Virginia Releases Depth Chart Ahead of Week One Game vs Coastal Carolina

Virginia will face Coastal Carolina on Saturday and today, they released their first depth chart of the season

Nov 9, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott asks for a time-out against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Game week is here for the Virginia Cavaliers. UVA is set to host Coastal Carolina this weekend in the first game of the season and today, head coach Tony Elliott spoke with the media for the first time since fall camp concluded. Before the press conference, Virginia released the depth chart for the upcoming game.

Depth chart released

Nov 9, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Virginia Cavaliers running back Xavier Brown (0) runs on his way to scoring a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Position	Starter	Backup #1
QB	Chandler Morris	Daniel Kaelin
RB	J'Mari Taylor	Xavier Brown or Harrison Waylee
WR	Trell Harris	Eli Wood
WR	Jahmal Edrine	Jayden Thomas
WR	Cam Ross	Kam Courtney
TE	Dakota Twitty or Sage Ennis
LT	McKale Boley	Ben York
LG	Noah Josey	Kevin Wigenton II
C	Brady Wilson	Noah Hartsoe
RG	Drake Metcalf	Ethan Sipe
RT	Wallace Unamba	Jack Whitmer

Position	Starter	Backup #1
DE	Fisher Camac or Cazeem Moore	Terrell Jones
NT	Jahmeer Carter	Anthony Britton
DT	Jason Hammond or Hunter Osborne or Jacob Holmes
Bandit DE	Mitchell Melton or Daniel Rickert	Billy Koudelka
WILL LB	James Jackson	Maddox Marcellus
MIKE LB	Trey McDonald or Landon Danley
SPUR	Ja'Son Prevard or Corey Costner	Landon Danley
LC	Jordan Robinson	Donavan Platt
RC	Emmanuel Karnley	Kevon Gray or Josiah Persinger
FS	Ethan Minter	Christian Charles
SS	Devin Neal	Da'Marcus Crosby II

Position	Starter	Backup
Punter	Daniel Sparks	Elijah Slibeck
Kickoff	Daniel Sparks	Will Bettridge
Placekicker	Will Bettridge	Jorge Diaz Nicolas
Punt Return	Cam Ross	J'Mari Taylor
Kickoff Return	Cam Ross	J'Mari Taylor
Long Snapper	Bryce Robinson	Stevie Bracey

No real surprises

Sep 16, 2023; Pasadena, California, USA; North Carolina Central Eagles running back J'Mari Taylor (4) is brought down by UCLA Bruins defensive back Kanye Clark (35) during the second half at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Virginia has a lot of new faces on both sides of the ball this season and they are hoping that is going to result in better offensive numbers. UVA was 14th in the ACC in scoring offense last season and 12th in rushing offense, but with more experinece in the backfield, those numbers should improve this season.

The Cavaliers are bringing back Xavier Brown and Noah Vaughn, while NC Central transfer J'Mari Taylor is going to bring some juice to the backfield as well, as evidenced by the fact that he is first in the depth chart.

Tony Elliott expects an improved backfield this season:

"Yeah, it was something that was positive about the scrimmage,s we were able to establish some efficient, you know run game, and I think we're we had a chance to be much bigger than we've been in the past with the additions up front. So we got a little bit more size where we can lean on some people on some double teams in some of our run game and create a new line of scrimmage. The backs have done a really good job.

I think, you know, J'Mari Taylor shows a little something a little bit different and then X is as good as X has been and really, really happy for him and proud for him because he's been there every single day and it hasn't shown any signs of durability issues. Harrison's been a really good addition and then Noah Vaughn's doing a really good well so we feel good that we got four running backs that can play in all situations and not have much of a drop-off -and then with Josey and Boley on the left side I mean you just like that left side has been kind of steady for us for the last couple years and then Brady's been a great addition athletic enough to be able to reach some people so it gives us some some flexibility.

I like the potential that we have now we got to go see it against other people in different schemes, but so far we've been we've been targeted right, which is a positive. So, all those guys have taken ownership of the scheme to know where we're going. The Y receivers have taken a lot of ownership and their responsibility in the run game because explosive runs come when the wide receivers block and do what they're supposed to do. And so you're starting to see some of that. So in both scrimmages, we've seen some explosive runs out of out of different backs, which tells you that there's some consistency up front. And it's not just one guy having all the big runs. So I feel, I feel, you know, I'm encouraged, I'm really encouraged about our ability to effectively run the football as opposed to two years past."

Virginia opens the season on Saturday vs Coastal Carolina at 6:00 p.m. ET on ACC Network.