Virginia Starting Right Tackle Blake Steen Enters Transfer Portal

Virginia Cavalier

Virginia's first transfer departure of the spring window is starting right tackle Blake Steen, as reported by On3's Pete Nakos on Wednesday morning (April 16). Steen started 17 games over the last two seasons for the Cavaliers and enters the portal with two years of eligibility remaining.

Virginia starting offensive tackle Blake Steen is expected to enter the transfer portal, a source tells @On3sports.

The 6-5, 331-pound OL has started 17 career games. https://t.co/VxSGJETKD9 pic.twitter.com/LNOI8GSYBX

— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) April 16, 2025

A 6'5", 331-pound offensive lineman from Miami, Florida, Steen was a three-star prospect in the class of 2022 and committed to Virginia around the same time that the Cavaliers were recruiting his older brother, Tyler Steen, a Vanderbilt transfer who went on to play one season at Alabama before getting selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the third round of the NFL Draft. Meanwhile, Blake Steen redshirted his first season at Virginia, but then became a regular starter in each of the next two seasons.

In 2023, Steen appeared in the first two games of the season, did not play in the next four, but then contributed in Virginia's historic upset victory on the road at then-No. 10 North Carolina. After that game, Steen entered the starting lineup for the first time and held the starting right tackle spot for the final five games of the season. This past season, Steen started all 12 games, 11 at the right tackle position and one at right guard when Ty Furnish missed the North Carolina game. According to Pro Football Focus, Steen gave up a sack in only one game in the 2024 season.

The Cavaliers received an influx of reinforcements at the offensive line position in the winter transfer portal window, but we still projected Steen to be a starter on UVA's offensive line in 2025, though that might have necessitated a switch to guard. Whatever Virginia's plans were for the offensive line depth chart for the 2025 season, those plans have been derailed significantly in the last couple of weeks.

First came the news that Louisville transfer offensive lineman Monroe Mills, one of UVA's biggest offseason pickups and the top-ranked offensive tackle in the transfer portal, suffered an ACL injury that will sideline him for the entire 2025 season. With Mills having extensive starting experience at either tackle spot, we had him slotted as the starting right tackle, which would have likely moved Blake Steen to the interior of the offensive line. When Mills suffered his injury, we figured Steen could simply go back to being the starting right tackle as he had been for the last season and a half at Virginia.

Instead, the Cavaliers have now lost two starting-caliber linemen, one to season-ending injury and one to the spring transfer portal window. Virginia still has some quality options on its offensive line, with Noah Josey, McKale Boley, Drake Metcalf, Grant Ellinger, Ben York, and others returning plus the additions of Tyshawn Wyatt, Brady Wilson, and Kevin Wigenton II. But the productive ceiling for this unit has been lowered significantly with these two developments and the Cavaliers no longer have the depth that, at least on paper, had set them up for a much improved 2025 season. Whether that means Virginia will pursue another offensive lineman in the spring transfer portal window remains to be seen.