Tony Elliott Updates Virginia's Quarterback Situation on Signing Day
For the first time in several seasons, Virginia will have a legitimate battle at the quarterback position.
In Bronco Mendenhall's first season as the head coach at UVA, Kurt Benkert edged out Matt Johns and Connor Brewer in fall camp to win the starting quarterback job for the 2016 Virginia football season. That was the last time the Cavaliers truly had a quarterback competition, as Benkert (2016-2017), Bryce Perkins (2018-2019), and Brennan Armstrong (2020-2022) earned, maintained, and then handed over the starting QB job with minimal drama for the next seven seasons.
Brennan Armstrong entered the transfer portal on December 1st, leaving the Cavaliers without an experienced quarterback on the roster. So, Tony Elliott and UVA quarterbacks coach Taylor Lamb went into the transfer portal and secured a commitment from Monmouth quarterback Tony Muskett, a two-time All-Big South First-Team selection with more than 5,000 career passing yards and 23 games of starting quarterback experience.
“We were looking for a guy with some experience and the first thing that jumps out is he’s played three years," Tony Elliott said of Tony Muskett, a Virginia native who comes to UVA with two years of eligibility remaining. "He was the freshman of the year in his conference and back-to-back first team all-conference in his league."
Muskett officially signed a grant in aid on Wednesday to come to Virginia, where he is expected to compete for the starting quarterback job. But both Tony Elliott and Taylor Lamb made it clear on Wednesday that nothing has been guaranteed and the quarterback who plays the best this offseason will be UVA's starter next fall.
"We were looking for a guy with experience, a guy who was competitive, and a guy who wanted to come in and compete and wasn’t going to be afraid of the competition he was going to have to go through if he wanted to be the guy," said Elliott.
"The best will play," Taylor Lamb said. "Get all these guys reps on the roster in the spring and see who turns out on top... Competition breeds greatness."
Among those expected to challenge for the starting job is Jay Woolfolk, who served as the backup to Brennan Armstrong in each of the last two seasons and started one game at quarterback in 2021 when Armstrong was hurt. Woolfolk distanced himself from the rest of the quarterbacks on the roster as Armstrong's backup this season, but has yet to prove himself as a starting-caliber quarterback. There's also the complication of Woolfolk's baseball career. With a fastball that touches the upper 90s, Jay Woolfolk has a real opportunity to pursue a professional baseball career. Woolfolk will play his second season with the Virginia baseball team this spring, but Tony Elliott says he intends to meet with Brian O'Connor to make a plan for Woolfolk's schedule to allow him to participate in spring football practice.
“We’re gonna have to put together a schedule for him because he’s legitimately in contention to be a weekend starter, and I don’t want to hinder that progress," Elliott said of Woolfolk. "But at the same time, too, if he wants to be a starting quarterback at the University of Virginia, he’s going to have to be present in practice. Coach O'Connor and I are going to meet in detail... and really put together a plan of what that looks like."
Beyond Woolfolk, Muskett, and former walk-on Jared Rayman, the rest of the quarterbacks on Virginia's roster are freshmen who did not see game action in 2022. Elliott specifically mentioned Rayman, Delaney Crawford, Grady Brosterhous, and Davis Lane Jr. as players who could contend for a spot towards the top of the quarterback depth chart. UVA also signed a three-star quarterback in the 2023 recruiting class in Anthony Colandrea, who threw for 7,312 passing yards and went 35-4 as a starting quarterback in high school. Colandrea and Muskett are set to enroll at Virginia in January and will participate in spring practice.
Between Tony Muskett, Jay Woolfolk, Delaney Crawford, Anthony Colandrea, Jared Rayman, Grady Brosterhous, and Davis Lane Jr., there should be an intense quarterback competition in the spring and continuing through next summer.
"I’m excited about the competition," said Tony Elliott. "I think the competition is just going to make the cream of the cream rise to the top and give us not only competition, but it’ll give us some competitive depth there too.”
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