Stock up, stock down: Week three of Virginia fall camp

The 2026 season kicks off in just 15 days. Virginia football takes on the field Aug. 29 against NC State, aiming to start the campaign 1-0 and build towards another trip to Charlotte for the ACC Championship game. But before any of that can happen, Virginia must first wrap up the final practices of fall camp.

Here is a stock check on the Cavaliers.

Stock down: Returners hoping for more snaps

After a swath of veterans departed this offseason, some of Virginia’s skill position players and defensive backs were hoping to vault up the depth chart. That became more difficult when the Cavaliers added several veterans in the portal — many of which have entrenched themselves atop the depth chart.

In particular, those who are affected the most are Kam Courtney, Dillon Newton-Short, Xay Davis, Josiah Persinger and John Rogers. That cohort all flashed starter potential last season, but will be buried on the depth chart again to start the season.

Stock up: The entire defense

The return of Jacob Holmes and Cazeem Moore will only heighten the experience and production of a veteran defense. This is a unit that has performed well at fall camp according to Tony Elliott, Des Kitchings and John Rudzinski.

At every position, the Cavaliers have players with dozens of career starts — and many of those players have accrued all-conference honors. Virginia had the ACC’s second-best scoring defense last year and looks poised to repeat that performance. The Cavaliers even have a longshot at having the top scoring defense in the conference.

Stock down: Attendance

Virginia is running a campaign called Sell Out Scott, in an attempt to increase attendance at Scott Stadium. While there has definitely been some progress, there are still thousands of empty seats at this current moment.

An email blast was just sent out Friday with a two-for-one ticket offer for the season opener. That is not a good sign for selling out the stadium. Even with the understanding that the game was moved stateside just two months ago, the Cavaliers must be unsatisfied that the home opener is not nearly as full as they would hope it will be.

An email sent by Virginia Athletics. | Courtesy Virginia Athletics

Virginia is coming off of an 11-win season. That should not equate to thousands of empty seats, even in a large stadium that seats 61,500 patrons. The fans have gotten louder this past year, but still, empty seats are empty seats.

Stock up: Des Kitchings

Once Virginia lost its ideal 12 personnel last season, the offense was never the same. This time around, Kitchings has implemented some safeguards. There are a few tight ends that the Cavaliers feel comfortable with using in multi-tight end sets. Kitchings has also been experimenting with multi-running back sets and other atypical formations to maximize his offense.

If Virginia can run the ball effectively — which is likely, given its experienced and elite offensive line and running back room — then trick plays and explosive plays could become even more abundant in 2026.

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