All Glory To God. I'm proud to announce that I will be attending & bringing swag back to The University Of Virginia #GoHoos #HoosRising pic.twitter.com/BfzrqKjOYi

— JOK9 ™ (@owuu_) October 23, 2016

Head coach Bronco Mendenhall’s emphasizes bringing accountability to the Virginia football program, speaking often about players’ roles are "given, not earned." Under his policies, the team hasn’t been able to take things for granted anymore; that includes basic parts of their uniforms, like the v-sabre logo (earned a month ago) and their numbers, which were missing until today. (The team was VERY fortunate to earn their numbers just in time for the first game of the year. A forfeit would have been embarrassing.)

Sixty-one members of the roster have been assigned numbers, all of which are available to view over at VirginiaSports.com. Numbers aren’t all that interesting (to me at least), but Coach Mendenhall’s novel treatment of them gives us something to pry into. Here are a few takeaways:

1. Not everyone has a number yet.

Sixty-one players may now have a number listed next to their name on the team roster...but that also means that 41 players still don’t have one. The majority of this group is true freshman, none of whom received a number in the initial batch. Just three of the 41 players awaiting numbers are juniors or seniors (two of whom are walk-ons). Obviously, guys will all have numbers before the week is up, assuming they’ll be eligible to play against Richmond, and UVA Athletics’s Twitter account noted that:

2. There are tons of changes.

Coach Mendenhall and the team apparently did not take into account the integrity of Streaking the Lawn’s "Countdown to Kickoff" series, where we’ve been profiling each player by number for the past 3 months. For example, of the nine returning players who wore numbers of seven or less, six have now swapped. Be alert when you’re watching the game against Richmond, or conversations like this - "Hey, why is #22 Jahvoni Simmons lined up behind Benkert?! Oh, wait, that’s Daniel Hamm!" - will be common.

3. And there are some nontraditional ones too.

The team was quick to nab the single digits, and they weren’t confined to the traditional QBs, RBs, and kickers. (Though NFL defenders must always be above 20, and higher depending on position, there are no NCAA rules on numbers for defensive players). Two likely defensive line starters picked 1 (Donte Wilkins) and 9 (Andrew Brown), and two linebackers are between 10 and 19. On the other end of the spectrum, the nineties include kicker Dylan Sims (91) and QB Joe Spaziani (99). Not everything’s too strange though - starting quarterback Kurt Benkert will wear number 6.

Here’s the full list of numbers earned so far:

1	Donte Wilkins
2	Albert Reid
3	Quin Blanding
4	Taquan Mizzell
5	Tim Harris
6	Kurt Benkert
7	Doni Dowling
8	Keeon Johnson
9	Andrew Brown
10	Jordan Ellis
11	David Eldridge
13	Chris Peace
14	Myles Robinson
15	Matt Johns
16	Connor Brewer
17	Malcolm Cook
18	Ben Hogg
19	Andre Levrone
20	Steven Wright
21	Juan Thornhill
22	Daniel Hamm
23	Warren Craft
25	Chris Sharp
26	Anthony Calloway
27	Cory Jones
28	Wilfred Wahee
29	Eric Gallon
30	Nicholas Conte
31	Kareem Gibson
32	Kirk Garner
33	Olamide Zaccheaus
36	Gladimir Paul
38	Kelvin Rainey
39	Darious Latimore
40	C.J. Stalker
41	Connor Wingo-Reeves
42	Jahvoni Simmons
44	Tanner Cowley
45	Evan Butts
50	Jackson Matteo
51	Zach Bradshaw
53	Micah Kiser
57	James Trucilla
58	Eli Hanback
59	Mark Hall
62	Sean Karl
67	Jack English
70	Steven Moss
71	Jack McDonald
72	Eric Smith
74	Ryan Bischoff
76	Michael Mooney
77	Jake Fieler
78	R.J. Proctor
82	Braedon Urie
83	Brendan Marshall
87	Richard Burney
88	Ryan Santoro
90	Jack Powers
91	Dylan Sims
99	Joe Spaziani

It’s been a whirlwind 48 hours for Virginia football diehards. First, on Thursday night, a video of the new uniforms leaked briefly before being pulled back. An official promo video followed on Friday night. Earlier today, Coach Mendenhall explained changes to Scott Stadium and how UVA will take the field for each game.

But now it’s time—the official intro video for the 2016 uniform combinations, with Mendenhall explaining each.

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We’ll have more reaction in the days to come. What’s yours? Let us know!

Position: WR

Height: 5’8”

Weight: 160

Year: RS Junior

Hometown: Lynchburg, VA

Twitter: @Hoo_ACaesar

At 5’8” and 160 pounds, a WR would need elite speed to play college football at this level. He would also need elite quickness and elusiveness. Unfortunately for Anthony Calloway, he doesn’t seem to possess any of that. If he did, he wouldn’t be a walk-on for the Hoos. If he had even one of those elite skills, he would’ve had offers. As they say, you can’t teach speed.

But don’t take that to mean Calloway isn’t fast. He ran track in high school as well, and his team won the state title in the 4x100 relay sprint. He also ran the 100m as an individual with times in the mid-11 seconds. That’s not Olympic-caliber speed, but it’s still pretty fast.

In high school, Calloway was a RB, though he also played CB and returned kicks. In fact, he was a very good RB, rushing for over 1,000 yards as a senior (and chipping in 500 yards receiving) and leading his team to a second straight state title. Of course, you can’t play RB at 160 pounds, so Calloway moved to WR. This past year, Calloway actually got onto the field on special teams against Duke.

Calloway was so off the radar, I can’t even find a recruiting video for him. Here’s the best I can find. This is Calloway scoring on a 60+ yard TD run.

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This is a pretty simple trap play, with a little misdirection. Calloway takes a step to his right then comes back and takes the handoff behind his QB. This gives the right side of the OL time to get over and set up their trap blocks on the left. He has a big hole which gets him about 10 yards or so. Then he’s bottled up and manages to run over and through a couple of defenders before outrunning the rest of the defense.

Calloway certainly has some skill with the ball in his hands. Is it possible he gets a chance to show that off in a game? Certainly. But it isn’t likely. Maybe next year as a senior, if the Hoos are blowing out William and Mary, he’ll get a shot to return a kick late in the game.

Position: SS
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 200
Year: Redshirt Senior
Hometown: Norfolk

The Hoos have depth problems at a number of positions this year, many of which we’ve discussed at length in these player previews. Safety, however, is one place where we really haven’t mentioned the depth issues. The Hoos have just 5 scholarship safeties on the roster, and only 3 of those have seen the field. One of them moved from RB this offseason.

Of course, one of those safeties is Quin Blanding, perhaps the best player on the team. Almost definitely the best NFL prospect on the team. And another one is Wil Wahee. Wahee played both safety and corner in the previous scheme, and started 6 times last year. He mostly lined up as the nickel DB, which had him at CB more often than not. The previous year, Wahee spent most of his time on special teams and actually led the team with 9 special teams tackles. In total, Wahee has 55 tackles in his career, including 1 TFL. He also has 4 passes defensed, a forced fumble and 2 fumble recoveries (one of which he returned for a TD last year against Syracuse.

This year, the Hoos are likely to spend a fair amount of time in nickel packages. Whether than means bringing another DB onto the field, or simply moving a LB (Malcolm Cook most likely) into the secondary remains to be seen. There has been much talk about Bronco Mendenhall’s 3-4 defense being malleable enough to move to a 3-3-5, 4-2-5 or even a 2-4-5 without needing to substitute.

Though Wahee has spent more time at CB than at S, he is more comfortable at S. He’s not really a man cover guy, though he is certainly capable of handling a TE or RB. Wahee wants to play facing the line of scrimmage. He’s best in zone schemes where he can use his read-and-react skills to break on the pass and make a play on the ball.

Wahee was recruited as an athlete and was rated a 3-star recruit by ESPN and 247sports. He was rated 2-stars by Rivals. Wahee played LB and WR in HS, but was too small for LB in college. Thus the move to safety. He also returned kicks, and though he hasn’t had an opportunity to do that in college, he’s proven to be a valuable cover man on both KR and PR.

Below is his high school highlight reel. This video includes music and the quality is poor. The first 1:40 of the video is offensive highlights. It then transitions to defense.

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The only thing we can learn from the offense portion of the video is that Wahee seems to have good hands. This proved true on his scoop-and-score against Syracuse last year. On defense, Wahee is a physical player, despite his size limitations. Though we do see Wahee intercept a pass and play zone coverage a few times, there aren’t any highlights of him in man coverage. It has been 4 years since Wahee left HS, and he has spent that entire time at DB. So it is possible that his coverage skills have developed since leaving HS. This is one reason why can be hard to project HS prospects over their college careers. Wahee is playing an entirely different position from what he did in HS and has only recently begun to truly develop as a DB.

Though Wahee has put on a significant amount of weight since arriving on grounds, he’s still a bit undersized as an in-the-box safety. This is why he’s likely to be used as an extra DB. He can line up opposite a slot receiver and handle the flat zone. He is capable of supporting the run on the edge, but isn’t big enough to fight off the blocks of bigger OLs or TEs.

Both starting safeties from last year return and are unlikely to be replaced in the starting lineup, unless they are injured. So Wahee isn’t looking to enter the starting lineup. However, he projects to be one of the top candidates for snaps as an extra DB when needed. Because he isn’t the best cover guy, he may not be used on 3rd downs or other passing situations, but he’ll likely be used in other situations, especially against teams that like to run the ball.

Virginia football coach Bronco Mendenhall made roster news on Thursday when he informed the media that offensive lineman transfer Jared Cohen had given up football. Cohen, who announced his decision to transfer from UNC to UVA in the spring, would have had three years of eligibility as a Cavalier.

Cohen is the fifth lineman who’s chosen not to play for the Cavaliers this off-season. Rising seniors Ryan Doull, Sadiq Olanrewaju, and Eric Tetlow “retired” due to injuries. Redshirt freshman Grant Polk left the program as a transfer.

Cohen’s decision leaves Virginia with only 12 offensive linemen on scholarship for the fall and only three true guards: senior Sean Karl, junior Jack McDonald, and sophomore Stephen Moss. Karl and McDonald would appear to have the inside track on the two starting guard spots, though the Virginia coaches could shift over a tackle like Jake Fieler or Ryan Bischoff.

The coaching staff has addressed the program’s lack of line depth in its recruiting for 2017. Virginia has received commitments from 3 offensive linemen and Mendenhall’s staff is actively looking for more.

Position: OG
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 300
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Fredericksburg, VA

After coming to Virginia as a heralded four-star recruit according to ESPN.com, Rivals.com, Scout.com, and 247Sports.com, Steven Moss hasn’t been able to find the field for the Cavaliers. After redshirting in 2014, he didn’t appear in any games during the 2015 season.

Moss is a road paver suited very well for run blocking. Robert Anae isn’t likely to run a "punch you in the mouth" run heavy offense, but Moss did play some offensive tackle in high school meaning he can be versatile if need be.

He’ll be competing with Jack McDonald and Sean Karl, who both have significant more game experience over the last three years than Moss has. Obviously he has the raw talent as evidenced by the lofty recruiting ranking and an offer list that included Florida State, Auburn, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Clemson, and Virginia Tech. Given the thin status of the Virginia offensive line, the Hoos are going to need Moss to realize his potential and step in to a contributor’s role.

It was a hot, busy weekend on Grounds for Virginia athletics. The basketball class of 2020 moved in and the football program hosted both camp and official visitors.

The football players also returned for the start of offseason strength training.

Here were the top stories from the recruiting side of things.

Hits

• Jamari Peacock: The 6’1, 220 pound running back from Yulee, Florida, picked UVA over an impressive list of suitors. There hasn't been an official announcement from Peacock yet, but he is expected to announce later this year.
• Zachariah Burton: The two-way athlete from Delaware committed to UVA just three weeks after receiving an offer. His older brother, Frank, is a defensive end for Ball State.

Misses

• Luiji Vilain: The four-star stud defensive end from Episcopal in Alexandria committed to Michigan on Sunday. Regarded as one of the top two or three prospects in the Commonwealth for 2017, he would have been a perfect fit at DE under Mike London’s 4-3 scheme. At only 240 pounds, he would have most likely needed to move to OLB or bulk up significantly under Mendenhall.
• Cole Bentley: A late offer from Louisville upended Bentley’s recruitment, as he went from Virginia lean to Louisville commit over the weekend. Bentley is a potentially underrated offensive lineman but is one of the top prospects in Kentucky.
• Chris Lykes: On the hardwood side of things, one of the top hoops targets for Tony Bennett’s staff ended his recruitment early and committed to Miami. The 5’7 (yes, that’s correct, five foot seven) point guard from Gonzaga in D.C. is one of the top 50 prospects nationwide and would have brought a unique skill set to the Cavaliers’ roster.

New offers

Emil Ekiyor: A 6’2, 349 pound offensive guard from Indiana, Ekiyor is one of the top offensive lineman in the class of 2018. (Making him a 350-pound high school sophomore. Goodness.) He tweeted news of his offer from UVA this morning.

Michigan also offered over the weekend, and Ekiyor already holds offers from Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Tennessee—basically name a Power Five program and Ekiyor is on their board.

Condolences

PK Kier is a three-star running back from Winchester, Virginia, currently committed to JMU but getting the full-court press from UVA. Kier was scheduled to visit Grounds over the weekend, but on Friday tweeted that his three-year-old cousin, Brayden, passed away from cancer.

Losing a loved one is never easy, but the pain is infinitely greater for a life so young. Our condolences and best wishes to PK and his family.

Position: WR
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 170
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Bealton, VA
Twitter: @DavidEldridge4

As a true freshman in 2015, David Eldridge was known more for his natural instincts, namely his speed and ability to stretch the field than he was for his production. The good news: Eldridge provided glimpses of how those natural gifts could be uesd, hauling in a 43 yard pass against William & Mary and a 45 yard pass against Duke. The bad news: those were Eldridge's only two receptions from the seven games in which he appeared. The opportunity: with the loss of Canaan Severin and TJ Thorpe, Eldridge's 88 yards last season make him the second leading returning wideout on the UVa roster.

In 2016 Eldridge will have the opportunity to be the home-run hitting playmaker that Virginia's offense has lacked for the past few seasons. At his best Eldridge is a deep threat the defense has to account for, which opens up room for UVa's other offensive weapons such as Keeon Johnson, Doni Dowling, and Taquan Mizzell to operate with a little more freedom underneath. Before that can happen, however, Eldridge has to improve his hands and the consistency with which he runs his routes. If that occurs, look for the Hoos to have more explosive plays this season than at any point of the Fairchild era.

Position: WR
Height: 6’3"
Weight: 210
Year: Senior
Hometown: Kannapolis, NC
Twitter: @KJohnsonHTx3

Virginia’s wide receivers last season can be summed up in two words: Canaan Severin. In 2015 Severin had more catches (54 to 41) and yards (759 to 632) than all of UVa’s other wideouts combined, but he now plays on Sundays and someone else will have to step up. Enter Keeon Johnson, a rising senior and Virginia’s top returning receiver.

Last season Johnson appeared in all 12 games, starting five and amassing 13 catches for 173 yards and one touchdown. While he failed to have a true breakout game Johnson was steady, recording at least one catch in eight of UVa's 12 contests. The highlight of Johnson’s season came early when he caught a 42 yard touchdown pass off of a reverse against Notre Dame (this also may have been the only highlight of Steve Fairchild’s playcalling career in Charlottesville).

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While UVa fans will welcome more big plays, what the Cavaliers really need from Johnson is consistent production. As a true freshman in 2013 Johnson had back to back five catch performances against Clemson and North Carolina for a total of 136 yards, so it’s not a matter of ability as much as it is one of opportunity. Ultimately Johnson’s ability to rekindle his freshman magic and become a reliable top target will go a long way towards determining UVa’s offensive success this season.

We've heard a lot this offseason about how much the physical training and conditioning program has changed for Virginia football players under new head coach Bronco Mendenhall. Today we got to see evidence that it's working.

That's wide receiver Keeon Johnson making it from the hashmarks to the middle of the field numbers in three hops. On a regulation NCAA football field, the hashmarks are sixty feet from the sideline; the tops of the field numbers are 27 feet from the sideline, with the numbers themselves being six feet tall. Making it to the middle of the numbers puts that at about 36 feet of total distance in three hops.

The world record for the standing broad jump is 12 feet, 3 inches, set by Byron Jones at the NFL Combine in 2015.

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Maybe Keeon has been missing lots of class and has had plenty of burpee box jumps to get his hops in order. Whatever the explanation, based on the exclamations of disbelief you can hear in that video, we should all be impressed.

Position: PK
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 190
Year: Redshirt Senior
Hometown: Lynchburg, VA (Jefferson Forest)

After previewing Lester Coleman and Andrew King, two members of UVA's #TeamKick who are likely to serve primarily as backups in 2016, our focus turns to one of the legs that ought to be front and center in Bronco Mendenhall's first year.

Dylan Sims spent 2015 as the primary kickoff specialist, reprising the same role he played in all of 2014 and the final two-thirds of 2013. His touchback rate has increased each year he's been with the Hoos, from 37 percent in 2013, to 45 percent in 2014, to an even 50 percent last season. His booming leg earned him special teams player of the week honors after UVA's heartbreaking loss to Notre Dame.

The big change for Sims will be taking on field goal and extra-point duties. Departed starter Ian Frye was incredibly reliable for the Hoos last year, going 11-of-12 on kicks inside 40 yards and converting 34 of his 35 PAT attempts. Sims is not the guaranteed heir to Frye but is the presumed starter there. Sims has the leg to make longer kicks than Frye (who was 6-of-10 from 40-49 yards), but will need to match the short and mid-range consistency. Whether he can do that is one of the season's big question marks, as the first field goal Sims attempts in 2015 will be the first of his collegiate career.

Coming out of high school, Sims was an all-state kicker for Jefferson Forest and was a national finalist at the Nike Kicking Championships.

The first road game of the Bronco Mendenhall era will be a late night affair for those watching back home on the East Coast.

The game between Virginia and Oregon on Sept. 10, a return game from the 2013 blowout in Charlottesville, will be at 10:30 p.m. and broadcast on ESPN.

#UVA’s Sept. 10 road game versus @WinTheDay will kickoff at 10:30 p.m. ET and will air on @ESPN #HoosRising pic.twitter.com/3T9zoVmOBi

— Virginia Football (@UVa_Football) June 1, 2016

UVa appeared on ESPN just once last year, a 56-14 home loss to Boise State. The 2013 game was the only meeting to date between the Cavaliers and Ducks, with Oregon cruising to a 59-10 win.

Position: DE
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 235
Year: Redshirt Freshman
Hometown: Waycross, GA
Twitter: N/A

With the move a 3-4 base defense, DEs are generally going to be bigger than they were in the 4-3 defense favored by Mike London. When Bronco discussed his first unit DL, the 3 players he mentioned are all at least 280 pounds. Steven Wright is listed at just 235 pounds, though he plays bigger. He also has a big frame that can certainly support an addition 20 pounds or more.

It does seem as though Mendenhall is more interested in having dynamic players who can move and cause problems on their own play DL. This is in contract to the 3-4 defense utilized by Al Groh, which preferred bigger, space-eater types for the DL spots. Of course, we know that Groh's defenses were best when the DEs (such as Chris Long) could make plays on their own.

It is difficult to find information online about Steven Wright. He has the same name as the deadpan comedian as well as a pitcher for the Red Sox. Good luck finding a youtube video about the Hoos' Steven Wright. But, here is a link to his junior year highlights on HUDL.

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/75...../123474375

Wright was a 2015 recruit from Mike London and was rated a 3-star prospect by Rivals, ESPN and 247 sports. Scout rated him 2 stars. Rivals ranked him 34^th among strong-side DEs and ESPN ranked him 104^th among DEs. He also played TE in HS, though he was recruited solely as a DE. He had offers from Nebraska, UNC and Tennessee among a few others.

Though Wright isn't the fastest of DEs, he's got a high motor. It is because of that motor that he'll actually fit very well as a 3-4 DE despite his lack of ideal size for the position.

Wright was twice named scout team player of the week last season. Interestingly, one week it was defense scout team and one week it was offensive scout team. That was Georgia Tech week, to Wright was likely used to help mimic GT's offensive line, a quick, high-motor unit. Wright obviously did well in that role, something that bodes well for his future on the DL.

After spring practice, when coach Mendenhall discussed the DL units, Wright was named as a 2^nd string DE. Now, this wasn't an official announcement or even a spring depth chart release, this was just Mendenhall talking with reporters. Still, that is high praise for the redshirt freshman. Even if he doesn't see the field much this season, that will give him a heads up heading into 2017 and beyond when he may be counted on for more snaps.

This is it. We're officially just 99 days away from kicking off the 2016 Virginia Cavaliers football season, which is sort of a gnarly thought given that Virginia men's tennis just won its third national championship this week, and both the men and women are competing for individual titles. Not to mention, the ACC Baseball Tournament hasn't even wrapped up yet.

Over the next 99 days, we'll take a look at the Virginia football roster, player by player, Wide receivers? We got em. Kickers? Yep. Starting quarterback? If you can tell us who that is, we'll do that too. But as we count down the days until it's time to start tailgating again, we'll look at the player whose jersey number corresponds to the number of days remaining.

You might look and say, "but wait, there are some days without players! And some days have two players with that jersey number!" Rest, relax, it will be okay. Some days you might not get a preview from us. Others you might get more than one. Either way, you'll be chock full of knowledge for each player come kickoff time.

Virginia fans are understandably tentatively excited for the start of the Bronco Mendenhall era. To date, it looks like he's done all the right things in terms of buying into the culture on Grounds, reaching out to in-state recruits, and rallying the fan base, but at the end of the day, it's the on-field product that matters.

There are just 99 days left until we get our first look of whether Mendenhall and company have what it takes to rebuild Virginia football.