Virginia Football Post Spring Stock Report: Offensive Line

It is time to do a post-spring stock report on the Virginia Cavaliers' offensive line and how they look post-spring. Barring any injury, this group should be good to go and make an impact next season. Let’s take a deeper look at why.

Starting Group

Starters: Noah Josey, McKale Boley, Drake Metcalf, Makilan Thomas, Monroe Mills

Backups: Alex Payne, Ben York, Cole Surber, Grant Ellinger, Ryan Brubaker

Virginia has a veteran group and one of the best offensive lines in the conference, especially when healthy. They return all of their starters from a season ago and did a great job of adding depth in the portal with Alex Payne and Ryan Brubaker coming over for the Cavaliers. They have experience and cohesion, having played so many snaps together. With a new look running back room and wide receiver group that bodes well for Virginia and what they want to do this upcoming season.

“We got returning guys, but we're still learning them a little bit, too, right? So now you're figuring out Drake Metcalf, and you know who (McKale) Boley is, but Makilan (Thomas) is a guy who's returning, but you're still figuring him out. Monroe (Mills) and those are the guys who are in the prominent leadership positions. Then Jason Hammond was kind of trying to figure him out a little bit as a leader. You know who he is as a young man. You know who he is as a player. Now, who's he going to be as a leader?” said head coach Tony Elliot.

Makilan Thomas Will Be One To Watch

Thomas largely falls under the radar for the offensive line position, but he is hungry and ready for his opportunity. He missed time last year and had limited reps, but is expected to be a starter this upcoming season. One thing that separates him is his athleticism and how powerful he can be. He can impact the game, especially in the rushing attack, with how imposing he is. His growth has been paramount this spring and has caught the eye of Coach Elliot.

"He can move and he's a strong, powerful young man. So those are the things that just jump out at you, right? Because we only got to see him for a short time last year, but now you're like, okay, man, this guy moves very, very, very well, very strong. So those are the things that initially jump out. And then the things that you notice that you didn't know about him as much because he was injured is his car is up here late at night. He's in here watching film on his own. So he's putting in the work. You're starting to see and hear him a little bit from a leadership standpoint. But the biggest thing that jumps out is just the athleticism that he has at the position,” said Elliot.

Don’t Forget about Young Lineman

As we mentioned earlier, the depth of this group will be huge this season. Virginia is deeper, and the young offensive linemen are improving every day. Now you can’t rotate offensive linemen, but Virginia will have a fresh batch in case an injury happens or they need someone to fill in. Some of the young linemen who could fill in include Ben York, Dylan Biehl, and Grant Ellinger. Coach Elliot has been especially impressed with Ellinger.

“Ben York's another guy that both of those guys played for us last year. And so what you're seeing is that confidence is carrying over and continuing to grow. So that's been positive.

The two young pups (Dylan Biehl & Mikey Gildea), I mean, they're swimming. They're just trying to figure out which way to go in practice because it's only day four. Grayson Reid, we didn't get to see him much in game action, but you're starting to see the confidence that we saw out of him coming out of high school,” said Elliot.

“So it's been good to see him seeing some position flexibility with Grayson. And we haven't done a ton of moving Ben and Jon yet, but through the course of spring we plan on getting both of those guys working on the right and the left side so that we have some flexibility with those guys.

And I tell you, the guy that's caught my attention probably the most of all of the younger guys has been Grant Ellinger. Watching him, he's moving a whole lot better, playing and communicating with a ton more confidence. Even saw him in there with the first group today, which is a testament to the first three practices. You just don't get an opportunity to rep with you,” said Elliot.

With the improvement and development, Virginia should have a top-tier offensive line in 2026 and beyond.

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