Virginia releases official depth chart for week zero matchup against NC State

Saturday kickoff is almost here for Virginia — and game week preparations have been underway for the past few days. The next big nugget of information to arrive is this week's depth chart, which was released to the media Tuesday ahead of Tony Elliott's press conference. Here is the two-deep depth chart for each position, with notes to follow.

Position	Starter	Top backup
QB	Beau Pribula	Eli Holstein
RB	Jekail Middlebrook	Xay Davis, or Xavier Brown or Peyton Lewis or Noah Vaughn
WR (X)	Rico Flores Jr. or Ty'Lyric Coleman	Dylan Cope
WR (Z)	Jacquon Gibson	Da'Shawn Martin
WR (Slot)	Kameron Courtney	Josiah Abdullah
TE	Dakota Twitty	Connor Cox or John Rogers
LT	McKale Boley	Ben York
LG	Noah Josey	Cole Surber
C	Drake Metcalf	Ryan Brubaker or Grayson Reid
RG	Makilan Thomas	Dane Wlekinski
RT	Monroe Mills	Jon Adair

Position	Starter	Top backup
DE	Fisher Camac	Nnanna Anyanwu
NT	Anthony Britton	Sichan John
DT	Jason Hammond	Darrion Henry-Young
DE (BANDIT)	Matthew Fobbs-White	Devon Baxter
LB (WILL)	Maddox Marcellus	Caleb Hardy
LB (MIKE)	Kam Robinson	Landon Danley
CB (Left)	Omillio Agard	Jam Jackson
CB (Right)	Jacobie Henderson	Justin Ross
SPUR	Donovan Platt	Jaylen Jones or Corey Costner
FS	Ethan Minter	Christian Ellis or Keke Adams
SS	Brandyn Hillman	Montino Williams

Position	Starter	Top backup
P	Daniel Sparks	Elijah Slibeck
K	Will Bettridge	Chris Messmore
KO	Elijah Slibeck	Will Bettridge
H	Daniel Sparks	Elijah Slibeck
LS	Wyatt Rubinoff	Zach Christinat
PR	Josiah Abdullah	Jacquon Gibson
KR	Jacquon Gibson	Noah Vaughn

Some surprises

On a team overloaded with veteran depth, there are probably more underclassmen on this depth chart that some may expect. There are eight underclassmen listed on the two-deep (or three) on this depth chart.

In particular, Williams and Cope appear to have beaten some more experienced teammates in practice, at crowded positions. Further down the depth chart, there are more young players (freshman Jack Rhodes is third on the Z WR list, and sophomore Josiah Persinger is third on the right cornerback list).

The biggest example of underclassmen success, though, could be Davis. Among Virginia's elite stable of running backs, the expected pecking order was Middlebrook, Lewis, Brown, Solomon Beebe, Vaughn and then Davis. For this first game, though, Davis was the first name listed in a four-way tie. Perhaps that translates to some healthy snaps in this first game for the now-sophomore.

The not-surprises

Some positions are not surprising. Pribula was announced as the starting quarterback several weeks ago, and incumbent veterans like Robinson, Camac, and the whole offensive line were never in any danger of losing their starting spots to new transfers or hungry underclassmen. This starting lineup is full of seniors, graduate players and even a few Cavaliers in their sixth or seventh year of college football.

What does this depth chart mean for the rest of the season?

Last year's opening depth chart did not see all too many changes over the course of the year. A few backups shifted around, but broadly, the lineup remained intact — that is, until injuries inevitably affected the team.

Some of Virginia's sophomores hoping for more snaps (and transfers hoping for opportunities) will still have several chances to make an impact and ascend the depth chart. Fall camp was telling, but game action matters infinitely more. Expect to see many players who were not on the depth chart get some playing time, especially when the Cavaliers likely blow Norfolk State and Delaware out of the water.

The 2026 season begins at 3:30 Saturday, with the game being broadcast on ESPN.

Add us as a preferred source on Google