Virginia Football Projected Depth Chart 3.0: Injuries Shake Up Starting Lineup

Matt Newton | Aug 16, 2024

Michael Diatta could be a first-time starter on the defensive line for Virginia football in 2024. / Virginia Athletics

Virginia has completed two full weeks of fall camp and the picture is becoming clearer on what the Cavaliers are going to look like on the field at various positions. While many of the two-deep listings have been solidified since the start of fall camp, a few injuries at key spots have shaken up UVA's projected starting lineup for week 1 against Richmond.

With that said, it's time to to revisit our projected Virginia football depth chart and make a few changes based on injuries and other notes we've observed so far in fall camp. Again, this is just an educated guess at what UVA's depth chart could look like and does not at all reflect the opinions of the coaching staff, who will make these decisions at the end of fall camp.

Here is our Virginia Football Projected Depth Chart 3.0:

Offense

Position	Starter	Backup
QB	Tony Muskett	Anthony Colandrea
RB	Kobe Pace	Jack Griese
WR	Chris Tyree	Suderian Harrison
WR	Malachi Fields	Andre Greene Jr.
WR	Trell Harris	Kameron Courtney
TE	Sackett Wood	Tyler Neville
LT	McKale Boley	Houston Curry
LG	Noah Josey	Ugonna Nnanna
C	Brian Stevens	Ethan Sipe
RG	Ty Furnish	Charlie Patterson
RT	Blake Steen	Jimmy Christ

Notes:
- The most notable change on the offensive side of the ball is at wide receiver, where the news that junior wide receiver JR Wilson will likely miss the start of the season with a knee injury has significant ripple effects on the depth chart. A strong offseason and fall camp had established Wilson has a near-lock to occupy one of the coveted starting spots in UVA's stacked wide receiver room. While Wilson is likely to return to the starting lineup once he's healthy, which Tony Elliott says should happen very early in the season after only a game or two missed, this is a projection of UVA's week 1 depth chart, so Wilson will not be included.
- There are more than a few high-caliber candidates to fill in as a starting wideout alongside the other expected starters Malachi Fields and Chris Tyree. For now, we're going to give the nod to Kent State transfer Trell Harris, who has been a standout in fall camp and has the momentum to seize this opportunity.
- Andre Greene Jr. and Suderian Harrison were other candidates for that spot, but they stay where they are on the depth chart. Moving up into a second-line spot could be players like Jaden Gibson, Titus Ivy, Ethan Davies or TyLyric Coleman, but we're going to go with freshman Kameron Courtney, who has arguably had the best fall camp of any first-year and has frequently earned praise from the UVA coaching staff.
- Another injury reflected in the depth chart above is the shoulder injury of running back Xavier Brown. After missing most of the 2023 season with an elbow injury, another upper-body ailment has Brown sidelined for "a couple of weeks", according to Tony Elliott. While Brown could return by the start of the season, we're going to replace him as the backup to Kobe Pace at running back with former walk-on Jack Griese, who is making the most of his opportunity in fall camp.
Read more on Griese here: With Xavier Brown Injury, Jack Griese is Next Man Up in Virginia RB Room
- For now, there are no changes at quarterback, as Tony Muskett and Anthony Colandrea continue to battle for the starting job, and no changes to the offensive line, as the injuries to expected starters McKale Boley and Brian Stevens aren't likely to result in missed game time.

Defense

Position	Starter	Backup
DE	Kam Butler	Ben Smiley
NT	Jahmeer Carter	Anthony Britton
DT	Michael Diatta	Jason Hammond
Bandit DE	Chico Bennett	Terrell Jones
WILL LB	James Jackson	Trey McDonald
MIKE LB	Kam Robinson	Dorian Jones
SPUR	Corey Thomas	Jam Jackson
Left CB	Kempton Shine	Dre Walker
Right CB	Malcolm Greene	Kendren Smith
FS	Jonas Sanker	Caleb Hardy
SS	Antonio Clary	Elijah Gaines

Notes:
- Senior defensive lineman Bryce Carter, who we had projected to be a starter at defensive tackle, is currently out with a knee injury which Tony Elliott described as the "longest-term" of Virginia's latest injuries.
- That starting spot had been occupied for the last few seasons by Aaron Faumui and now UVA defensive coordinator John Rudzinski says senior Michael Diatta and sophomore Jason Hammond are the two standouts at that position, so consequently we now have Diatta and Hammond as the starter and backup at defensive tackle.
- We had previously listed Diatta as the backup to Jahmeer Carter at nose tackle, but we're going to tab rising sophomore Anthony Britton as Carter's backup now.
- We've also made some slight adjustments to Virginia's defensive secondary depth chart to better reflect where we think some of those defensive backs will end up playing.

Virginia Football Injury Report: Updates on Tyree, Boley, Wilson, Jackson, Brown

Special Teams

Position	Starter	Backup
Punter	Daniel Sparks	Elijah Slibeck
Kickoff	Daniel Sparks	Vadin Bruot
Placekicker	Will Bettridge	Vadin Bruot
Punt Return	Ethan Davies	Suderian Harrison
Kickoff Return	Chris Tyree	Kobe Pace
Long-Snapper	Payton Bunch	Luke Byrne

Notes:
- The special teams depth chart is the same as in our previous version, with the caveat that the long-snapper situation is in flux. Coastal Carolina transfer Payton Bunch is expected to start, but with the injury to Stevie Bracey, who was working at long-snapper in addition to linebacker, the backup spot is up for grabs between Luke Byrne and Hayden Rollison.
- Tony Elliott says the team is starting the process of determining the returners this week, so we'll leave our projections unchanged. Chris Tyree, Kobe Pace, and Ethan Davies are competing at kickoff return and Davies, Tyree, Suderian Harrison, Kam Courtney, and Trell Harris are competing at punt return.

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