Better or Worse?: Comparing Virginia Football’s 2025 Quarterback Room to 2024's

Has Virginia upgraded at the quarterback position heading into the 2025 season?

Nov 9, 2024; Denton, Texas, USA; North Texas Mean Green quarterback Chandler Morris (4) throws a pass against the Army Black Knights during the second half at DATCU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Virginia has made a big push in the transfer portal this offseason and one of the most notable additions they made was at at quarterback, where the Cavaliers brought in former Oklahoma/TCU/North Texas quarterback Chandler Morris to replace former starters Anthony Colandrea (transfer to UNLV) and Tony Muskett. There is little doubt that Morris is going to the the starting quarterback for UVA this season, but how much better can he make the offense? The Cavaliers have not had a strong passing attack in a few years, despite having one of the best wide receivers in the ACC, Malachi Fields. Fields is now gone to Notre Dame so Morris is going to have to find a new No. 1 target.

Projected Depth Chart Breakdown:

2024	2025
Anthony Colandrea	Chandler Morris
Tony Muskett	Daniel Kaelin

Leading Passer: Chandler Morris (25') vs. Anthony Colandrea (24')

Last season, Colandrea threw for over 2,100 yards with 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He played over 700 snaps according to PFF and finished with a pedestrian 64.2 overall grade. While he was far from perfect, Colandrea was not afraid to take chances and also added a dual-threat element to the position, rushing for nearly 300 yards and a couple of touchdowns. Muskett was the opposite. He did not make the kind of big plays that Colandrea could at time and also still threw interceptions.

There is a chance that Morris could in fact be a huge upgrade at the position, but he only has one real season to show for it. Morris only played in five total games during his lone season with Oklahoma and then transferred to TCU. He played in four games for the Horned Frogs in 2021, including a standout performance in an upset win over No. 12 Baylor. Morris was 29-41 for 461 yards and two touchdowns in that game.

He would battle an injury that would limit his playing time in both 2022 (when the Horner Frogs made an appearance in the national championship game) and then in 2023, when he only played in seven games. Morris threw for 1,532 yards, 12 touchdowns, and five interceptions while completing 66% of his passes. He would then transfer to North Texas, where he would have the most productive season of his collegiate career.

For the Mean Green last season, Morris threw for 3,774 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions while completing 63.1% of his passes. He also had 242 yards rushing and four touchdowns. According to PFF, Morris finished as the highest-grade player on the North Texas offense with 78.9 grade in 887 total snaps at quarterback.

It comes down to if 1) Morris can stay healthy and 2) Was his production a product of the kind of teams he was facing on the field last season? I would argue that when he was healthy at TCU, he did have games where he put up big numbers, so last season might not have just been a product of facing weak defenses. Morris has more experience and has been more productive than either Colandrea or Muskett was.

2nd QB: Daniel Kaelin (25') vs. Tony Muskett (24')

For now, the backup situation at UVA last season was more known. Muskett, while limited, was a solid backup option to have. Daniel Kaelin has never played a snap in college after spending just one season at Nebraska. Could he be better than Muskett? Sure, but if Morris goes down, Virginia will be turning to an inexperienced backup.

Overall, I think Elliott did well to get a productive and proven quarterback who has played at the power four level, while also looking ahead and getting a talented young quarterback like Kaelin. FOr this to be successful though, Morris has to stay healthy. If he does, this should be a better quarterback room and one that might just be good enough to get the Cavaliers back in a bowl game.

Additional Links

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