and grad transfer Albert Reid were available in the backfield in year one while Jordan Ellis emerged as a team leader and high performer in the weight room and beyond to become the lead back in year two. When Benkert finished with the Cavaliers, transfer quarterback Bryce Perkins entered the program and shared an overlap year with Ellis. The carries were spilt evenly between that duo. Last season with Ellis gone, Perkins took on the heavy lifting in the running game.

Another personnel change at quarterback is in line now for Virginia. Perkins finished his two-year stint as the starter with the program record for total offense with 7,910 yards and the single-season passing record as a senior with 3,538 yards. He finished with 1,692 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns in his career. He earned second-team All-ACC recognition in 2019.

The rushing yards is the part in focus here because the quarterback position took over so much of the load a year ago and played a big role the previous season as well. The Hoos are going to start a quarterback somewhere between Benkert and Perkins on the running quarterback spectrum. If Brennan Armstrong, the backup the past two seasons and the front-runner to start entering the summer, wins the job, he’s a capable runner that will be used at times in the running game but maybe not as heavily as Perkins. If Mississippi State transfer Keytaon Thompson becomes the starter, he’ll likely be used more than Armstrong would as a runner because that’s his primary known strength currently. Would that approach Perkins’ levels for carries? Possibly.

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