Virginia Cavaliers Spring Game Preview: What To Watch For, Position Battles, & Players To Watch

Virginia will host its annual spring game on Saturday and fans will get their first opportunity to look at the team for next season. There are many storyliines and things to watch out for this weekend in Charlottesville. Let’s take a closer look.

What to watch for

Will any young players make a name for themselves?

The Hoos took 14 recruits in the 2026 class, but only seven are currently enrolled at the program as early-enrollees. One of the names that has been making a name for himself early is three-star WR Dylan Cope. He has continued to make plays and spring ball and been dynamic at the WR spot. A name to watch also potentially is Jae’Odyn Williams who came over from St.Frances Academy as a recruit and will be a player who can become a major player for the Cavaliers.

Veteran Transfer Safeties

Brandyn Hillman, Jalen McNair, Jaylen Jones, and Christian Ellis were all veteran additions for the Cavaliers this past offseason. They each have their own unique ability, tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses. It will be intriguing to see who emerges from this group to see who will be a full-time starter. It feels like it is still up in the air of who will be the guy here. Who will make plays and tackles at a consistent rate on Saturday. The spring game will be a good glimpse into that.

Players to watch

Josiah Persinger

Persinger has been getting some run at the slot wide receiver position for the Cavaliers and making some plays in the spring. He does give the Cavaliers a new element in the offense with how elite his speed is and what he can do with the ball in his hands. You combine that with his size and stature then you have a potential problem. He will be one to watch on Saturday.

“Yeah, he can run. He's fast, probably the fastest guy we got on the team. He's a physical guy for his size and his position. Starting to see just the confidence in his body language, the more reps that he gets, the better understanding that he has, and therefore you can hear him a little bit more. Still just experience, he's going to be out there on an island, and they got to have a short memory. And you're going against a highly talented guy, so there's going to be some competitive plays that are made. The supreme confidence, and not only going to come through experience, but he's got all the tools that we need. Just the biggest thing is repetition, and then the complexity of what we do schematically, like the spring is about what we do, and then also trying to maybe tweak and experiment with some things, which is challenging for a younger guy, because just when they feel like they're getting the hang of it, man, you introduce something new that they may not have done before, and then they got to manage all of that,” said Elliot

Jekail Middlebrook

Middlebrook was a great pickup for the Cavaliers this offseason coming over from Middle Tennessee State. He was highly productive and made a lot of plays in the running game and rushing for 752 yards and four touchdowns. He is in a battle with the running backs to see who will be the starter next season. Throughout the spring, he has caught the coaches eye and made the necessary steps to progress.

“If there was one that I had to say that I saw take the step would have been him, right? Again, you don't know. You don't know much about him until they get here.

And you kind of saw a little bit of a slashing style on tape. But what he showed me is that he can play in every situation. He can be in every down back. He'll get down behind his pads. He's tough for his size. He falls forward, he understands football. Really good demeanor. He's consistent every day. He's the same dude every single day, right,” said Elliot.

Nnanna Anyanwu

He has been the talk of the town and a player resonating with the coaching staff throughout the spring. You combine his length, speed, and his first step makes him potential lethal. The former UTSA EDGE seems like he is build for the Virginia defensive scheme and should be able to contribute at a high level next season. Saturday we will get a glimpse to see how good he potentially is.

“He's so long. You know, everybody's looking for length. You know, that's a big thing at that position. Guys who have long arms and uh long extremities, and he has a lot of athleticism. Uh, he can run pretty well. He's got some good instincts. He has a knack for football. Uh, he's pretty athletic. He has some attributes that we look for that position. And we saw him on film. Man, the first thing that struck us, again, as I said, was his length, but that was a big initial attraction,” said defensive ends coach Chris Slade.

Position Battles

Who will be QB1?

A talk throughout the spring has been who will emerge as the starting quarterback for the Cavaliers. You can make an argument that the Hoos have one of the best quarterback rooms in the country with both potential guys having at least 10+ games of starting experience in Beau Pribula and Eli Holstein. They have battled throughout the spring for the starting role. It feels like Pribula has the current lead right now and could potentially secure the position with a good performance on Saturday, but there is more to watch with this competition.

"I believe it is. I think it just needs to be a point of emphasis in the way that you operate your program. It's every position, right? So it's fair to say that you've got to develop every position. And the quarterbacks aren't the only ones that are moving, right? So everybody can essentially be a free agent every year,” said Elliot.

“So you could lose guys. I think what we have to be careful of at the collegiate level is we can't get away from the mindset of this being a developmental age or window in their football journey. Because if we're getting guys out of high school, or even just because a guy moves in doesn't mean he's moving in with a ton of experience, right? So he may not have been able to play as much as he wanted to somewhere else and now he's transitioning somewhere else. I think you got to take the approach.”

Who will be the lead slot wide receiver?

There have been a number of players rotating at the slot position from Kam Courtney, Josiah Pesinger, Jacquon Hibson, and others to see who will be the lead guy. It doesn’t seem like a position that has been filled just yet, and the coaching staff is still monitoring the position to see who will be the lead guy. The WR3 spot will be an interesitng one to follow at the spring game to see who will emerge for the Cavaliers.

"So when you look at it, right now Kam Courtney, because he's played there. Josiah (Persinger) has been in the slot for us. Jacquon (Gibson) was there for most of the spring.

There's even talk about giving Dede (Da’Shawn Martin) a shot inside now that we see kind of what his skill set is. Those are probably the four candidates for that position right there. And then they'll also have to play the Z and possibly the X for us. And so that's where we'll start and I think we got enough competition there for somebody to be able to emerge,” said Elliot.

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