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UVA Football Lands Ohio State Linebacker Transfer Mitchell Melton

Matt Newton

Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Virginia is back to work in the transfer portal. On the immediate heels of winning a national championship, Ohio State linebacker transfer Mitchell Melton committed to the UVA football program on Tuesday morning.

Melton entered the transfer portal on January 5th, but remained with the Buckeyes through their College Football Playoff run, which culminated with Ohio State defeating Notre Dame to win the National Championship on Monday night in Atlanta. Virginia football announced the official signing of Melton on Tuesday morning, just hours after Melton played snaps in the national title game for the Buckeyes. Melton comes to UVA with one year of eligibility remaining.

A 6'4", 261-pound linebacker from Silver Spring, Maryland, Melton played in 21 career games for Ohio State over the last two seasons, including each of the four College Football Playoff games. Melton did not see the field for his first two years in Columbus, missing the entire 2021 and 2022 seasons due to injuries. He then played eight games in 2023 and then appeared in 13 games this season, logging 12 tackles, six solo stops, two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. For his career as a Buckeye, Melton totaled 15 tackles, nine solo tackles, three sacks, and 6.5 tackles for loss in 21 games.

Melton was a four-star recruit coming out of Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney, Maryland. 247Sports rated him the No. 8 player in the state of Maryland, the No. 11 outside linebacker in the country, and the No. 184 overall recruit in the class of 2020. Melton had offers from more than 20 Power Conference programs, but ultimately chose the Buckeyes over Notre Dame, Michigan, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and a host of others.

After four years in Columbus, Melton is now headed to join the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, where he'll look to assert a bigger role for himself as he reinforces Virginia's linebacker unit. Melton is the second linebacker transfer UVA has picked up this offseason, joining Eastern Kentucky's Maddox Marcellus. The Cavaliers are also expecting to return Kam Robinson, James Jackson, and Trey McDonald next season.

Melton is listed as a linebacker on the Ohio State roster, but he also played a number of snaps at defensive end this season, so it's possible he could play multiple positions in the Virginia front seven in 2025.

Mitchell Melton is the eighth defensive transfer Virginia has landed this offseason, joining defensive backs Devin Neal (Louisville) and Ja'son Prevard (Morgan State), linebacker Maddox Marcellus (Eastern Kentucky), and defensive linemen Jacob Holmes (Fresno State), Cazeem Moore (Elon), Hunter Osborne (Alabama), and Fisher Camac (UNLV).

Virginia has landed 18 transfer commitments from the portal this offseason:

Keep track of all of UVA's transfer portal activity, including outgoing and incoming transfers, here:Ā Virginia Football Transfer Portal Tracker

Stay up to date on all of the transfers who have received offers from Virginia or who have scheduled visits to UVA here:Ā Tracking UVA Football's Offers and Visits in the Transfer Portal

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Virginia Football Adds Standout UNLV DE Transfer Fisher Camac

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.