Which returning Virginia football players are flying under the radar heading into 2026?

Retaining guys who do the dirty work is imperative for Cavaliers' hopes of another strong season.

Jason Hammond (91) started every game in 2025 for a Virginia defense that ranked second in the ACC in fewest points allowed. | Courtesy Virginia Athletics

Quarterbacks and pass rushers get the lion's share of attention, but every successful football team needs lower-profile standouts who do the dirty work required to win games.

Virginia's 2025 squad perfectly exemplified that all-for-one approach. The Cavaliers claimed the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title despite placing only one player (since-graduated running back J'Mari Taylor) on the All-ACC first team and just two (center Brady Wilson and punter Daniel Sparks) on the second team.

Many of the cogs on that veteran team, including Taylor, have exhausted their eligibility. Virginia also lost top receiver to Oklahoma in the transfer portal, but restocked the roster with incoming transfer veterans.

Even in an era of change, though, it's important to maintain as much continuity as possible. Some players who don't produce eye-popping numbers are eager to jump at what may look like a better offer elsewhere. But Tony Elliott managed to retain a significant nucleus of talent with the institutional knowledge of his program and the confidence that comes with success.

Here are two returning players (one on offense, one on defense) who may not get the headlines, but whose continued presence is central to Virginia's hopes of staying near the top of the ACC

Defense: DT Jason Hammond

One of the few veteran Cavaliers who has spent his entire college career in Charlottesville, Hammond worked his way up from a little-used freshman to an indispensable part of a solid defense as a junior, when he started all 14 games.

His 2025 numbers (32 tackles, 2.5 sacks, four quarterback hurries and a forced fumble) didn't turn many heads. His true value, though, came in occupying opposing blockers, which allowed teammates like linebackers Kam Robinson and James Jackson and safety Devin Neal to operate freely and make tackles.

Hammond (6-2, 284 pounds) also clogged up the middle on a run defense that allowed a modest 3.4 yards per carry and allowed the second-fewest points in the ACC (19.6 per game).

That helped put opponents in passing situations and freed up edge rushers like Daniel Rickert (6.5 sacks), Mitchell Melton (5) and Fisher Camac (4.5) to pursue rival quarterbacks.

A product of Miami's vaunted St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Hammond will be counted on to reprise that blue-collar production this fall.

Tight end Dakota Twitty's absence over the second half of last season coincided with Virginia's decreased offensive output. | Virginia Athletics

Offense: TE Dakota Twitty

Twitty is another player whose statistics won't blow anyone away. In six games last season, he caught 11 passes for 129 yards and never found the end zone.

But his impact was clear. In the six games he played before suffering a season-ending ankle injury against Louisville, Virginia averaged 43 points. In the eight he missed -- admittedly against tougher competition -- that number dropped to 21.6, a decline of almost exactly half.

Now reportedly healthy, Twitty (6-5, 247) will be asked to take on an even bigger role this fall on an offense that will feature newcomers at most of the skill positions. Kam Courtney is the only returning regular among the receivers, and quarterback Beau Pribula and running backs Peyton Lewis and Jekail Middlebrooks played elsewhere last season.

One of offensive coordinator Des Kitchings' favorite sets is a run-heavy, two-tight end formation. Expect Twitty, a graduate student from Charlotte, N.C., to be involved in most of them.