Virginia Football Projected Depth Chart 4.0: Final Projections Before Gameday

Matt Newton | Aug 24, 2024

Anthony Colandrea has been named Virginia's week 1 starting quarterback. Who will be UVA's other starters on the week 1 depth chart. / Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Fall camp has concluded and just one week remains until the start of the 2024 Virginia football season. With the Cavaliers set to open their season against Richmond on August 31st, we're going to take one more crack at projecting what UVA's two-deep depth chart will look like when it is revealed by Tony Elliott on Tuesday.

Of course, this is just an educated guess at what UVA's week 1 depth chart could be and does not at all reflect the opinions of the coaching staff, with the obvious exception of Anthony Colandrea being named Virginia's starting quarterback on Saturday morning.

With that said, here is our Virginia Football Projected Depth Chart 4.0:

Offense

Position	Starter	Backup
QB	Anthony Colandrea	Tony Muskett
RB	Kobe Pace	Xavier Brown
WR	Chris Tyree	Suderian Harrison
WR	Malachi Fields	Andre Greene
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

• Of course, the headline on the offensive side of the ball is that Tony Elliott has named Anthony Colandrea the starting quarterback for Virginia's season opener against Richmond next Saturday. This marks the first time that Colandrea will start over a (presumably) healthy Tony Muskett and offers a resolution on the biggest point of suspense for UVA's week 1 depth chart release this week.
• Xavier Brown appears to be back in practice after missing a big chunk of fall camp with a shoulder injury, so we've got him back on the depth chart as Kobe Pace's backup at running back. Expect Pace, Brown, and Jack Griese to get carries in the season opener.
• We still have Kent State transfer Trell Harris as the third starting receiver with JR Wilson out with an injury. Wilson should at the very least contend for a starting spot when he returns, but since this is a week 1 depth chart projection, he's still absent from it.
• There are no changes at offensive line or tight end from our previous projections.

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	Malcolm Greene
Left CB	Kempton Shine	Jam Jackson
Right CB	Dre Walker	Kendren Smith
FS	Jonas Sanker	Caleb Hardy
SS	Antonio Clary	Elijah Gaines

Notes

• We've moved Malcolm Greene from cornerback to the SPUR/nickel spot because he's been moving around the UVA secondary and it seems his most likely final landing spot is behind/alongside Corey Thomas Jr. at SPUR.
• We've got Kempton Shine and Dre Walker as our projected starters at cornerback, with Jam Jackson and Kendren Smith right behind them. Those four guys seem to be very close as the cornerback position battle was probably the tightest and most competitive on the roster during fall camp.
• There are no changes at linebacker, safety, or on the defensive line.

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

• There are no changes to our projected special teams depth chart.

More Virginia Football News

Anthony Colandrea Announced as UVA Football’s Starting Quarterback

Virginia Football: Ten Cavaliers Who Raised Their Stock in Fall Camp

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Virginia Football Position Overview: Analyzing UVA’s Defensive Line in 2024

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