Offensive line shuffle likely to continue in 2014

Now that we've hit the skill positions on offense (running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends), it's now time to size up the big uglies up front that make everything possible (or impossible...) -- the offensive line.

While some like to call UVa "tight end-U", I personally think "o-line-U" is a better nickname. After all, we have some elite level alumni on NFL offensive lines. Take pro-bowl talents D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Eugene Monroe, and Branden Albert as examples. While we have had success at tight end, the only real long-term player in the NFL is Heath Miller.

Even as the program has declined under Mike London's tenure, we have still put offensive linemen into the NFL. The best example is the 2011 offensive line which featured four NFL offensive linemen -- Oday Aboushi (left tackle at UVa, now a guard on the Jets), Austin Pasztor (guard at UVa, now Jaguars' starting right tackle), Morgan Moses (tackle at UVa, now a tackle for the Redskins), and Luke Bowanko (guard/center at UVa, now a center for the Jaguars).

In recent years, a lot of this success must go to offensive line coach Scott Wachenheim. Wachenheim has been at UVa for going on five years, though this will be his fourth with the o-line. After coaching the Redskins tight ends in 2009, Wachenheim took over UVa's tight ends in 2010. It was not until 2011 that he assumed o-line responsibilities at UVa.

Honestly, it's tough to gauge Wachenheim's stint as the o-line coach. Obviously in 2011, we were pretty good. But we need to take into account that four of those five players are in the NFL. And the fifth, center Anthony Mihota, was no slouch either. The question is this: did Wachenheim coach these players to this level, or were these guys just that talented and cohesive?

Judging by the past two seasons, the latter seems to be the case. In 2012 and 2013, we have watched our offensive line play drop significantly. Running up the gut has been basically impossible. And it's not as if pass-protection has been great either. Furthermore, our short yardage game is atrocious. In my opinion, the best way to measure the ability of an offensive line is whether you can get that extra yard when the defense knows you're going to run it. The past two seasons, we haven't been able to do so. (Even in 2011, we failed miserably in short yardage situations against Va. Tech which really swung the game in the Hokies's favor.)

Now entering 2014, Wachenheim faces his toughest challenge yet -- building a solid offensive line with very, very little talent. Gone are our NFL guys, and now we enter an age of youth and underachieving upperclassmen.

It's reasonable to expect the offensive line to struggle. More than likely, we will experiment with several different combinations at the beginning of the season. There's just no standout player of the bunch. Junior Jay Whitmire was going to be the leader, but he's out for at least the start of the season with a back injury (and knowing UVa football, it could be longer). Sophomore Eric Smith looked promising late in the year, but can he really turn into an all-ACC-type player? He's got the talent, but his ego might be affecting the mental aspect. And now center -- who will make the offensive line assignments/shifts -- is very much up in the air.

When we break it down position by position, the unit leaves little reason for optimism.

Left Tackle likely starter: Jay Whitmire (Jr.)

Like I said above, Whitmire is out until at least October with a back injury. Obviously, anytime your left tackle -- by far the most important position on the offensive line -- is out with an injury, that's a big deal.

**NOTE: I normally like to take into account current scenarios when assessing the starters. If I were doing so, I would put Eric Smith at left tackle to start the season. But the o-line is as muddled as any unit on the roster, so it's tough to say who would move where once Smith takes over at LT (though it's probably as simple as putting sophomore Sadiq Olanrewaju at right tackle in Smith's place). Still, I'm not messing with assumptions here -- I'm going by the depth chart. Plus, Whitmire should be back on the left or right side in the second half of 2014.**

The former three-star prospect (No. 43 OT prospect in the nation according to Rivals) from Alexandria, Va redshirted in 2011 before seeing limited action at LT in 2012. In 2013, Whitmire started the season at right tackle. He finished the season at right guard due to injuries on the line.

I've mentioned this before, but I'm not the greatest at grading offensive linemen. You really need coaches film to do so, which I do not have access to. However, I feel I can give a good general overview.

The strongest part of Whitmire's game appears to be his strength. At 6'6" and 310 pounds, he has the prototypical size of a tackle. However, this strength helps his skills translate over to guard. But he lacks a good quickness and is not as light on his feet as we would prefer. Speed rushers can beat him off the line, and even if they engage, a good spin move can throw him off.

Honestly, he's similar to Morgan Moses in that most of the time he get's engaged, you're not going anywhere; also, he's not as quick off the line as most would like. The bad part though is that Whitmire lacks the ability to move in space that Moses possessed. Even in his days of playing at 350 pounds, Moses was an athletic big guy that would get out there on screens. Whitmire just isn't that guy.

That doesn't mean he can't develop into a good player, because he can. He just doesn't have that elite natural talent that Moses had. The fact that Whitmire was slated at left tackle is a huge hint as to the confidence the coaching staff has in him. They're trusting him to protect a new quarterback's blindside.

His loss is big, make no mistake about it. Whether he played guard or tackle, he's an upgrade over whoever will start there to begin the season.

NFL potential? I doubt it. But a solid collegiate player nonetheless.

Depth

The only other left tackle on the depth chart is sophomore Sadiq Olanrewaju. As a true freshman in 2013, the former three-star prospect saw time mostly at right tackle in mop-up duties in five games. As is to be expected, there were no real takeaways from such limited action.

Listed at 6'6" and 290 pounds, I liked Olanrewaju's athleticism. It seems to be above average for most collegiate offensive linemen. He needs to work on his strength though. As a freshman, it was to be expected that he wasn't going to be as strong as upperclassmen. After all, he's only had one season in a serious weight program. Still, it's something he needs to work on.

As a whole, I like Olanrewaju and what he could bring to this program. He probably will start the season at right tackle, so we'll really get a good look at him then. He's had good reports coming out of practice, so I'm expecting a pretty good performance.

Still, it's no lock that he will ever develop into a full-time starter. It seems clear that Eric Smith is above him on the depth chart. And Whitmire still has two years of eligibility. Perhaps Olanrewaju starts at right tackle his senior season.

But don't forget about freshman Steven Moss, the four star prospect from Fredericksburg, Va. While he is not formally listed as an offensive tackle, it seems likely that at his size (6'5" and 270 pounds), tackle is his future position. While it remains to be seen how Moss's career goes, he could supplant Olanrewaju at right tackle in 2016 (Moss's junior or redshirt sophomore season).

Left Guard likely starter: Connor Davis (Sr.)

Boasting 20 career starts on his resume, Davis is our most veteran offensive lineman in terms of playing experience. The former three-star prospect started 11 of our 12 games in 2012 at left guard. In 2013, he started BYU and Oregon at right guard before moving to left guard in the last seven games of the season (he didn't play against VMI, Pitt, or Ball State due to injury).

Davis is an average player, nothing more, nothing less. He's not going to go and steam roll a linebacker after pushing the defensive line back on a run. But at the same time, he's not going to give up quick inside pressure. He won't play at the next level, but if we had an o-line made up of guys like Davis, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

Davis's biggest asset is his experience. He presumably should help sophomore center Eric Tetlow with the line calls. He should provide steady play at the position.

Depth

First off the bench behind Davis is fellow senior Cody Wallace. Wallace was a former two-star prospect and has played as such during his UVa career. He started two games at right guard in 2013 but did not fare well. He started the first game of 2012 but lost his job after injury.

Wallace has had a roller coaster of a career after seeing time as a center, guard, and tackle at practice. If he starts this season, something has gone wrong. However, he's the type of guy you want as a backup -- he has starting experience. In spot duty, that's beneficial. Also, his versatility bodes well as he can also back up the right guard position.

The final left guard on the depth chart is sophomore Ryan Doull. After redshirting 2012, he saw action in nine games last season (mostly on special teams). The reason I mention him is because he will be in a competition for the starting job next season after Davis and Wallace graduate. He was a former three-star prospect, so there might be some potential. Still, until we see it, it's still just potential -- nothing more. I am in no way sold on Doull, so let's hope we can have some more challenger's for the job in 2015.

Center likely starter: Eric Tetlow (So.)

Luke Bowanko held down the position with relative success for the past two seasons, but now he's gone to graduation and the NFL. The next man up is sophomore Eric Tetlow. Tetlow saw some mop-up duty last season as a true freshman, but not enough to make any conclusions.

However, reports out of spring ball are promising. He seems to have settled down at center (was rated as a tackle by ESPN) and performed well. He learned for a year behind Bowanko, so you would like to think that's beneficial.

But as a player I have really never watched, I don't want to give him too much praise or criticism. He came into the program with relatively little hype, so I guess we'll see how he fares as he gets thrown into the fire week one against UCLA.

Depth

Who can forget last season when all the hype was around walk-on redshirt freshman Jackson Matteo. The coaches thought Matteo performed well enough in spring ball to overtake the center position as the starter. But we know that didn't exactly pan out. It was nice hearing Matteo's story, but the line was better with him on the bench.

Unfortunately, Matteo couldn't repeat that same performance in 2014's spring practices as he lost the job to Tetlow. Of course, nothing is set in stone, but Tetlow appears to be moving forward as the starter. Since they are both in the same class, this could doom Matteo's career.

Still, Matteo is a good backup (at least I would like to think so). He started against Ball State and saw time in several other contests. He'll probably never be the player we hoped he could become a year ago, but he provides good depth.

Guard Cody Wallace is also listed as a backup at center.

Right Guard likely starter: Ross Burbank (Jr.)

Burbank is slated to start at right guard, but most of his game experience has come at center. The former three-star prospect played center as well as right guard in mop-up duties in 2012 (his redshirt freshman season). In 2013, Burbank started four games at center while also playing guard in spurts.

By my limited offensive line observations, Burbank reminds me of Conner Davis. He's not going to blow anybody away with superb athleticism or pancake blocks, but he does his job decently. He's no all-ACC player by any stretch, but you normally don't find yourself yelling at him during games. He is what he is -- an average starter that has probably reached his potential.

Of course, there is still room to grow. This will be his first full season at guard (assuming we avoid shuffling the lineup, which is never safe). He could turn into a solid player, but the odds don't appear to be in his favor. We probably would have heard more positive reports out of practice if any of this were the case.

Depth

First on the depth chart behind Burbank is redshirt freshman Jack McDonad. The three-star player rejected offers from Miami, Boston College, and UNC among others for UVa.

If you have read other posts in this preview series, I am of course thrilled that McDonald redshirted 2013. As an offensive lineman, he most certainly added size and strength to his frame. This is beneficial because if you look at his high school film, he is best at using his power to drive blockers back. The year of practice should only improve this strength.

Furthermore, he now has time to refine his technique in the passing game. It's an area where all you offensive linemen struggle. Physically, the college-bound linemen are just leaps and bounds above their competition in high school, so they can get by on the line with poor technique. Not in college.

McDonald is a good developmental prospect that will compete at left guard in 2015 as well as right guard in 2016 as a junior. It's tough to predict how the line will shake out in the future, but it seems that McDonald will at least have opportunities to compete for a starting position.

A guy that will challenge McDonald is incoming true freshman Jake Fieler. After enrolling at UVa for the spring semester to participate in spring practice, it's fair to expect Fieler to be a step above the other incoming freshman (except for five-star talents Andrew Brown and Quin Blanding).

Fieler is a Pittsburgh native, though he played last season at Fork Union. He saw time at all offensive line positions, though he is listed on the roster as a tackle. Most likely, both Fieler and London know that Fieler's quickest path to the field is at guard -- where both positions are fairly weak, especially looking into the future. It remains to be seen what Fieler wil offer, though you always like the commitment of a player enrolling early (see Greyson Lambert, who is now a team captain as a redshirt sophomore).

Right Tackle likely starter: Eric Smith (So.)

As anyone who followed UVa football would know, last season's offensive line was a mess. It seemed as if a new starting five appeared every week. But if you want to take away a positive from the shuffling, we seemed to find our offensive tackle of the future -- Eric Smith.

Smith was just a two star prospect by Rivals, but he sure did not play like it. Only four UVa offensive tackles have started as a freshman -- D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Brad Butler, Morgan Moses, AND now Eric Smith. If Smith can follow in their footsteps, I think all of the wahoo faithful would be quite satisfied.

Smith made his first start of the season against Ball State en route to starting the final eight games of the season at right tackle. He performed quite admirably, although the play that stands out in my mind is his penalty against Ball State (ineligible man downfield) which negated a 79-yard touchdown pass to Tim Smith. But he was a true freshman making his first start; while those types of penalties are never acceptable, it's a little less stressing when a freshman makes it. Hopefully, he'll learn.

Smith is slated to start on the right side, though I think the left side will be his home for the next three years. He will start at left tackle in place of the injured Jay Whitmire to start the season. If his play from last year is any indication, I would think he will hold onto that job -- he played that well. He could turn into the real steal of the 2013 recruiting class.

As a big yet athletic tackle, Smith can seemingly do it all. If there is one area of concern, though, it's the mental aspect. Let's forget about the Ball State penalty and just focus on his attitude towards the game. He is very, very confident in his abilities, often quoting opposing players that told him he played a good game.

Don't get me wrong, you need confident players. However, I personally am a fan of the quieter guys; the guys that let their play (not their mouth) do the talking. Smith has done both. But maybe this is a Richard Sherman type of deal where Smith is purposefully very outspoken because he wants to prove the scouts that gave him two stars were wrong (just as Sherman feels he was drafted too low).

That's just a note to think on. Overall, I see Smith turning into an all-ACC performer before his UVa career concludes.

Depth

According to the depth chart, sophomore Michael Mooney is the second string right tackle. Again, let me reiterate what I said above. If Smith goes down (or when Smith moves to the left side to replace the injured Whitmire), Sadiq Olanrewaju will slide to right tackle.

Still, Mooney is in position to see significant playing time with an injury. As a former three-star player, that's what you hope for in their third season (Mooney redshirted 2012). Still, it's tough to get a feel for him. He played very sparingly last season, with most of his reps on special teams. If he can turn into a good player, great. However, at this point with classmates Smith and Olanrewaju ahead of him on the depth chart, his chances for future playing time look grim.

Lastly, let's briefly address Sean Karl, the third string left tackle. After redshirting 2012, he only say action for five plays against VMI in 2013. Yes, it appears his chances at a starting job have long past. Karl was a three star recruit, so you want more than a career benchwarmer from that type of player. At the bare minimum, you want to see depth. If either Karl or Mooney entered the game, I wouldn't exactly have much confidence.

Conclusion

**NOTE: I do want to make one thing clear -- what's listed above is the depth chart if everyone is healthy, but Whitmire is not. Therefore, my projected starting five to start the season until Whitmire returns is, from left to right, Smith, Davis, Tetlow, Burbank, and Olanrewaju. When Whitmire does return, I expect Smith to stay on the left side. Therefore, in the second half of the season, I think the starting lineup, from left to right, looks like: Smith, Davis, Tetlow, Burbank, and Whitmire.**

Ever since 2011, we have seen talent trickle out of the program. Sadly, it appears we have not recruited enough quality offensive linemen to refill the reservoir -- at least for 2014.

I really like Eric Smith and what he can become. He has all the tools to become an elite-level player. Additionally, I'm a decent fan of Whitmire, although I feel he is a right guard or right tackle -- I just don't see him as an effective left tackle.

But Whitmire is down, so basically I'm uneasy about four of our five starters. Even with Smith's ability, protecting the blind side of a young quarterback is a big task. There's no guarantee he's ready for it.

As definitely one of the weaker positions on the roster, London deserves a lot of blame. London simply has recruited too many "athletes" and not enough offensive linemen. Being able to go six deep at corner does no good if you can't go two deep on the o-line.

The problem is this: unless you have a truly game changing player, everything on offense revolves around the o-line. Especially in the pro-style system we run, we need to have well-rounded big men. That's simply not the case this year, and it hasn't been since 2011.

Maybe Lambert steps up and becomes a stud. Or maybe the 1-2 punch of Kevin Parks and Smoke Mizzell creates one of the better running back tandems in the country. But until either of those happen, I don't think the 2014 UVa offense will be successful because of our offensive line. There's simply not enough talent there to make a big difference. Parks can wiggle out a couple of yards on most downs, but when the defense know's when we're going to run, the play will fail. The line simply isn't good enough to overpower other defensive lines.

When I look at the 2014 UVa football roster, I see improvement in every position, except for one -- the offensive line. Simply not enough talent, depth, or cohesiveness for a successful group.

The offensive line is the offensive's biggest weakness. Unfortunately, this alone may doom the team.

Next Week: Quarterbacks

Jake McGee's departure casts doubt at tight end

If you would have asked me in April what I thought about our tight ends for 2014, I would have told you that I'm pretty excited. The position would have been locked down by two seniors -- Jake McGee and Zachary Swanson. McGee is a great receiver who is best over the middle, while Swanson is a consistent blocker who is still a threat to catch a few balls per game.

But things change in collegiate athletics, and for UVa football, that means the tight end position became a whole lot weaker. Once considered the only bright spot in an atrocious receiving core, treasured tight end Jake McGee left our program in May (after graduation) to complete his final season in Gainesville at the University of Florida.

In one sense, I cannot really blame him -- he left because he had a beef with the coaching staff. After missing a lot of spring ball before last season due to a conflict with a major-required class, he and tight end coach Tom O'Brien never mended their relationship.  It didn't help that he was injured for much of last season and seemed to take a big hit every time he caught the ball.

Furthermore, "the kid" wants to play in the NFL as a tight end. While his blocking is a bit of an unknown, he certainly has the receiving prowess to do so. But at UVa in 2014, he would have essentially been a slot receiver -- not a tight end. It would be tough to convince NFL teams to take a chance on him when he hadn't even played the position for a year. UVa just didn't fit what he wanted in a football program any longer.

While it is easy to mourn his departure (he's leaving a giant hole at tight end), perhaps we should try to be a little more optimistic and thankful for his career at Virginia. After all, he was headed to Richmond before Mike London took the UVa job. He also was originally a quarterback, but was moved to tight end his redshirt season.

And finally, without the heroics of McGee, we probably would have just completed our second consecutive two win season. In 2012, we don't beat Penn State or Miami these catches by McGee.

But now, let's get down to reality -- McGee is gone. Left on the post spring depth chart are just two tight ends -- Swanson and junior Rob Burns. We only have one more tight end on the roster -- sophomore Mario Nixon.

If this group is to have any success receiving in 2014, most of it will have to be contributed to tight end's coach Tom O'Brien (who is also the associate head coach for offense). It was thought O'Brien could be the guy to put us over the hump and turn our program into one that goes bowling every season. After all, he has over 40 years of coaching experience and he forwent retirement to coach here in Charlottesville.

But as we know, last year didn't go according to plan. We might have settled on a quarterback, but it was probably the wrong one. The tight ends weren't really all that productive -- and now McGee has transfered. And we still had occasional midgame clock management miscues that he was supposed to solve.

Still, I like the fact that O'Brien is on our staff. Firstly, he has coached some of the better NFL quarterbacks during their college days -- like Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson, and Mike Glennon. Secondly, he also helped to turn around the NC State and Boston College programs during his stints as head coach.

The man knows and loves football, but I worry that we simply don't have the talent at tight end for his impact to really be felt. The only way I see him getting any credit is if we fire London midseason and O'Brien takes the reins to finish the season (but we're UVa, so that will never happen).

On a roster of 90+ players, O'Brien is really only responsible for three. And I'm not convinced these three guys will have any positive impact on this team in 2014.

Tight End likely starter: Zachary Swanson (Sr.)

With McGee now playing in the SEC, our unquestioned starter at tight end is Zach Swanson. Swanson, oddly enough, technically has been starting for years. Last season, he started nine games. The season before -- three starts. It seems odd upon first realization, but when you think about it, O'Brien has always preferred a more natural tight end -- a guy that can block as well as he can catch. McGee made some great grabs, but he was never known as a blocker -- that was Swanson.

The coaching staff made it evident how much they value Swanson's blocking during his redshirt freshman season when he essentially was a glorified fullback. Despite being rated as a three-star tight end out of high school (No. 22 tight end according to ESPN), he was an H-back in 2011. However, at 6'6" and 260 pounds, he was not nimble enough to play in the backfield. There's honestly no doubt about it -- he's a tight end.

He has never been asked to do much receiving in his career. In total, he has 27 catches for 261 yards in three seasons (19 catches for 173 yards a year ago). However, that will need to change this season. I'm not asking him to haul in 45-50 receptions, but I think around 30-35 is a must. Lambert's weapons on the outside are questionable. Kyle Dockins in the slot will act as a tight end, but his job will be to stretch the field. We'll need Swanson to be that guy who runs short, five-yard hitch routes to pick up that critical third and short. Hopefully he'll be able to beat a linebacker on a short out-route or crossing pattern, but if he can simply find the hole in the zone just a few yards downfield, he'll be filling his role just fine.

Are these expectations realistic for Swanson? I think so. I'm not asking him to be an All-ACC performer or anything, but with his frame and experience, he needs to help out in the middle in the passing game. I'm not worried about his blocking -- he's proven his worth there. But for Lambert to be successful (remember, Lambert's only a sophomore), he'll need his safety blanket on checkdowns. While we have running backs that can catch, nothing beats the old reliable tight end.

Depth

While we would all love to have back McGee, I'm fairly comfortable with Swanson starting. In our offense, the tight end's role has been reduced anyway. Swanson should be able to meet expectations. The area that really scares me here is our depth -- or lack there of.

We have three tight ends on the roster. THREE!!! If Swanson goes down, we're in trouble. Long story short, I don't have much confidence in the guys behind Swanson.

The only other tight end on the depth chart is junior Rob Burns. Burns was a unanimous three-star defensive end out of Ashburn, Va. After redshirting his freshman season, he moved to tight end in the fall camp before his sophomore season. It looked like he might have some promise after an impressive touchdown in last year's spring game where he ran over the defender into the endzone. But stuck behind McGee and Swanson, Burns rarely saw the field last season.

Burns technically started against Pitt, but that might have been the worst UVa offensive performance this decade. From an offensive point of view, there were no positives against Pitt. He made his first and only career reception against UNC -- for no gain.

So despite his size (6'7" and 260 pounds), I'm not sure how much confidence I have in Burns. As a former member of the defensive line, he has what it takes to be an effective blocker. But from a receiving standpoint, you have to be a little concerned. Burns has only been running routes and catching passes for just over two seasons. Could he turn out to be a decent receiver? Sure. But until we see proof, I won't pretend like I have a whole lot of confidence.

The only other tight end on the roster is sophomore Mario Nixon. But while Nixon might be a sophomore, he really has no more experience than a freshman. After redshirting in 2012, he missed all of last season with a lower extremity injury. Along with the lack of experience, Nixon will struggle with his lack of size at the tight end position. At 6'4" and 225 pounds, he's definitely on the smaller side for in-line tight ends.

For Nixon, this has been an issue since coming out of high school. He played wide receiver in high school and was given three-stars by Scout and Rivals, but ESPN gave him three-stars as a tight end, where he now plays for UVa. The hope is when you have a smaller player at tight end is that they develop into a speedy, mismatch nightmare for defenses (like Shannon Sharpe). But more often than not, this doesn't come to fruition.

My best guess is that London and Fairchild would have preferred to make Nixon a slot receiver (now that we are going big in that area). However, it would be foolish to leave only two tight ends on the roster.

We have incoming freshman Evan Butts (three-stars), but Butts -- like all tight ends -- would certainly benefit from a redshirt season. Tight end is one of the harder transitions to make from high school to college because not only are you required to block much bigger OLBs/DEs, but you also have to run more complicated, precise routes against much better athletes. The position takes time to learn.

Conclusion

To be blunt, I'm not all that thrilled about tight end in 2014. Now if McGee was still here, this would be a whole different story. We would have Swanson as depth and another season for Burns to learn and hopefully contribute his senior season. And we would definitely redshirt Butts and bring him along at his own pace.

But McGee's loss has ripple effects all across the roster. And from a pass catching standpoint, the tight end position took a huge blow. I think Swanson can do just fine. He's no McGee (he won't have those acrobatic catches like in the videos above), but he should do a fine job on short, checkdown routes.

But behind Swanson, we have three guys that have a total of one career catch. And two of them aren't even natural tight ends. Assuming Swanson stays healthy, we'll survive 2014. But for 2015 and beyond, I am genuinely scared at this position. Next season -- with Swanson's departure -- we'll have Burns, Nixon, and Butts as our tight ends, presumably with Burns as the starter. Now maybe Nixon will become a solid pass catcher so Burns can focus on blocking. And maybe Butts doesn't redshirt, progresses well, and becomes a reliable sophomore target. But we cannot rely on any of these happening because let's face it, they're not likely.

Like I said, at times it's best to be curt -- I don't like our tight end situation. And a lot of that traces back to Mike London. Listen, it's hard to recruit true tight ends -- the good ones are few and far between. However, London has recruited two natural tight ends -- Swanson and Butts -- in his five seasons as coach. You have to do better than that. Even though McGee had success transitioning positions, more guys fail than succeed.

We should be okay this season, but 2015 and beyond isn't looking too bright at tight end.

Next Week: Offensive line

Football vs. Clemson/Miami Observations

Finding content this time of year is pretty difficult -- there's nothing obvious to post about. No previews/recaps. No midseason thoughts on the team. No really exciting recruiting information.

But like a lot of you guys, I always need my dose of Virginia sports. To quench this thirst, I have been watching some old UVa football games on ESPN3 and making some observations/projections about this team. Since we lost very few guys to graduation, a lot of what I saw will be applicable to this season.

Because we were so abysmal last season, there are not many games of ours remaining on ESPN3. In fact, our only games left on ESPN3 are against the big football schools -- Miami, Oregon, Clemson, Va. Tech, etc. -- because their fans are more likely to go back and watch these games. This means in these games, we were severely outmatched and out-coached. And lost.

Still, if you want to be good, you have to be able to compete against the good programs. Obviously, we didn't do that last season.

I chose to watch parts of the Clemson and Miami game for two reasons: 1) they were better teams than us, so it was good to see how our players handled big-game situations, and 2) the games were later in the season, when the team had basically done all it was capable of doing.

So without further ado, here are some observations from the losses against Clemson (59-10) and Miami (45-26).

Clemson

• David Watford really struggled. The most frustrating part was you could see he had the talent to succeed. Early in the game down 7-0 on a 3rd and long at around midfield, Watford hit Keeon Johnson on a nice out route right at the chains. The ball was perfect, and Johnson was able to continue his momentum and surge down the sidelines for about ten more yards. It was a gain of about 20 on the play.
• Offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild talked all season about how Watford's athleticism was such an advantage. While that clearly wasn't the case, Watford did have his moments. I think it was on the same drive when Watford dropped back, and as the pressure came, he began to climb the pocket. No one was open downfield, so Watford took off up the middle. He sidestepped a defensive tackle at the line of scrimmage and then dove near the first down marker. Gain of nine.

• But of course, Watford has two sides -- the negative he showed more than the positive last season. His interception in the second quarter was just terrible. We were only down one or two touchdowns, and Watford had a clean pocket. Darius Jennings was running either a seam or inside post route -- he didn't really seem sure. Jennings did cut it to the inside, but the throw was about five yards over his head. Even if Jennings was supposed to run a seam route, he would have been double covered -- there was nothing there. Either Watford threw a terrible pass or made a terrible decision.
• Watford's running was not consistent either. On a called QB draw, Watford hesitated big time, jumping around for about two seconds before he was tackled in the backfield. This indecision killed him both on the ground and through the air.
• I hate when we roll the pocket on passing plays. While Watford has speed, our offensive line was not near athletic enough or near cohesive of a unit to roll out in unison. We rolled out once to the left and once to the right, and both times Watford ended up throwing it away about 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
• Do not underestimate the loss of Jake McGee. He was about the only receiver that had a chance in the middle of the field. Could Dockins fill that role? Maybe. But McGee will definitely be missed.
• Our play-calling was way too predictable. Half of our plays were simple dives from the pistol formation. Watford would act like he had an option, but he rarely took it.
• In these read-option plays, Watford's inconsistency came up again. He made a nice fake and ran in our first and only touchdown late in the first quarter. Then in the second quarter on a third and 1, he faked to Parks (who had a clear lane for the first down) and tried to break it outside for no gain. Punt.
• It cannot be emphasized enough how important Parks was to the offense. When Mizzell took the ball inside, he was stuffed for no gain. Parks was always able to find a little wiggle room and at least push the pile forward.
• Defensively, we played pretty well in the first half. Clemson got up early with about a 40-yard TD to Watkins, who was covered by freshman Tim Harris. Harris was about a half step behind Watkins, but the throw was perfect. Touchdown.
• On the 96-yard touchdown to Watkins in the third quarter, Harris again had the coverage. It seemed to be a cover 3 look. Both Watkins and a receiver in the slot ran vertical routes. Harris had good positioning on Watkins until he jumped inside to cover the slot guy -- this left Watkins wide open. Turing the hips was all it took for Watkins to break free.

• Tim Harris was targeted and burned by Boyd, but his talent was obvious. He simply wasn't ready to play at such a high level so soon. He would be in good position, but then make a mental error. He also had trouble finding the ball in the air. These areas will improve, and he should be a very solid corner when he starts as a junior in 2015.
• The defensive line was dominant early, especially tackles David Dean and Donte Wilkins. Both brought a lot of pressure and helped to account for at least three sacks -- one a 14-yard loss by Dean.
• Tenuta showed no fear in bringing the blitz. It worked well on a third and short when Henry Coley stuffed Boyd on a draw for a several yard loss. However, Boyd could take advantage, like when he threw an underneath pass to an uncovered running back resulting in about a 30-yard gain.

• The defense played well in the first half. With Canady and Nicholson in at corner, we might have held Clemson to just a touchdown. But they were hurt, and our lack of depth was exposed. 
• The offense simply has to sustain longer drives. The defense played admirably, but against a speedy team like Clemson, they cannot shut them down all game. They need to rest, and the offense did no favors in helping them out.
• We didn't throw the ball downfield. End of story. The longest completion I saw (I only watched select parts) was in the air for about ten yards. Watford's interception was about 20 yards downfield. We needed to stretch the defense, and we never did.
• I hated the idea of throwing in Lambert at the end of the game when it was all but lost. He simply had no chance to succeed. Our confidence was broke, and he was playing behind the second team o-line. Miscommunications are bound to occur -- and they did, twice. On a second down run, Lambert and Mizzell weren't on the same page. The timing was off, Mizzell never got the ball, and Lambert was stuffed for a loss. On the next play, the offensive line must have not known the snap count -- they looked like frozen blocks when the ball was snapped. Lambert was hit in about a second from both sides, and his wobbly ball was picked. You can't evaluate Lambert from these garbage-let's-hurry-up-and-lose-this-game minutes.

Miami

• Things could not have started off much worse for Watford. On his first pass attempt -- a bubble screen out wide to Khalek Shepherd -- the Miami DB read Watford all the way and took in the pass for a pick-6. How Watford did not see the DB is unknown. Miles Gooch missed a block on the DB, but Watford has to see the guy coming and just throw that ball away.

• From there until the end of the second quarter, UVa dominated. It was all about the ground game. Parks picked up at least five on seemingly every attempt. Sometimes he would find his own hole, but more often than not the offensive line was creating huge lanes for him to run through.
• Our first touchdown -- a 20ish-yard screen pass to Parks -- was perfectly executed. The key blocks were by McGee and Kyle Dockins. However, Connor Davis (projected starter at left guard) got out in front and put a nice block on the safety about 10-yards downfield that ultimately sprung Parks for six.
• Speaking of the offensive line, they did a great job on a 30-yard run by Shepherd. The line made a huge initial hole that put Shepherd to the second level. It was then tight end Zach Swanson who came in, blocked a linebacker, and sprung Shepherd for an extra 20 or so yards. When every blocker executes their assignment, you get plays like that.

• Furthermore, even Watford was doing a great job with his legs. On the read option plays, he was actually reading the defensive end. Watford took several plays around the right end gaining a good 5 to 10 yards per pop.
• Still, Watford never recovered through the air. Down 14-13 with about a minute left in the second quarter, UVa was driving the ball. It was 3rd and four on the Miami 15. We could have run (we had had previous success), but we threw the ball. It was a good call -- it was a bit unpredictable and Swanson was wide open in the right flat. However, the pass was a bit high, bouncing off of Swanson's hands and returned to our three-yard line (tackle was made by McGee -- another reason we'll miss him).
• In this first half, Watford completed 4-13 passes for 32 yards and two interceptions. It's not like we needed Watford to be passing more -- we were running the ball at will. But those two interceptions were killer -- and both were his fault. The first one was pathetic -- no DI QB should make that throw. The second one Swanson probably could have caught, but in the rain, Watford needed to be more accurate with a check-down pass.
• However, the defense was very good in the first half. We were blowing up run plays and really playing solid pass coverage. (It was Brent Urban's first game back after missing time with a high ankle sprain.)
• The one exception was a screen to a Miami WR that he took about 60-yards for a touchdown. It was just really bad angles taken by UVa defenders. Canady was the first -- he came in too wide at the line of scrimmage and was easily pushed aside. After breaking about 20-yards behind two lead blockers, Tim Harris had a shot at the tackle, but he went too far in front and was popped by a Miami receiver. Touchdown.
• Anthony Harris had nearly an identical interception to the one he had against Clemson. It was a deep ball over the middle that was underthrown. Harris read it all the way and made an easy leaping interception.
• Also, the Anthony Harris targeting penalty was a terrible call. Morris had not started his slide by the time Harris dove. It was a bang-bang play with no malicious intent by Harris. I could see a personal foul, but not a targeting. It cost us in that second half, and even in the first half against Va. Tech the next week. Bad call. 

• It was a different Miami offense in the second half. They were more aggressive and more easily running the ball. They made adjustments though it's not like they were running all over us. Just more of their plays were picking up decent yardage.
• Our offense -- specifically our ground game -- really stalled in the second half. Why? I'm not sure. But it really could only slow down. After all, we had picked up over 200-yards on the ground in the first half. Unless you run the triple-option, you don't duplicate those results. Miami stacked the box giving Watford an opportunity to shine, of which he didn't take advantage.
• Watford's third pick of the game was a ball that should not have been thrown. The receiver was double covered and the tipped ball went directly to the deep safety.
• Lambert replaced Watford and honestly looked really good, as he should have. Up by three touchdowns, Miami was playing prevent defense. Lambert led the offense down into the redzone on his first drive. But Lambert fumbled and a Miami defensive lineman took the ball back for a touchdown.
• Turnovers were the difference in this game. Miami scored 28 points off of four turnovers. The final was 45-26. We honestly had a chance at this game. But this was one of Watford's weaknesses -- interceptions.
• On the bright side, Smoke really shined for our offense. Granted, most of his touches came off of checkdowns since Miami was in a prevent defense. But he showed the ability to run good routes. He caught a nice touchdown on a throw with some nice touch by Lambert. The LB or safety (I didn't see which) had no chance against Smoke. Around 15 yards for a touchdown? I'll take it. If healthy, this is the dimension to our offense Smoke should add in 2014.
• Smoke also showed good toughness taking the ball in for a touchdown on the next drive. It was only about a five-yard run, but it was the first time I had seen him play with a chip on his shoulder and shed a tackle. It was a nice power play by a speed guy.

Conclusions

After watching parts of these two games, I think they are an accurate microcosm of our season. Basically, we had the talent to compete. Just look at the first half of both of these games. We hung in there with Clemson, and we dominated Miami. However, it's the score that ultimately changes our record, and even with solid performances in each of these first halves, we still trailed at the break. Against Clemson, this was because their offense was speedier than our defense. If Nicholson and Canady had played, maybe it's closer, but then again, maybe it's not. Against Miami, take away those two first-half Watford interceptions and we're up by a touchdown -- maybe two -- at half.

Ultimately, the offense has to produce more consistently. Our defense was better than it appeared on paper, but when the offense goes three-and-out time and time again, the defense will wear out. The defensive line -- especially when we're not substituting our guys -- doesn't get the same penetration they did earlier in the game. And when we're blitzing as much as we did, sooner or later we'll miss an assignment. It happened all too frequently against Clemson.

Lambert played mop-up duty in both contests, but you can't read too much into the good or the bad. When he's in there late in the game behind the second team offensive line, there are only so many takeaways.

Honestly though, I feel better about this team after watching those two games. I've always thought our defense would be solid this season, but I have even more confidence now. With added depth on the defensive line, the same consistency at linebacker, and an experienced, talented secondary, the sky is the limit.

On offense, I gained a lot of confidence in guys like Keeon Johnson and Taquan Mizzell -- who should both have increased roles on offense in 2014. Ultimately, the fact that a different quarterback will be under center should make a world of difference. A quarterback -- Lambert in this case -- is the only guy that has the power to turn this offense around. He has the arm talent and a couple of weapons. Plus, we shouldn't be fooling around with designed quarterback runs anymore.

So despite losing both of these games by multiple touchdowns, I think there are some positive takeaways. Of course, it's July, so I can spin anything in a positive way. But I feel better about this team after these two games. Hopefully I'm right.

At Wide Receiver, young-guns hope to supplant disappointing upperclassmen

After previewing a strong position unit on offense -- the running backs -- it is now time to begin our next position unit -- the wide receivers.

Unfortunately, the running backs are really the only unit on offense that I trust will produce. In these final four previews -- wide receivers, tight ends, offensive line, and quarterbacks -- there are many more questions than answers. I hate to be a downer -- because I really do love Virginia football -- but I'm going to be very candid -- and sometimes curt -- with these next few previews. While the defense has all sorts of talent, the offense simply does not. Add that in with people shuffling positions almost weekly, and you have yourself one sort of mess.

I won't divulge too many more of my feelings on offense until we get to those previews, so let's just begin this wide receiver post. On the post-spring depth chart, three wide receiver positions are listed -- the X-receiver, the Z-receiver, and the W-receiver. To truly understand these players and this group as a whole, it's important that we're all on the same page here regarding the roles of each position.

The X-receiver usually goes to the team's "No. 1 receiver" -- the guy that is the most skilled and usually has built a good rapport with the quarterback. He is the receiver furthest away from the tight end. As you will notice with the above image, the X-receiver is tethered to the line of scrimmage. As such, he cannot motion before the snap. This means that the cornerback can get right up on him and jam him at the line. Therefore, the X-receiver must be very quick and/or strong to either push through the jam or sidestep it and make way upfield before the pass-rush can get to the quarterback. Often times, even in zone formations, the corner on the X-receiver will shadow him through most of his route, so it's critical for the X-receiver to be able to beat man-coverage.

The Z-receiver lines up usually a yard or two off of the line of scrimmage so the tight end can be an eligible receiver. If the Z-receiver were to line up on the line of scrimmage, the tight end would not be eligible -- this is often the case when you here offenses flagged for illegal formation. Because the Z-receiver lines off the line of scrimmage, he can motion to the slot before the snap -- lots of offensive coordinators use this tactic to try to get a matchup against a linebacker rather than a more athletic corner. Therefore, the Z-receiver will have to have some of the skill-sets of the slot receiver, although the Z-receiver will still primarily play outside.

The slot receiver (W-receiver in the UVa offense), will primarily play against zone coverage unless the defense is blitzing. A linebacker will often play over him at the line of scrimmage, but once he gets past the linebacker, often times his route will go into the safety's zone. In nickel formations (with three corners), a corner will line up over him instead of a linebacker. This changes the W-receiver's role as he might have to beat man coverage. As a whole though, the best slot guys are the ones that can find the hole in the zone (see Wes Welker's career).

*NOTE: Ignore the Y-receiver in the above image. It is assigned to the tight end, which we will address next week.

Now that we have established the receiver positions, we can specifically discuss UVa football. First -- per usual -- I will discuss the wide receiver coach -- Marques Hagans. For those of you who didn't watch UVa football about 10 years ago, Hagans was one hell of a football player for us. His first two seasons (2002 and 2003), he alternated time between wide-receiver and back-up quarterback to Matt Schaub. Once Schaub graduated, Hagans took over as an explosive, dual-threat quarterback in 2004 and 2005 -- some of the better teams in the Groh era.

After graduation, Hagans was drafted as a wide receiver in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL draft by the Rams. He never really caught-on in the pros, as he jumped around the league, playing for the Chiefs, Colts, and Redskins before he began coaching in 2010. In 2011 and 2012, he was a graduate assistant on our staff, mainly helping the receivers -- although he had some input at quarterback. Last season -- 2013 -- was his first year as the official wide receivers coach. The players love him as he is able to relate to them better than the other coaches due to his young age. However, in his tenure on the staff, we have never had a very solid wide-receiver core.

Last year was an especially bad season for the receivers. It seemed that we might have two solid starters in Darius Jennings and Tim Smith, but that was far from the case. After struggling with drops, routes, blocking, etc., the two were replaced in the starting lineup by true freshman Keeon Johnson and redshirt freshman Kyle Dockins. These two would start the games, although usually by the end it was the same two -- Jennings and Smith -- that were taking the bulk of the snaps. If there was ever a place of inconsistency and possible incompetency in regards to coaching last season, it was with the wide receivers.

For 2014, we only lost Tim Smith to graduation (and E.J. Scott and Adrian Gamble to transfer), so it's not as if we have a lot of turnover at the receiver position. However, it seems that the once promising upperclassman -- Jennings and Dominique Terrell -- have taken a backseat to the underclassmen. Although Jennings and Terrell have both flashed potential, it was not near consistent enough to make you think they can be solid starters -- that's why they're no longer starting. It's not as if Johnson and Dockins are locks to be better, but we need to at least see what we've got.

Unfortunately, that is the story of this season's wide receivers -- disappointing careers and unknown youth.

X-receiver likely starter: Keeon Johnson (So.)

Johnson was a weird story. The original plan was to redshirt Johnson because we supposedly had solid depth at wide receiver. However, Johnson flashed in practice. That combined with our overall receiver struggles enticed the coaches to burn his redshirt against Ball State. Johnson went on to start the final seven games. He caught a pass in every game in which he played.

Johnson was a unanimous three-star prospect that was ranked as the No. 25 wide receiver out of high school according to MaxPreps.com. He finished last season with 20 catches for 282 yards and one touchdown. His 282 receiving yards are the most by a UVa freshman since Billy McMullen in 1999.

For me, it was not his numbers that impressed because let's face it, about 35 yards per game for your starting receiver isn't good enough. However, he flashed the potential that he could be a No. 1 receiver for the next three years. First off, he has the size at 6'3" and 215 pounds. Just as impressive was his catch radius -- he came down with some very good looking catches. As you can see by the picture, he also has good athleticism.

Now, I always caution against potential because it is just that -- potential. Potential does not equal success. But for Johnson, he has all the tools to be a good receiver. I also like the fact that he had to work his way into the starting lineup -- he wasn't just given his spot like Jennings and Terrell. I also like that he has some chemistry with Lambert, whom he worked with through summer camp and at the beginning of last season.

Expect him to start every game this season. I think around 40 to 50 catches for 600 or so yards is very doable for Johnson. If he explodes, he could have more. Regardless, he will see plenty of playing time over his next three seasons in orange and blue.

Depth

Listed first behind Johnson is redshirt freshman Andre Levrone. Keep in mind I only attended two spring practices, but on both of those days, Levrone might have been the best receiver on the field. He caught a touchdown in the spring game and also consistently beat the corners in the other practice I attended. If you're looking for a breakout candidate, look no further than #14.

Levrone redshirted last season, which seems to have been a good move. He was a consensus three-star receiver, but he seemed to be a borderline four-star player. He was the No. 11 recruit from Maryland as well as the No. 1 wide receiver from Maryland.

In my opinion, Levrone is a better fit at the Z-receiver. Although he has size (6'2" and 210 pounds) and solid quickness, he's much more likely to bump career bench-warmer Miles Gooch out of the starting lineup than promising sophomore Keeon Johnson. Furthermore, he has enough quickness that he could play out of the slot on occasion. I fully expect Levrone to have a role on this offense by the time the season roles around. He should be a very solid contributor for all four years.

Lastly, behind Levrone on the post-spring depth chart is sophomore Jamall Brown. Brown redshirted in 2012 and only appeared in one game last season -- VMI. At 6'0'' and 205 pounds, Brown -- like the rest of the X-receivers -- has good size. However, there is a reason he only played in one game last season -- he's just not that good. If he had upside, he would have played in more games in an underachieving position unit. He was only a two-star prospect, so we're not going to shed tears. If he can be a good scout-team player, he won't be a total disappointment. While it's nice when a two-star player develops, they usually don't -- that's why they were only given two-stars.

Z-receiver likely starter: Miles Gooch (Sr.)

Like I said, my own personal opinion is that Levrone should be the starting Z-receiver, but I'm not the coach. Plus, I have a very limited sample size. Furthermore, starting two young receivers might not be the best idea.

Anyways, your starting Z-receiver -- according to the post-spring depth chart -- is senior Miles Gooch. Gooch was a high school quarterback that was a unanimous three-star athlete. At 6'3" and 230 pounds, he was given the chance to stick at quarterback at UVa, although that experiment lasted shortly. Early into his redshirt season, the coaches stuck him at wide receiver.

To this point, his career has been very disappointing. With a guy of his size, you hope he can at least develop into a red-zone target. While he did catch a 7-yard touchdown in the 2012 upset over Miami, that is just one of three career receptions for 32 yards. It's not like he hasn't seen playing time, because he has. However, usually when he is in the game, it's a give away that it will be running play as he is a great run-blocker but mediocre at best receiver. (Seriously, it's almost pathetic; look back at the film over the past two seasons and if Gooch is in the game, it's probably about a 90% chance we're running the ball.)

Why he is listed as a starter is a mystery to me. He did nothing of note in the practices I attended. As a career back-up, you have to be scratching your head here. Was it his blocking? I hope not, because with as anemic of a air-game as we had last season, your starting receiver better be able to catch. Furthermore, he seems like a horrible fit at the Z-position. He has the size and straight-line speed to be a good X-receiver, but he lacks the quickness to succeed in the Z-role.

I don't expect Gooch to be listed as the starter for long.

Depth

Behind Gooch are the two guy we thought were our receivers of the future just three years ago -- Darius Jennings and Dominique Terrell. Let's start with Jennings, since he's technically listed above Terrell.

Jennings was a unanimous four-star athlete and also the overall No. 71 prospect in the nation according to MaxPreps.com. As part of UVa's giant 26 member class of 2011, it seemed initially that Jennings would live up to his potential. He had 238 receiving yards in a mostly slot role in 2011 (including a 53 yard touchdown reception on a bubble screen against Miami). In 2012, he again showed promise as our most consistent receiver -- he had 568 yards on 48 receptions, including five touchdowns.

It was hoped Jennings would take another step forward in 2013, and he got off to a good start with a critical touchdown reception in the rain against BYU. From there on, he struggled, mightily. He was a shell of his former self, unable to get open -- and even when he was open, he was almost just as likely to drop the ball as he was to catch it. With the exception of against Georgia Tech -- where he had 13 catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns -- 2013 was an underwhelming performance. He finished with 38 receptions for 340 yards.

I would say expect Jennings to further regress in 2014, but all reports out of spring camp were positive. He was getting more separation and had become a reliable target down the field. He seemed to show this in the spring game, where he had several catches for what I would think was at least 50 yards.

He scared those at Scott Stadium on the spring game's final drive when he turned back for a ball on a button-hook and his knee just gave out. I immediately thought he had torn his ACL -- it looked that bad. Thankfully, he hopped up after a few minutes and was on his feet -- albeit on the sidelines -- the rest of the game. A few weeks later, I saw Jennings walking around with just a small knee-brace. That along with the fact that there were no reports about a serious injury make me think Jennings will be okay for training camp.

The way I see it, Gooch does not start against UCLA. The two most likely candidates to replace Gooch in my opinion are Levrone and Jennings. But because Jennings is a senior and listed as a Z-receiver, I have to give him the edge. Jennings has the experience and past production to make you think that last season was the exception and not the rule. That seems to be the case judging by the glowing reports about Jennings from practice.

The last Z-receiver on the depth chart is Terrell. While Jennings has certainly not lived up to his potential, Terrell has been even worse. Over his three year career, he has just 60 catches for 641 yards. As a four-star, highly touted athlete (like Jennings), Terrell was supposed to be a four-year mainstay in the receiving corps. He struggled as a freshman, however, with his only real impact coming against Idaho where he caught the game-winning touchdown in overtime on a bubble screen.

In 2012, he took a slight step forward. He caught 38 balls for 475 yards. His career day came against Miami when he had nine receptions for 127 yards. For the season, had he reached his potential? No. But he still seemed to have room to grow.

But just like Jennings, his 2013 season was bad. And I mean really bad. He had 14 receptions for 107 yards. Sadly, it doesn't appear that he will make much of an impact in 2014 either. After all, he is the third Z-receiver on the depth chart. Honestly, it's a real shame for Terrell. London praised him and immediately gave him a role on offense even during his first year, but Terrell has slowly let that slip away. Now with more youth at the position, Terrell's time seems to have run out.

At the Z-receiver, I'll also throw incoming freshman Jamil Kamara -- a unanimous four-star prospect and No. 17 wide receiver in the class according to Rivals -- into the mix. At 6'2" and 210 pounds, he already has the build of a good receiver. It remains to be seen how big his role will be next season -- everything will ultimately come down to training camp. Like always, I would like to see him redshirt. But if he shows up and finishes camp as the the first or second best Z-receiver (which is possible, there's not much talent or youth here), he could get a solid role. Everything remains to be seen, but don't be surprised if Kamara comes in and produces a 15-20 catch freshman season.

W-receiver likely starter: Kyle Dockins (So.)

The W-receiver will be different this year for the Cavaliers. Generally speaking, the W-receiver (slot receiver) is a smaller, quicker guy. Last year, we experimented with Terrell in this role to start the season. Then after Tim Smith and Darius Jennings got benched, Jennings began to play this role on occasion. Dockins, meanwhile, took his snaps at Z-receiver, which is currently occupied by Gooch (though like I said, I doubt for long).

Let's be honest, if I told you Dockins was going to start four games before the 2013 season, you would have called me crazy. A guy I lived with went to the same high school as Dockins. We were talking about guys from our high school who played college ball, and he mentioned that some scrub receiver at UVa went to his high school. I asked who, and he said Kyle Dockins. When I told him that Dockins was now actually our starting receiver, we both had a good chuckle about how bad we actually were last season. Humorous? Yes. Proud? No.

In 2013, Dockins simply was not ready for big time snaps. He started four games and played in 11 of the 12, only missing Georgia Tech due to injury. He only amassed eight catches for 96 yards -- and four of those catches came against Miami. That's not the type of production you want from your starting wide receiver. Unless you run a triple-option offense, that's unacceptable.

If Dockins was the starting Z-receiver after the spring, I would have been furious -- from what I have seen, he doesn't have the speed to handle a role on the outside. But in an effort to rejuvenate a dreadful offense, offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild is trying something new -- putting bigger guys in the slot. And at 6'3" and 210 pounds, Dockins came out of the spring on top of the depth chart.

While I am all about speed (I much prefer a spread offense at the college level), this move seems to be perfect for our current skill-set. Dockins was recruited by some as a wide-receiver and by some as a tight-end. In theory, this new role will take advantage of both of his strengths. He is faster than most linebackers and has the height advantage over safeties. Furthermore, he is a very good run-blocker, but in the slot, he will not be asked to block defensive ends and outside linebackers like a tight end would.

He performed well in this new role in the practices I attended. In one practice, I loved his ability to go up and get the jump ball in the back of the endzone. Against linebackers and safeties, Dockins could be very effective near the goal line. And then in the spring game, he got behind the linebacker and Lambert threw a beautiful back shoulder throw down the middle of the field to Dockins which resulted in a touchdown.

In this new role, Dockins could be very good. He basically would be a glorified tight end, but I'll take that if he can produce. Unfortunately, the creation of this new role contributed to the departure of Jake McGee. McGee was basically asked to fulfill this role while still spending time as a H-back. Ultimately, McGee has some NFL potential at tight end, and his chances of succeeding at the next level would have been hurt had be basically not played the tight end position for a season. That, along with a sour relationship with tight end coach Tom O'Brien, resulted in his departure.

However, I still think this is the perfect role for Dockins to succeed. Whether or not this works remains to be seen. If it doesn't, then it likely will contribute to London and Fairchild's departure. A new coach might prefer a smaller slot receiver and put Dockins back on the outside or at tight end. Dockins's role is an experiment, but I think it could pay off, especially with the lack of talent at tight end.

Depth

In my opinion, a weakness of London has always been his decision on redshirts. The more, the merrier. I'm fine if a player forgoes a redshirt season to take snaps at his position, but there should never be a circumstance in which a player doesn't redshirt just so he can play special teams. In Dockins's back-up -- Canaan Severin -- this is exactly the case.

Severin was a four-star receiver by Rivals and a three-star receiver by ESPN and Scout. At 6'2" and 220 pounds, he has exactly the size you look for in a No. 1 receiver. Whether or not he ever would have developed into that player can be debated, but now he certainly will not.

Listen, I'm not complaining here about Severin's 'wasted talent'. If he was a solid receiver, then he probably would have seen time last season. However, the fact that Severin's freshman season consisted of 85 special teams plays but just one catch for three yards is ridiculous. You have depth at wide receiver and corner to fill those special teams roles. If your depth cannot fill those roles, then you probably haven't recruited dedicated football players. Whichever is the case, London made a bad choice somewhere.

Now concerning Severin's ability as a receiver, the outlook isn't positive. I thought he and Adrian Gamble could develop into a solid duo, but Gamble transfered and Severin did not shine in spring ball. Personally, I prefer him on the outside -- his talents (good straight-line speed, wide catch radius) better fit the X-receiver position.

However, it does not seem as if the junior will ever play a ton of snaps. With a solid 2014 season, he might have a chance for some targets in 2015. But my gut tells me it will be Johnson, Levrone, and Kamara (and maybe a little Dockins) as the primary guys in 2015. If that is the case, Severin will certainly have been a bit of a disappointment in his Virginia career.

Lastly in the slot is redshirt freshman Ryan Santoro -- the offensive scout player of the week against Ball State. When I searched for info about Santoro, I honestly couldn't find any, so I'm just going by his bio on the UVa roster. It sounds like Santoro didn't receive any scholarship offers since no recruiting service gave him a ranking. He's a good athlete (a former swimmer), but I would be shocked if he saw much of a role this season. At practice, I remember thinking that Santoro hustled just as much if not more than some of the other guys, but at the end of the day he just doesn't have the talent for DI football. Hopefully he proves me wrong!

Conclusion

Like I said at the beginning, I'm going to honest about these position previews. So far, the look has been mostly optimistic -- I did that by design. I wanted to address the team's strengths early because nothing new will really emerge as we approach training camp. With the weaknesses though, we might start hearing reports that will contribute to these previews. It just so happens that the big weaknesses are on offense.

Now with the wide-receivers, I don't really like this group for 2014 -- there's just not enough proven talent for me to be optimistic. Johnson has potential, but so did Jennings and Terrell. Johnson has the skill-set to be very good, but can he become that No. 1 guy? That's asking a lot of a sophomore.

At the Z-position, I ultimately think it will be Levrone or Jennings that takes that starting role. Gooch just doesn't make sense there. Honestly, he would be better in the W-receiver role occupied by Dockins. Speaking of Dockins, he is much better suited for a role as a TE/WR role than he is for anything on the outside. However, he still only had eight catches last season. There's no way to tell how Dockins will progress.

For 2015, I think this group can be good. Assuming Levrone gets time this season (as he should), all of the starters will have at least a season of consistent playing experience. But to get experience, you have to weather a rocky start -- I'm afraid that this season is that rocky start. With the exception of Jennings, I don't see any upperclassman having much of a role at receiver in the offense (except for Gooch in running situations, despite the dead giveaway).

The only reason for a somewhat optimistic outlook is hoping that David Watford was even worse last season than we thought. I mean, Jennings and Terrell did alright with mostly Michael Rocco under center in 2012. Was Watford holding these receivers back? Maybe, but it's not like they were consistently open either. Lambert should at least statistically increase the production at wide receiver, but these receivers will have to improve as well.

As we move on from Jennings and Terrell and their lost potential, we can start to focus on the underclassmen and developing their game. Ultimately, developing is never good news for the present, which doesn't bode well for this season. I'm sure the unit will improve as the season progresses, but this group definitely seems to be in the bottom half of the ACC. If Lambert can play the way many scouts thought (think?) he can, then I might be wrong. Until that happens though (as you might know, I never count on potential), there are too many unknowns to predict much improvement from last season.

Next week: Tight ends

Running Backs mix experience with youthful potential

Thus far in this preview series, I have broken down what I consider to be position units. We started with the defense -- the secondary, the linebackers, and the defensive line. These broke up easily because these groups are commonly thought of together. For example, despite having multiple positions in the unit, there is only one respective coach for the linebackers and defensive line. Even though the secondary has two coaches -- Chip West for the cornerbacks and Mike Archer for the safeties -- it is rare to mention corners and safeties separately as they are very interdependent on each other's execution.

The special teams only has one coach -- Larry Lewis -- so despite their multiple positions (kickers, returners, etc.), they were easy to bundle together.

However, the offense is a little different in that there are more positions with unique responsibilities. For example, we can't just group the wide receivers and tight ends together because even though they both catch passes, they need totally different skill sets and thus have different coaches.

This means that these previews for the next few weeks -- starting with this one -- will be a little more specific. I will keep the same general format listing the starters and the depth behind them, but because the groups are more narrow, I will devote more time to specific players. For example, technically only one running back is listed as a starter -- Kevin Parks. However, I can't just list Parks and then include everyone else under depth, so I will also add a role of a third down back in this post (along with a fullback). Each week will be a little different depending on the position unit, so I just thought I'd throw that out there.

Now let's get back to business -- running backs. Just like the special teams, they are coached by Larry Lewis. According to his bio on virginiasports.com, his first season coaching running backs was just three years ago in 2011. He has really coached everything from defensive ends to safeties to receivers to now running backs.

To his credit, despite little experience coaching the running back position, he has produced some excellent runners. At Nevada in 2011, he coached Stefohon Jefferson, who rushed for 1,883 yards and 24 touchdowns -- both second in FBS that season. Then last season here at Virginia, Kevin Parks was the first 1,000-yard rusher since Alvin Pearman in 2004. Obviously it helps when you're coaching good players, but he certainly aided both of these runners to their historic seasons.

Entering 2014, we will have basically the same running back depth chart we did last season. The newcomer, Jordan Ellis, shouldn't need to contribute this season. We lost no one to graduation, and the only departure via transfer was Kye Morgan, who never showed promise and had since been recruited over.

Returning are the big three, if you will, at running back -- Parks, Taquan "Smoke" Mizzell, and Khalek Shepherd. These guys should handle the bulk of the carries. This threesome provides a great stable of backs that, in my opinion, rivals anyone in the ACC. Obviously Parks is the bell-cow, but Smoke has been lighting it up in practice. And Shepherd can spell either of them. Fullback provides some questions, but as we use more and more of the shotgun and pistol formations, the fullback's importance has decreased anyways.

I like the look of this group. Now let's delve a little bit deeper.

Running back likely starter: Kevin Parks (Sr.)

There is little question here -- Parks is our main guy. He will receive the bulk of the carries. Despite Parks's lack of recruiting hype -- he was only a three star player -- we in Charlottesville knew we could have a special back. He set basically every high school rushing record in North Carolina -- he was on the map.

After receiving the benefit of a redshirt during his first year on grounds, he exploded onto the scene as a redshirt freshman, rushing for three touchdowns in his debut against William and Mary. In that Chick-fil-a bowl season, he lead our team with nine rushing touchdowns and added 709 yards on the ground while splitting carries with Perry Jones.

After a similar sophomore season, we know how 2013 went -- in an abysmal offense, he was our lone bright spot. If it was not for Parks, this offense might not have ever gone for more than 200-yards in a game -- he was that important. He rushed 227 times for 1,031 yards. Shepherd had the second most rush yards among running backs with 315 (David Watford was actually second on the team in rushing with 373 yards, although he averaged just 2-yards per carry).

Parks is built for this type of 'abuse'. At only 5'8" (and honestly, that's stretching it), he is every bit of 205 pounds, and likely a good 10 pounds more. He is built like a tank. While he doesn't have game-breaking speed (his long of 61-yards was against a far inferior VMI squad), he can break out for 20 to 25 yard gains. Plus, his ability to bounce off of would-be tacklers allows him to gain plenty of extra yards after contact. He just keeps driving his legs and carrying defenders with him. This will help him get pretty high on the UVa all-time yardage list after next season.

We know his strength of running inside, but I think all of the UVa fan base under appreciates his skill set in the passing game. He is very solid in protection, willfully taking on linebackers. I cannot remember him ever being a liability in that regard. Also, his ability as a receiver is quite impressive. In 2014, he was tied for second on the team in receptions and also was third on the team in receiving yards. He had the longest reception on the team of 54 yards (which speaks to this offensive's inability to make big, explosive plays). Who can forget his one-handed catch and tumble into the endzone against Duke. The guy can play.

Unfortunately, there seems to be little love among NFL scouts for Parks's game. Basically, he does everything okay, but nothing good enough that he will jump off the charts. His lack of speed will really hurt him at the next level -- small running backs, even the power ones like MJD, need to be able to break off a long gain. I'm not sure if Parks will ever be that guy. If he chooses to play in Canada or something, he should continue to be a very good workhorse back.

Regardless, he was not named to Phil Steele's preseason All-ACC second team offense (UVa's lone offensive representative) for nothing. His pro career is in question, but he'll graduate as one of the best UVa tailbacks in recent memory.

Third down running back likely starter: Taquan Mizzell (So.)

Smoke had a largely disappointing 2013 season. The first consensus five-star to come to UVa since Eugene Monroe in 2005 battled injuries all season long. Everyone was dissapointed, including himself. I mean, the guy was the No. 5 running back in the class according to Rivals -- we all wanted a little more than his 184 yards on the ground and 164 through the air.

Smoke saw his carries decrease as the season went on, when it was clear Parks was the better option. The frustrating part was despite his struggles, we could all see his talent. With a fairly severe ankle sprain, he still was very quick on his carries and kick returns.

His real problem was a lack of vertical, forward movement. He would stay in generally the same spot or bounce a run out wide, but ultimately he never gained more than a few yards. He needs to stay smarter in his movement and focus more on getting upfield. Obviously a redshirt season would have been beneficial, but there was no way this guy was going to redshirt. He deserved to play.

Reports from spring camp and summer workouts say Smoke is on track to have a hell of a 2014 season. They say he has his initial burst back, and there are multiple highlights of him doing a fantastic job catching passes out of the backfield -- which is why I listed him as the third-down back. Smoke will be great running routes out of the backfield and even splitting out wide, which is why we need him in a third down role. He provides the explosiveness that we lacked on offense last season.

Mizzell will be the unquestioned starter in 2015 and 2016, although he is still likely to share carries. However, assuming he returns to pre-injury form (which he has yet to do on game-day in a UVa uniform), our backfield should be in good hands going forward.

Depth

The first player off the bench after Parks and Smoke will be senior Khalek Shepherd. Shepherd has been a solid contributor for all of his past three seasons at Virginia. He never developed into a starter, but he never needed to -- there was always an unquestioned better running back playing infront of him.

While we would have liked to have seen more from Shepherd -- a former three-star recruit -- we really cannot complain too much about his production. Stuck behind Parks and Jones his first and second year, he only received carries in garbage time. Last season, he received a few more opportunities, gaining 304 yards on the ground and 125 through the air. His stats might have been inflated if he had not missed the VMI game, but I've never been about stats -- they don't tell the whole picture.

If Shepherd had received more carries last season, I think he had the ability to put up around 700 yards as the lead running back. Obviously, if you're the main guy and not splitting carries, that would not be enough, which is why Parks took by far the most carries (Shepherd had just 51). However, he is the perfect backup running back. He has plenty of experience and he can run and catch out of the backfield. If Parks were to go down, it would likely be Shepherd -- not Smoke -- who would receive the majority of the carries. While he has always played a bigger role on special teams than on offense, his depth needs to be appreciated.

Waiting behind Shepherd is the sensational Daniel Hamm. Hamm came out of nowhere, literally. He did not receive a carry in either of the first two games against BYU and Oregon. Then with Shepherd and Smoke sitting out due to injury against VMI, he exploded to the tune of 136-yards. I had to take a look at the roster to even find out who #22 was.

Unfortunately, Hamm was injured the next week against Pitt and sat out the rest of the season. The good news though, is that Hamm received a medical hardship redshirt, meaning he still has four more years to contribute now that he is a redshirt freshman instead of a sophomore.

He likely won't receive many carries in 2014 with the emergence of Smoke, but he should be a solid contributor from 2015 until 2017. Hopefully we'll get to here announcers tell the story of a kid who didn't even receive any stars from recruiting services and how he became a stud. While this sounds absurd, I really liked the way he played against VMI. Yes, I know it was VMI, but he played the way you want a running back to play. He was quick to plant his foot and get upfield while maintaining a low center of gravity. Plus, he was a triple jump state champion in high school, so he still has speed. He has all of the intangibles to be a very good running back. Hopefully VMI was the rule and not an anomaly.

Behind Hamm is LaChaston Smith, who is a very, very weird case. He enrolled early as a linebacker for 2013 spring drills. However, for some reason, he was moved to running back during summer camp. While he had some success as a running back at the high school level, he was widely recruited as a linebacker -- ESPN even gave him four stars. But for whatever reason, to running back he went in August.

While the move can be debated and analyzed, the coaches ultimately thought Smith had more upside as a running back. I have no complaints there -- they know best. Where I will complain, however, is the fact that the coaches burned his redshirt for 10 garbage-time carries against VMI. That is absolutely absurd and almost unfair to Smith. By the time the VMI game rolled around, Smith had practiced as a running back for about a month, and had four or five guys clearly ahead of him on the depth chart. There is absolutely no reason why he needed to play against VMI. To make matters worse, he did not play again the rest of the season. It was a terrible, worthless move by this coaching staff.

On the brightside, he does seem to have potential as a runner. While I don't want to read too much into this, he hurdled a VMI player which was pretty sweet. At 230 pounds, his running style compares to that of a smaller Keith Payne or a less talented Marshawn Lynch. I doubt he'll ever be the primary guy, but he will be a good pounder and short-yardage back in 2015 and 2016.

A likely redshirt candidate will be Jordan Ellis. He is just a two-star prospect, but he has potential to become a solid, consistent ball carrier. He is not a homerun hitter, but he always moves forward, and keeps his legs moving. At 5'11" and 210 pounds, his style can be compared to Kevin Parks. It's doubtful he'll have the same impact as Parks did, but he could be a solid guy to rotate in.

With the benefit of the redshirt (which he should get due to our depth), he will have some time to develop and hopefully contribute. While it's not likely he would do much in 2015 as a redshirt freshman with Smoke, Hamm, and Smith ahead of him, he could begin to see some time in 2016 and 2017.

But really, who knows? Ellis could just as easily become a solid back as he could be recruited over. Only time will tell. Also as a side note, I would not put a move to fullback out of the question. As I will soon show, we have not had a good fullback since the Groh years (Jason Snelling and Rashawn Jackson). Ellis has the measurables to make such a move while still providing an offensive threat as a ball carrier or receiver in goal-line situations.

Lastly, I will mention redshirt freshman Anthony Calloway. I will commend him for playing running back at a FBS school at a mere 155 pounds. Unfortunately, unless he puts on at least 30 pounds or so, the Lynchburg product simply will not make it as a successful DI running back. Kudos to you, Anthony, but I don't really ever expect to see him take meaningful snaps.

Fullback likely starter: Connor Wingo-Reeves (So.)

Like I mentioned above, London has never had a true fullback. We have experimented with the likes of Terence Fells-Danzer, Max Millien, and Billy Skrobacz with little success. To run the true up the gut run game that London likes, we'll need a true fullback.

The problem with fullbacks is no one comes to college wanting to be a fullback. Even on high school teams, fullbacks are usually just linebackers who want some time on offense. Good fullbacks are tough to come by.

Wingo-Reeves, however, could become that guy. I'm not going to lie, he didn't look that great last year. At 6'3", he's definitely taller than you would prefer. He was a two-star player coming out of high school. While he played linebacker and tight end in high school, none of the recruiting services specified his position.

The reason I think he could do all right at fullback is because he was slated there from day 1. Fullbacks go by instinct as much as anything. They might be assigned a linebacker to block, but plays rarely go perfectly according to plan. The best guy can not only block, but also find the hole and allow the running back to run behind him. Whether Wingo-Reeves will become successful in the backfield remains to be determined, but the fact that he can develop and focus only on fullback plays to his benefit. I think he has the best shot of any fullback in the London era to play the position well.

Depth

Behind Wingo-Reeves are junior Vincent Croce and sophomore Israel Vaughan. Croce, listed as 6'-4" and 260 pounds, would be a huge fullback -- that is because we was widely recruited as a defensive tackle. In fact, basically every recruiting service gave him three-stars. I'm not sure when he made the switch to fullback, but I do know that he has never gained substantial playing time. After redshirting in 2011, he appeared in just four games in 2012 and eight in 2013. His only playing time in 2014 will probably be on special teams.

Similarly, Israel Vaughn is unlikely to see much of any playing time this season. He redshirted 2012 and only appeared in one game -- VMI -- in 2013. He was a high school quarterback, but he simply was not a collegiate-level quarterback. In terms of measurables, Vaughn seems to be the most ideal fullback on the roster. At 6' and 250 pounds along with his track background, he could be a bruiser. Unfortunately, he is listed as the third fullback on the depth chart for a reason. Maybe he can develop, but the odds don't seem in his favor. I doubt he'll see much action -- with the exception of special teams -- in 2014.

Conclusion

I don't think there is any doubt that the running backs are our deepest position unit on offense. We still are not at the point where if one guys goes down, I am just as confident in the next man up, but we would still have the ability to compensate for injury.

Parks is our main guy, no if's, and's, or but's. You don't rush for over 1,000 yards behind a pitiful offensive line and not get rewarded. Smoke -- if healthy -- should provide an explosive alternative to Parks's consistent inside rushing. And then when you throw in guys with some good game experience such as Shepherd and Hamm, the group starts to look pretty solid.

What also pleases me about this group is our mix of veterans and young-guns. Seniors Kevin Parks (who was voted a captain) and Khalek Shepherd have the experience to help out the younger backs. But even after Parks and Shepherd graduate, we should still be solid in the backfield. Parks' consistency will be hard to replace, but I am excited about the dynamic type of player Smoke can become. Furthermore, I see a little of the 2007 Mikell Simpson in Hamm (hopefully without the injury concerns). Even LaChaston Smith will contribute as a nice power back.

Let's face it, the Virginia offense has seen much better days. In fact, I'm not sure I remember a worse season than 2013. Even when we were starting Greg Olsen and Kevin McCabe at quarterback, we still had good offensive weapons in Kevin Ogletree along with a solid offensive line. Last year, we were devoid of any serious offensive weapons that struck fear into defenses.

While an argument can be made for Kevin Parks as a player that strikes fear into defenses, that wasn't really his game last season. Watford was really bad, so opposing defenses crowded the box and Parks had to reach 1,000 yards one five-yard carry at a time. This year though, I think Mizzell can be that offensive weapon that we so desperately lacked while Parks continues to grind the defense down.

This group cannot carry the offense -- it would take a backfield of Adrian Peterson and LeSean McCoy to do that. But this group should be just as good if not better than last season with some help from a young offensive line. These guys won't win us any games -- it takes a quarterback to do that -- but they should keep us close enough to give Lambert a fighting chance. When running backs are becoming less and less important, you can't ask for much more.

Next Week: Wide Receivers