Evaluating Virginia Football's Biggest Needs in the Spring Transfer Window

Virginia Athletics

The college football transfer portal has opened once again and will remain open from April 16th through April 25th, giving players and teams a chance to make changes for the 2025 season. The Virginia football program will not be exempt from those changes, with multiple players from UVA's roster likely to dip into the portal, while the Cavaliers are undoubtedly going to chase more than a few transfer targets at a few key positions of need. What are those transfer portal priorities for Virginia in the spring transfer window? Let's break them down.

Virginia Football Spring Transfer Window Priority: Cornerback

Cornerback is without a doubt the most significant and urgent position of need on the Virginia roster and the biggest priority for the Cavaliers to upgrade during the spring transfer window. UVA's two starting corners in 2024 were Kempton Shine, who exhausted his eligibility, and Jam Jackson, who is back, but suffered a knee injury in spring football that could require surgery, though Tony Elliott said they would need another couple of weeks to evaluate the injury before making that decision. Other defensive backs who played significant snaps for UVA last year are Kendren Smith, who exhausted his eligibility, and Dre Walker, who missed eight games in 2024 with an injury.

Virginia brought in Morgan State transfer Ja'son Prevard, an FCS Freshman All-American in 2023 and Second-Team All-MEAC selection in 2024, in the winter transfer window. The Cavaliers also seem to be excited about the potential of freshman corner CJ Spence to make a big impact in his first season at Virginia. But even before the injury to Jackson, Tony Elliott and his staff had said that they were planning to go after a few more cornerbacks in the transfer portal during the spring window. That need has only become more urgent, as it's possible that both starting cornerback spots are currently up for grabs.

Virginia hosted Fresno State transfer Julian Neal, a former Stanford commit before head coach Troy Taylor was fired, for a visit starting on Tuesday. Neal is ranked as one of the top five available cornerbacks in the transfer portal according to On3. Some other potential transfer targets for Virginia at the cornerback position are Utah's Kenan Johnson, Nebraska's Ethan Nation, and South Carolina State's Jamare Benjamin. Those three players are also considered three of the top uncommitted cornerbacks in the portal by On3 and all three are originally from states where Tony Elliott has had success on the recruiting trail (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina). Elliott and his staff will also keep an eye on any new cornerbacks who enter the portal during the spring window.

Virginia Football Spring Transfer Window Priority: Offensive Line

The winter transfer window brought a great deal of turnover on the offensive line for Virginia, but at least on paper, it was a net positive for the unit. UVA lost Brian Stevens, Ty Furnish, and Ugonna Nnanna, but added Monroe Mills, Brady Wilson, Tyshawn Wyatt, and Kevin Wigenton II. It seemed the offensive line was set up for a big step forward in 2025, as the Cavaliers upgraded their projected starting five and also improved their depth by adding those four transfers to a returning roster that included four players with extensive starting experience - McKale Boley, Noah Josey, Blake Steen, and Jack Witmer - in addition to other notable returners like Drake Metcalf, Ethan Sipe, Ben York, and Grant Ellinger.

Offensive line might not have made this list had it not been for some recent developments at the end of spring football. First, Monroe Mills went down with an ACL injury during spring practice. The Louisville transfer was arguably UVA's biggest offseason acquisition as the No. 1-ranked offensive tackle in the transfer portal (per On3). Elliott reported that the injury will sideline Mills for the entire 2025 season. Then, the first day of the spring transfer window saw the departure of Blake Steen, who started 17 games on the offensive line over the last two seasons, primarily at right tackle. Steen started all 12 games in 2024 and only gave up one sack. Now, neither of Steen or Mills, who were both quality candidates to start on Virginia's offensive line in 2025, will be available for the Cavaliers this fall.

So, expect Virginia to be looking for one or two more offensive linemen in the spring transfer window to fill in these gaps, but also to help replenish UVA's overall depth at a position which has been perhaps the biggest weakness for the Cavaliers under Tony Elliott.

Virginia Football Spring Transfer Window Priority: Running Back

Xavier Brown and North Carolina Central transfer J'Mari Taylor seem to have the potential to be a good one-two punch at the running back position. But as always, there are some concerns. Brown, who averaged more than six yards per carry last season, should solidly be Virginia's lead back in 2025, but he has had some injury trouble in his career, missing 10 games in 2023 due to injury and going down with another injury in week 13 against SMU that caused him to miss the finale against Virginia Tech this past season.

Taylor, meanwhile, has been very productive in his career, including a 2024 campaign in which he rushed for 1,146 yards and 15 touchdowns. But that production came at the FCS level, and there's always at least a bit of skepticism about translating that performance up to the Power Conference FBS level. Obviously, Virginia will hope that Brown stays healthy and becomes UVA's first 1,000-yard rusher since Jordan Ellis in 2018 and that Taylor will have no trouble transitioning and will serve as a highly effective No. 2 rusher.

The problem is that if either (or both) players fall short, there isn't much depth behind them. The other running backs currently on Virginia's roster are: junior Noah Vaughn (120 career rushing yards), former walk-on Jack Griese, Hillsdale College transfer Owen Gardner, former quarterback turned defensive back turned running back Davis Lane Jr., and true freshman Xay Davis. So with that said, Virginia could be in the market for another running back.

Virginia could potentially go after transfers at other positions, with the other possible options being tight end and safety, but the three positions we just discussed are the biggest priorities for the Cavaliers in the spring transfer portal window.