'The deepest roster we've had' — Tony Elliott and Co. rave about the 2026 team

Following Wednesday's fall camp practice, multiple UVA football coaches spoke to the media about a few hot topics, but what Coach Elliott and Rudzinski said about the state of the current roster was incredibly intriguing.

"I think it's probably the deepest roster we've had. When you go out there, you see the lines, like, they're a little bit longer. There's more guys that look like each other, so to speak.”

Tony Elliott's No.1 goal is finally coming to fruition

Over the past two seasons specifically, Elliott has been trying to drill home the idea of having an abundance of competitive depth on the roster. He truly believes that it's not only important from a literal depth perspective, but that it raises the overall talent level based on the fact that more bodies equal more opportunities to improve and compete.

When talking about the defensive side of the ball in particular, Tony Elliott said this:

“We have all those guys rocking and rolling with more experience. We're faster at linebacker. We're longer. We're more athletic at linebacker. And that's not with Kam in there. So you throw Kam back in the mix, and now you've got a veteran group there that's going to give us a ton of depth and then some more versatility and flexibility in some of our different packages in certain down-and-distance situations. And then also on special teams, that's going to make an impact."

"We're bigger in the interior of the D-line, just collectively with all of the guys that we have that are over 300 pounds there. We're probably longer at defensive end collectively than we were last year. And then we're definitely faster on the back end. So I think physically, when you look at us, we're different and improved. Now the question is, collectively when it's time to go play do we have the chemistry, the communication, the cohesion to be able to go and execute at a high level like we did last year.”

Though Coach Rudzinski wasn't as straightforward with his comments on the topic at hand, he still acknowledged this year's depth.

"Time will tell. I think at the end, I'll have a better idea, but I know that we've got a lot of really good pieces. I think that it's been really, really competitive, not only for our 1s, but for our 2s, and then also the ability to mix the different pieces. And guys each days are playing in different roles and different positions. And so I think we've got great competitive depth, which will serve us really well throughout the season.”

It's always great to see a coaching staff that's known for being very honest and doesn't really shoot from the hip speak so highly about an area that was undoubtedly lacking in previous years.

Virginia football is trending up, and excitement both inside and outside the program is rising as the 2026 season comes closer to its genesis.

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