One of the big storylines early in the Tony Elliott era surrounds the offensive line. The Virginia football team lost all five starters and a sixth part-time starter at the end of the 2022 season, leaving just 12 linemen listed on the roster this spring. Obviously, that’s thin.

Once it was clear that Olu Oluwatimi, Ryan Swoboda, Bobby Haskins, Joe Bissinger, Chris Glaser and Ryan Nelson would not return to the Hoos – only Glaser had fully exhausted his eligibility due to the pandemic year freeze – that sent Elliott and offensive line coach Garett Tujague on an immediate restocking mission. The winter recruiting blitz produced and eight new linemen will join the program for 2022.

That didn’t solve the numbers equation for this spring, though. The Cavaliers spent a lot of time shifting and adapting to a small rotation. Some players were taking nearly every snap in practice and some bounced around to essentially every spot on the line.

By the time the 15th practice rolled around for the Virginia Blue-White Spring Game, only eight players remained available. Sophomores made up the majority of that list with Ty Furnish (6’4”, 270), Jestus Johnson III (6’3”, 330), Joey Kagel (6’2”, 267), Luke Johnson (6’5”, 315), Grant Lanham (6’4”, 316), Noah Josey (6’5”, 323), and Charlie Patterson (6’7”, 272) all in that class. Junior Jonathan Leech (6’4”, 280) was the only upperclassman available for Saturday’s scrimmage.

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