SI All-American Watch List: 10 Virginia commits and 15 Key UVA targets named

Top 10 position rankings start this week; preseason SI99 out in August

Quarterbacks Jay Woolfolk and Jacob Rodriguez headline 10 Virginia commits and 15 rising high school seniors considering the Cavaliers who are candidates for the 2020 Sports Illustrated All-America team.

Woolfolk and Rodriguez, both dual-threat quarterbacks, nevertheless present contrasting styles of play. The former is a smooth, agile ball-carrier at his best in open space, while the latter is a powerful, hard-charging runner who's tough for a single tackler to bring down. Both need to hone their throwing skills before seeing the field under center in Charlottesville, but routinely flash as passers. Woolfolk committed to Virginia in December, and Rodriguez followed suit in late April.

Listed below is the full breakdown of UVA verbals and prime targets on the SI All-American watch list. 

VERBAL COMMITS

ATH Javin Burke/6-0, 202/Cleveland, Tenn.

ATH Malachi Fields/6-4, 202/Charlottesville, Va.

ATH Michael Green/6-4, 215/Williamsburg, Va.

WR Jesiah Davis/6-2, 170/Conrelius, N.C.

RB Amaad Foston/5-11, 199/Milledgeville, Ga.

OLB Josh McCarron/6-4, 215/Everett, Wash.

QB Jacob Rodriguez/6-2, 205/Wichita Falls, Texas

QB Jay Woolfolk/6-1, 200/Richmond, Va.

CB Aidan Ryan/6-0, 192/Fredericksburg, Va.

CB William Simpkins III/6-2, 175/Gaithersburg, Md.

TOP TARGETS

ATH Christian Burkhalter/6-5, 230/Spanish Fort, Ala.

OT Andrew Canelas/6-8, 300/Raleigh, N.C.

OT Logan Taylor/6-8, 290/Alexandria, Va.

LB Logan Fano/6-4, 220/Spanish Fork, Utah

LB Zemarion Harrell/6-2, 220/Virginia Beach, Va.

DT James Gillespie/6-2, 300/Woodbridge, Va.

DE Kelvin Gilliam/6-3, 250/Highland Springs, Va.

WR Tyrese Johnson/6-1, 190/New Orleans, La.

WR Dalton Stroman/6-3, 190/Rockingham, N.C.

DE Ryan Keeler/6-4.5, 250/La Grange Park, Ill.

S Krew Jackson/6-5, 200/Queen Creek, Ariz.

TE Jasper Lott/6-5, 245/Argyle, Texas

OG Yousef Mugharbil/6-5, 305/Murphy, N.C.

DE James Smith/6-3, 230/Virginia Beach, Va.

QB Walter Simmons III/6-2, 180/Orange Park, Fla.

More than 1,000 student-athletes, representing every state in the country, are SI All-American candidates. Video highlights, scouting analyses and a list of each player’s college verbal commitment and/or top college contenders can be found on their bio pages, broken down by state, at SIAllAmerican.com.

Over the coming weeks, SI will unveil its preseason top 10 for each of 14 position groups (kicking off with quarterbacks this week). SI will unveil its initial top 99 ranking, the SI99, on August 24.

The evaluation process will continue throughout the season “until the list of 1,000 contenders coalesces around just 25 young men who can say proudly they are the best of the best -- they are Sports Illustrated All-Americans,” said SI Director of Football Recruiting John Garcia, Jr.

The candidates will be narrowed to 250 in October and 99 in November, and will culminate with 25 first-team Sports Illustrated All-Americans saluted at SI’s annual Sportsperson of the Year banquet in New York in December.