Tony Elliott sends a strong message about Virginia's DT room heading into 2026

Following the first day of Virginia football fall camp practices, Tony Elliott addressed a plethora of different topics with the media. One of the things that stood out the most, though, was his comments on the Cavaliers' defensive tackle room and how he plans to use them in 2026.

Coach Elliott likes what he sees from the defensive tackle group

Tony Elliott Virginia Cavalier — Jul 15, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Virginia head coach Tony Elliott speaks to the media during ACC Media Days at Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Elliott was asked to give his thoughts on the defensive tackles and what he saw from them on the first day of camp. He responded with:

"Yeah, excited to just look over there and see some big bodies. And I think most all of them are 300 pounds or more. So we got to do a great job of keeping them that way through camp and getting them to the season, kind of how they came into camp today. But depth is critical at that position. And it's something that I've been telling the defensive staff about for a while because I lived it for many years with all those D-linemen that you'd have to go against every day and practice, I can only imagine what that's like against an opposing team. So, for me, it's not necessarily a competition to see who's going to be the starter.

The competition is I want every one of them to be a starter because I want to rotate and play them like they're all starters. And I think we saw that last year, right, when we had some additional depth. I mean, Jah (Jahmeer Carter) was able to play the whole season, even though he's playing only 20, 25 snaps as opposed to the 60 snaps a game he was playing the year before. But, man, he's more productive. He's got all conference nominations and then he's healthy and now he's got a shot to play in the NFL. So I like the depth. Now it's up to those guys to figure out who actually runs out there first. But my expectation is that we have six of them that can roll and we're going to need them. I think Britt's, Anthony Britton's in the best spot that he's been in, he's moving very well.

Jason (Hammond) is healthy, excited about Darion (Henry-Young). And what he brings, Kervins Choute. Today was the first time I've had a chance to really see him in action because he got here this summer. But he's been just a pleasant addition around the locker room, great energy, unbelievable young man. Jonathan Allen, want to see him come on and then you got a Sichan (John). I've been raving about Sichan, he came in about 311, he's in the best shape that he's ever been in, so I'm excited. And then you got young bull (Bull Richardson). Bull Richardson is in the mix. So my hope is that the competition is all day, every day. And KD (Kevin Downing) has to wait all the way up until game time to say who's actually running out there first, but they're all ready to play and play starter caliber snaps."

Two of the most fascinating remarks he made were about the young players in the room, Sichan John and JaySean "Bull" Richardson, and how many players he'd like to rotate in 2026. John is entering his second season with the team and was impressive working as a rotational nose tackle behind Jahmeer Carter and Anthony Britton as a true freshman in 2025. It's exciting to see him get some recognition this early in fall camp.

Bull Richardson was a high-end 3-star recruit in this year's class, choosing to stay in-state and committing to Virginia over programs like Indiana, Maryland, and PITT. He's incredibly disruptive and has an excellent motor, which bodes well for his outlook in Charlottesville as a gap-shooting 3-technique defensive tackle.

Coach Elliott saying that he wants to have a six-man defensive tackle rotation is also astounding, as most of the time it's a four-man rotation inside. As of right now, it looks like Jason Hammond, Anthony Britton, Kervins Choute, Darion Henry-Young, Jonathan Allen, and Sichan John could all be seeing legitimate snaps in 2026, with true freshman Bull Richardson sprinkled in on occasion.

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