Reevaluating Virginia's Quarterback Room Following Jay Woolfolk's Departure

With Jay Woolfolk opting to focus on baseball, what does the UVA football team's depth chart look like at quarterback this season?

There was a minor shake-up in the quarterback position battle for the 2023 Virginia football team this week as dual-sport super-athlete Jay Woolfolk announced his decision to step away from the UVA football program in order to focus on his baseball career. We say "minor shake-up" as it seemed likely that Woolfolk would be, at best, Virginia's backup quarterback this season with Monmouth transfer Tony Muskett appearing to be the runaway favorite to be the starting signal-caller for the Cavaliers when the season begins in Nashville on September 2nd. 

Before we get into how this impacts Virginia's quarterback room, it's important to recognize that this is 100% the right decision for Jay Woolfolk at this point in his athletic career. Woolfolk has a significantly more lucrative future ahead of him as a professional baseball player. Even while splitting his time between football and baseball, Woolfolk has developed into an effective closer for a major college baseball program and could be a high draft pick in next year's MLB draft, the first year that he would be eligible for selection as a collegiate junior. If he focuses entirely on baseball, Woolfolk could still reach new heights in what would likely be his final season at Virginia next spring, setting himself up to be a potential second or even first-round draft selection next July. Woolfolk maintained a remarkable feat of athletic achievement for the last two years by playing as a quarterback for a Power Five college football program while at the same time pitching at a high level for one of the premier college baseball programs in the country. But now, it's time for Woolfolk to focus his efforts on realizing his dream of playing Major League Baseball. 

So, where does that leave Tony Elliott's Hoos at the most important position on the field? 

The starting quarterback job is Tony Muskett's to lose. He's the guy the Cavaliers picked out of the transfer portal to be the next quarterback at Virginia and nothing Muskett did during spring football suggested a need to deviate from that plan. Muskett put up fantastic numbers at Monmouth in a similar offensive system as what Tony Elliott and Des Kitchings are hoping to install at UVA, is a good decision-maker and accurate thrower of the football, and has already developed some solid chemistry with the Virginia wide receivers. And with Jay Woolfolk focusing on baseball for the last several months, it is more likely that the tighter battle on the quarterback depth chart would have been between Woolfolk and the other quarterbacks like Anthony Colandrea rather than between Woolfolk and Muskett for the starting job. 

A true freshman from St. Petersburg, Florida, Anthony Colandrea seems to be the prime beneficiary of Woolfolk's departure from the program as he can now firmly step into the backup spot behind Muskett. Colandrea has checked every box since arriving on Grounds as a January enrollee. He delivered an electrifying performance in the spring game, going 18/29 for 218 yards and a touchdown. The UVA coaching staff speaks glowingly of his moxie and confidence, traits that are visible through his play on the field in a small sample size. Muskett is still the leading candidate to be the starting quarterback this fall, but Colandrea has sky-high potential as the future quarterback of the Virginia football program and it's going to be difficult to keep him off the field. 

Things become a little harder to predict on the depth chart beyond that. Rising sophomores Delaney Crawford and Davis Lane Jr. have a lot of potential as quarterbacks, but also bring a ton of athleticism that could serve them well at other positions on the field. Both Crawford and Lane were accomplished track athletes in high school and used that speed and athletic ability to be highly productive dual-threat quarterbacks. The UVA coaching staff has hinted a lot at the possibility of utilizing Crawford on offense, putting the ball in his hands and simply seeing what happens after that. Similarly, Lane could play a few different positions on the field, even if it's not quarterback this season. 

Rising fifth-year and former walk-on Jared Rayman is also a favorite among the UVA coaching staff and it wouldn't be surprising to see his name appear on the depth chart at quarterback throughout this season. Rising sophomores Grady Brosterhous and Devin Sherwood round out the Virginia quarterback room. 

There's still some room for substantial movement during fall camp, which begins on Wednesday, August 2nd, but this is our current projection for Virginia's quarterback depth chart this season:

1. Tony Muskett
2. Anthony Colandrea
3. Jared Rayman
4. Davis Lane Jr.
5. Delaney Crawford
6. Grady Brosterhous
7. Devin Sherwood

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