Virginia Football: Breaking Down UVA's Running Back Personnel After Cody Brown Transfer

Examining the Cavalier running back room after adding Miami transfer Cody Brown

Matt Newton | May 6, 2022

Of the numerous storylines to emerge surrounding Virginia football this spring, perhaps the most intriguing has been the new coaching staff's emphasis on reestablishing a strong running game, something that has been absent from the UVA offense for several seasons. Last year, that trend came to a head, as Virginia's air raid offense led the ACC in passing but was last in the conference in nearly every rushing statistic. With such a potent passing attack led by one of college football's best quarterbacks in Brennan Armstrong and several talented wide receivers, it makes sense that UVA would implement a pass-heavy offense. But, the Cavaliers were ultimately held back by their lack of a ground game last season.

This spring, the new UVA coaching staff is looking for a more balanced offensive attack. “When I met with each one of my guys, when I first got here, I said, ‘Look, you’re gonna get the ball, we’re gonna run the football,’ and their eyes lit up," said Virginia running backs coach Keith Gaither. Virginia junior running back Mike Hollins said, “Everybody in the room, we came here to run the ball. It’s kind of nice to be fed, you know?”

Instituting a reliable ground game will be a slow and difficult process with Virginia losing the bulk of its offensive line from a season ago, but the Cavaliers want to at least establish the threat of a rushing attack to be able to better manage the clock in games and make Virginia's passing game more explosive, since opposing defenses will ideally have to respect the run.

“Sometimes that gets misinterpreted,” said Virginia head coach Tony Elliott. “Some people think you need to be 50-50 run-to-pass. No, that’s not what we’re saying. When we say, ‘balanced,’ it’s that we’re effective running the ball."

While the offensive line pieces are still coming together, the Virginia running back room is filled with talented athletes who are chomping at the bit to get opportunities to run this fall. There has been some significant turnover at the position with three-year starter Wayne Taulapapa headed to Washington as a grad transfer and Devin Darrington graduated. Ronnie Walker Jr., a fifth-year and former transfer from Indiana, was in line to compete for a starting job this season, but he suffered a serious injury in spring practice and it is unclear when he will be able to return to the field.

Tony Elliott looked to the transfer portal to supplement the depth in the running back room. He took a swing and a miss on Buffalo transfer Dylan McDuffie, who ended up at Georgia Tech, but he may have gotten an even better treasure in Miami transfer running back Cody Brown, who announced his commitment to Virginia on Wednesday night.

Let's take a look Virginia's running back personnel after the transfer of Cody Brown:

Cody Brown

Cody Brown's transfer to Virginia is a significant recruiting victory for Tony Elliott, as he essentially brings in his first four-star recruit. Brown, a 5'11", 215-pound tailback from Lilburn, Georgia, was a consensus four-star prospect coming out of Parkview High School and was rated the No. 12 running back in the country by ESPN. He rushed for over 1,500 yards in each of his last three seasons at Parkview.

Brown saw limited action in his freshman season at Miami, but averaged 4.1 yards per carry on 34 attempts, totaling 139 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Stuck behind several talented running backs on the depth chart at Miami, Brown hit the portal and ended up committing to UVA with three years of eligibility remaining.

A strong, athletic running back with tons of potential, Brown could realistically compete for the starting job in the backfield at Virginia in fall camp. But at the very least, UVA's depth at the running back position just improved by a wide margin.

Mike Hollins

Of the players in Virginia's running back room, Mike Hollins has the most experience running the ball in a UVA uniform and is expected to play a major role as the team tries to develop a capable ground attack. A 5'9", 203-pound junior from Baton Rouge, Hollins appeared in 13 games as a freshman in 2019, totaling 112 rushing yards on 21 carries and scoring three touchdowns.

After opting out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns, Hollins returned to the field in 2021 and had a decent season, even with UVA's troubles with running the ball. Hollins had 49 carries for 213 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 5.4 yards per rushing attempt. He also had 16 receptions for 83 yards.

Hollins got the second-most carries as a natural running back on the team behind Wayne Taulapapa - Brennan Armstrong was the team's most frequent ball carrier. With Taulapapa off to Washington as a grad transfer, Hollins is next in line to receive a bulk of the carries for the Cavaliers this fall.

Ronnie Walker Jr.

Ronnie Walker Jr. was one of the more exciting transfers to come to the Virginia football program during the Bronco Mendenhall era, but his opportunities have been limited so far through his first two seasons in Charlottesville. In 22 career games at Indiana, Walker had 59 total carries for 221 yards and a touchdown and was also a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield, recording 12 receptions for 112 yards and another score.

Returning to his home state of Virginia and looking for a bigger role, things have not quite panned out the way he expected. Walker was kept off the field for the first half of the 2020 season as he waited for his transfer waiver to be approved so that he could play immediately. That season, he appeared in only four games, rushing 23 times for 66 yards. In 2021, Walker had just five total carries for 32 yards, as he sat behind Wayne Taulapapa, Mike Hollins, and Devin Darrington on the UVA depth chart. The Cavaliers also gave a number of carries to Keytaon Thompson out of the backfield.

Before suffering an injury in early April that held him out of the rest of spring football, Walker had been impressing the UVA coaching staff and was certainly on his way to cementing himself as one of the top ball carriers in the Virginia running back room. Tony Elliott did not provide details on the nature or severity of Walker's injury, but he is likely to be out for an extended period of time. If he is able to return to form by the time the season comes around, expect the 5'11", 218-pound fifth-year to be a significant asset for the UVA offense.

Perris Jones

Perris Jones, a 5'8", 180-pound senior back from Alexandria, Virginia, has played in 33 games in his UVA career, but those appearances have mostly come in a special teams role. That could change in his senior season, as he capped off an impressive spring with an outstanding performance at the Blue-White Game. Jones amassed 129 rushing yards on nine carries, by far the most productive outing by a running back at the spring game

A chunk of those 129 yards came on a single play, as Jones burst free for a 75-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. He eluded multiple tacklers and used a great in-and-out move to get defensive back Jaylon Baker spun around so he could get by him.

Perris Jones starting off the second half with a HUGE TD run for the Blue Team!#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/PNFiP6LW2r
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) April 23, 2022

Jones' performance is even more remarkable when you consider that Virginia had only eight offensive linemen available for the spring game and could not feasibly pose Brennan Armstrong as a running threat out of the backfield even as a decoy. Every time Jones touched the ball, he was facing a defense that was prepared for him to get the ball and he was running behind an offensive line made up of at least a few players who were playing every snap for both teams' offenses. It will be interesting to see where Jones lands on the depth chart after stealing the show at the spring game.

Amaad Foston

Amaad Foston also had a solid afternoon at the Blue-White Game. The 6'0", 217-pound sophomore from Milledgeville, Georgia scored the game's first touchdown and finished with 37 yards on 14 carries.

Foston had a legendary high school career at John Milledge Academy, leading the entire state in rushing in the 2019 season with 2,772 rushing yards and 46 touchdowns and helping his team to a state championship and an undefeated season. Foston delivered a record-breaking performance in the state title game, finishing with 423 yards and eight touchdowns.

With more experienced backs like Mike Hollins and Cody Brown on the roster, Foston will likely still be behind those players on the depth chart, but there is certainly a great deal of potential for Foston to have a productive career for the Cavaliers down the line.

Xavier Brown

Xavier Brown can make the argument for being the best all-around athlete in Virginia's incoming freshman class. The 5'11", 175-pound athlete was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Kentucky after leading Lexington Christian to a 14-1 record and the state championship in his senior season. He rushed for 1,511 yards and 22 touchdowns on just 117 carries, averaging an outstanding 12.9 yards per carry. Brown also hauled in 16 passes for 398 yards and six more touchdowns. Brown was also a decorated track and field performer in his high school career.

If Tony Elliott wants to put the best athletes and playmakers on the field this fall, Xavier Brown certainly has a chance to earn playing time in his first season at UVA.

See more Virginia football news and content: Virginia Football on Sports Illustrated

See more Virginia sports news and content: Virginia Cavaliers on Sports Illustrated