Who Will Be Virginia's Starting Quarterback in 2023?

Breaking down the candidates to succeed Brennan Armstrong as UVA's starting quarterback next fall

The first major domino to fall in what is likely to be a very active transfer portal season for the Virginia football program was quarterback Brennan Armstrong, who announced his decision to enter the portal as a grad transfer on Thursday, ending his UVA career as the program's all-time leader in virtually every quarterback record. Armstrong wasn't the first Cavalier to enter the transfer portal - backup long snapper Lee Dudley beat him by a couple of days - and Armstrong likely won't be the last to enter the portal over the next few weeks. 

Armstrong's decision to enter the transfer portal didn't come as a huge surprise. This season at Virginia was destined to be his last as a Cavalier no matter how it went. When Armstrong decided to come back for this season, the plan was for him to build off of his record-setting 2021 campaign, improve in some critical areas as a passer to improve his draft stock, and then go to the NFL. The disaster that was the 2022 season didn't do anything to change the fact that Armstrong was going to leave UVA - it just changed his destination. 

The blame for Virginia's offensive struggles cannot be assessed to just one player or factor - be that Armstrong's decline, Des Kitchings' playcalling, Tony Elliott's new offensive system, offensive line issues, or wide receiver drops. All of those factors combined to produce the outcome that the Brennan Armstrong that took the field in 2022 was a shell of the version that put on a show in 2021. His completion percentage fell off a cliff from 65.2% in 2021 to 54.7%. He threw just seven touchdown passes as compared to a school-record 31 TDs last year. He threw for only 2,210 passing yards, less than half of his total in 2021, and was intercepted 12 times. That tanked what was left of his draft stock. 

With one year of eligibility remaining, it is undoubtedly the right move for both Brennan Armstrong and Virginia to part ways. It's a difficult one for UVA fans to swallow, and it certainly won't be easy to see him competing for another school. Armstrong had a fantastic career in the orange and blue that the UVA football program won't soon forget. He should be remembered for the records he broke, yes. But he has also earned perpetual respect for the way he gave 100% on the field no matter the wins or the losses or the broken ribs. Brennan Armstrong was a fighter in his career as a Cavalier.

Now, Virginia is on the prowl for a new quarterback for the first time in a while. Even when Bryce Perkins left in 2019, it was pretty clear right away that Brennan Armstrong was next in line. UVA hasn't had a quarterback question like this since Perkins transferred in after the departure of Kurt Benkert. So who's going to be the new QB1 for the Cavaliers in the second year of the Tony Elliott era? Let's get into the candidates. 

The most obvious choice will be Jay Woolfolk, but it's not as clear-cut as it seems and we'll get to that in a second. Woolfolk became the first true freshman to start a game at quarterback at UVA since 1977, replacing an injured Brennan Armstrong against Notre Dame last November and throwing for 196 yards in a 28-3 loss to the top-ten Irish. In nine-career games, Woolfolk is 22/43 (51.2%) for 245 passing yards, zero passing touchdowns, two interceptions, and 104 rushing yards on 26 carries. 

Jay Woolfolk appears to be next in line to inherit the starting quarterback job as he has been listed as Armstrong's backup on the depth chart for the entirety of each of the last two seasons. The elephant in the room that might shake up this succession process is Woolfolk's baseball career. 

The 2020 Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year in Virginia, Woolfolk has a real shot to be a pitcher in Major League Baseball. While the rest of the UVA football team was getting acclimated to Tony Elliott and the new coaching staff last spring, Woolfolk was with the Virginia baseball team, striking out 55 batters in 37.2 innings pitched and earning Freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball and D1Baseball.com. 

While spending the spring away from the team didn't prevent him from securing the backup QB job this season, Woolfolk will eventually have to make a decision between football and baseball, the same choice that Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson had to make. In fall camp before the 2022 football season, Woolfolk said his plan is to continue to play both sports for as long as his body allows him. But now, the circumstances might be calling for him to make a decision before his body does. If Woolfolk is in line to compete for and win the starting QB job, then this spring will be a crucial time. It's one thing for a backup quarterback to spend a spring away from the team playing baseball. It's another thing entirely to be an expected contender for QB1 and willingly bow out of spring practices - where that quarterback battle will be taking place with whichever quarterbacks are present - in order to pitch for the UVA baseball team across the street at Disharoon Park.

The reality is that if Jay Woolfolk wants to be the next starting quarterback at the University of Virginia, that will likely necessitate skipping the 2023 UVA baseball season to go all in on football this spring. It's a difficult choice, especially considering that Jay Woolfolk has a fastball that touched 97 miles per hour at times last season - that's a velocity that'll get a pitcher drafted in the MLB. But, the circumstances now appear to demand that Woolfolk make this critical decision sometime in the next month or two. 

Sure, it's possible that Woolfolk could spend the entire spring and the early part of the summer with the Virginia baseball team and still come back and win the starting quarterback job in fall camp. But, Tony Elliott does not seem like the type to give Woolfolk the job if he's not there to earn it in the spring, especially if there are QBs in the rising sophomore class or even transfer portal prospects that Elliott and the coaching staff want to take a look at. 

With that in mind, let's analyze who the candidates are to challenge Woolfolk for the starting quarterback position at Virginia in 2023. Of the freshmen quarterbacks on the roster in 2022, two stand out as potential contenders in 2023: Davis Lane Jr. and Delaney Crawford. 

A three-star from Lynchburg, part of the excitement around Davis Lane Jr. is due to the potential of having a Virginia native starting at quarterback at UVA. But Lane has a lot of talent and the physical measurements at 6'1" to be a successful QB. He was the No. 64-ranked quarterback in the country and the top QB from Virginia in the class of 2022. A dual-threat quarterback, Lane passed for 1,500 yards and 18 touchdowns and also ran for 600 yards and 12 more scores in his senior season, leading Liberty Christian to its first-ever appearance in the state championship game. 

Another dual-threat three-star quarterback, Delaney Crawford has all the makings of an explosive super-athlete. He is 6'2", 193 pounds and has blazing speed. In addition to being a prolific high school quarterback, Crawford was an all-state hurdler, recording the best time in California and the fifth-fastest time in the country with a 36.64-second 300-meter hurdles. Crawford was used to impersonate opposing dual threat QBs like Louisville's Malik Cunningham on the scout team in practice and Tony Elliott toyed with the idea of involving Crawford in the offense this season just to get the ball in his hands. But ultimately, Crawford and the rest of the freshman quarterbacks ended up redshirting their first seasons at UVA. 

The other freshman quarterbacks are Mark Wagner II, Grady Brosterhous, Landon Spell, and Devin Sherwood - who aren't likely to be competing for the starting job, but they're on the roster, so we're mentioning them here. The same could be said for junior Jared Rayman, a former walk-on who was placed on scholarship just before the start of the 2022 season and was the holder on field goals and extra points this season. 

UVA currently has one quarterback commit in the class of 2023. A three-star from St. Petersburg, Florida, Anthony Colandrea is ranked the No. 70 QB in the nation in the class of 2023. He has lots of potential and could end up being QB1 down the line in his UVA career, but this just doesn't seem to be a scenario in which Colandrea could come in and start from day one unless he really surprises people. 

Then there's the transfer portal, through which several quarterbacks will be looking to find a new home to revitalize their careers, much like Brennan Armstrong. Even ahead of the official opening of the portal on December 5th for non-graduate transfers, there are already several quarterbacks in the transfer portal for Tony Elliott and company to take a look at. The one target UVA has reportedly been in contact with has been in the portal since late September. 

Boise State quarterback Hank Bachmeier has started in 29 career games over his career with the Broncos. He started all 12 games in 2021, throwing for 3,079 yards and 20 touchdowns. For his career, the 6'1", 210-pound junior has recorded 6,605 passing yards with a 61.5% completion percentage and 41 touchdowns to 19 interceptions. If UVA is to go after a QB in the transfer portal this offseason, it could very well be Bachmeier, who still has two years of eligibility remaining as he maintained his redshirt for the 2022 season since he only played in four games. Virginia has reportedly been in contact with Bachmeier since as early as October. 

There are some other quarterbacks of note in the transfer portal, but it likely won't become clear who the Cavaliers are targeting until visits are scheduled, but here are some names to be aware of:

Jeff Sims (Georgia Tech), Phil Jurkovec (Boston College), Chance Nolan (Oregon State), Luke Altmyer (Ole Miss), Hudson Card (Texas), Ben Ballard (Texas), Brett Griffis (Wake Forest), Cammon Cooper (Hawaii), Connor Bazelak (Indiana), Jack Tuttle (Indiana), Davis Brin (Tulsa), Braylon Braxton (Tulsa), Chase Artopoeus (UCLA), JP Zamora (Washington State), Malik Hornsby (Arkansas), Jordan McCloud (Arizona), Brendon Lewis (Colorado), Paul Tyson (Arizona State), Deacon Hill (Wisconsin), and Alex Padilla (Iowa). [Note: this section has been updated].

Update: Virginia has offered Monmouth quarterback Tony Muskett. 

As always, CavaliersNow has UVA fans covered with all Virginia football news and updates, including the Cavaliers' activity in the transfer portal. 

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