Tony Elliott Has Every Reason To Be Excited About Virginia's Running Back Room

One of the big talks this spring has been about the running back room for the Cavaliers. The room has been revamped, and Virginia was aggressive in the transfer portal, adding three new running backs. The new additions are Jekail Middlebrook, Peyton Lewis, and Solomon Beebe. They each bring their own unique talent to the equation, and the room looks vastly different from last season, which was predominantly led by J’Mari Taylor. Harrison Waylee also stepped in and was a solid backup for the Cavaliers.

"I think selfishly you want to have several guys because I know there were several games and weeks where you like you're crossing your fingers like man, we're one turned ankle away from being very, very thin at the position. You want to have very functional, quality depth there that's competitive, and they'll determine if it becomes that I think when we went into the season, like we didn't fully know what we had in J’Mari if we're if we're being transparent, and he determined that he was going to become the workhorse just with his productivity, and he separated. So if one of them separates, then we'll go in that direction. If it turns into a committee-type deal, we'll go in that direction, but I do like the competition and the depth that we have at that position right now," said Elliot.

Reasons to be excited

The reason to be excited is that they have three legit running backs they can go to whenever they need them next season. Virginia predominantly relied on Taylor, who put together back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. It isn’t just the running game that makes this trio dangerous, but also the passing attack that makes them potent. All three can catch the football and get the yardage necessary to move the sticks and keep the drive alive. Head coach Tony Elliot talked about what they bring to the passing game.

“They're able to, you’re able to go through your progression. If it's not there, check it down to the back. One, they can catch it and secure the yardage to keep the offense ahead of the chains, but then also you see they can break a tackle, you know, slip a tackle, make a guy miss and turn it into from a short pass into a potential first down conversion or even longer,” said Elliot.

Another reason to be excited is that they all make plays at a high level. With a new quarterback at the helm this season, Virginia can lean on their ground game as they figure out how they want their offense to look in 2026. A quarterback’s best friend is a strong ground game. With the offensive line play and a plethora of veterans returning on the offensive line, Virginia should have no issues running the ball at a high level. Coach Elliot gave the running backs an assessment and had them make plays in the spring game.

“It was good to see all of them be able to run the ball. You know, Noah (Vaughn) wasn't able to go today. He's got a little bit of inflammation in his knee, and so he wanted to be smart right there. And you know, Peyton (Lewis) was battling um you know, stomach flu for the last two days, and so just I think you saw what he's capable of, and when he's at full strength, you know, he probably finishes that run. It was good to see 21 (Jekail) Middlebrook get out there and let everybody else see cuz he's probably been the most consistent throughout the course of uh uh spring ball in terms of generating the big play. And the same thing with Solo (Solomon Beebe) and Zay. So, it's good to see all those guys get in there and not a ton of drop-off between, you know, any one of them that's out there, which is really encouraging for us,” said Elliot.

The running back room is easily one of the best units for the team on offense. They will be fun to watch and are easily the most talented unit on the team. That bodes well in a completely revamped roster that will need to lean on the running back room in the early going.

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