Film Room: Solid group of UVa transfers look for big production

Editor’s Note: We're now up to 10 installments in our summer series breaking down UVa’s schemes, concepts, and personnel as the Hoos head toward the fall and presumably the 2020 football season. You can check out our first piece here, which focuses on the tight end position, our second right here, which focuses on the QB battle to come, our third piece here that breaks down the way UVa uses quarterback runs, our fourth piece here which looks at UVa's outstanding OLBs, our fifth piece here which looks at the impressive depth on the D-line, our sixth piece here which focuses on the rotation at inside linebacker, our seventh piece here which takes a look at UVa's options at running back, our eighth piece here which focused on the leap that Terrell Jana took as a junior, and ninth piece here which looked at UVa's other options at receiver.

Career at Indiana:

A native of Hopewell, Walker was recruited heavily by a number of schools, including UVa, as a member of the class of 2018. Ultimately he chose to head to Bloomington, where he played for two seasons before returning to the Commonwealth this year. Walker played in 22 games with the Hoosiers, serving as a backup to standout rusher Stevie Scott, who Wahoo fans likely remember from his 31-carry, 204-yard rushing performance against Virginia in 2018. Walker carried the ball 32 times for 141 yards and a pair of scores as a freshman in 2018 and then saw just 27 carries for 80 yards last year. His best game on the ground came two years ago against Penn State, when he rushed four times for 38 yards and a score.

Walker is also a threat out of the backfield in the passing game. As a sophomore, he caught 12 passes for 112 yards and one TD, averaging 9.3 yards per catch. He is more in the mold of a Lamont Atkins or a Taquan Mizzell “do everything” back than a more traditional “between the tackles” runner like Wayne Taulapapa and Mike Hollins. With Atkins, P.K. Kier, and Chris Sharp (more commonly-used passing threats than Taulapapa or Hollins) leaving the program in the offseason, it makes perfect sense for Virginia to add a back with Walker’s skillset to that position group.

Film Review:

UVa didn’t get a lot of big plays from its running back group in 2019 but Walker brings home-run potential to the group. Although he wasn’t used a ton at Indiana, he did flash big-play potential during his two years there. On this first play, in a home loss to PSU, Walker shows why he was so coveted coming out of high school. He takes the handoff and makes a quick cut or two to find his way through the hole where he is off to the races. Simply put, Virginia didn’t have many plays like this that didn’t come from Bryce Perkins over the past two seasons.

Our other clip of Walker shows him used out of the backfield in the passing game. At the snap, he flares out of into open space before making an easy, uncontested catch. Walker quickly changes gears though, going from pass catcher to ball carrier, and races by the Eastern Illinois defenders, down the sideline for a long touchdown play.

Career at Towson:

Virginia ultimately added two running backs with passing game experience to the roster this summer, with the former Towson star joining the program early last week. Simpson is an experienced back who spent five seasons at Towson before receiving a waiver for his sixth year. He unfortunately comes to UVa off of a knee injury that kept him out almost all of last season following a big 2018 campaign. As a junior, Simpson was a first-team FCS All-American, averaging 171.5 all-purpose yards per game. The Easton (PA) native rushed 151 times for 711 yards and six scores in 2018 while also catching 39 passes for 356 yards and five scores. He returned 37 kicks for 887 yards and a TD as well.

Simpson is a pass-catching back like Walker but the special teams dimension should give him an even more unique role on the team. With Joe Reed off to the NFL, Simpson could become the primary kick returner when the Wahoos return to the field.

Film Review:

Like Walker, Simpson is a player that can help the Wahoos on the ground and as a receiving threat. At Towson, he had plenty of targets out of the backfield and showcased some solid pass-catching abilities during his time there.

Our first clip shows Simpson used as a check-down for QB Tom Flacco and then he gets to show his balance and shiftiness in space against the Delaware defense. The spin move to avoid the first defender was impressive but his ability to stop and then start again, making another defender miss, was the highlight of this play.

Our next highlight shows Simpson running a seam route out of the backfield, easily getting by the linebacker assigned to him on the play. Flacco throws one up for grabs, and Simpson shows his ability to make the difficult catch for a touchdown.

Finally, as we mentioned above Simpson will likely come in and start returning kicks for UVa right away. He was dynamic at Towson in this role and has some obvious natural return ability in addition to his speed.

On this opening kickoff against Stony Brook, Simpson finds a seam in the kick coverage and is off without being touched by a single defender.

Career at Central Michigan:

Perhaps the most likely transfer to have a big impact on the offense this year, Poljan projects as a Day 1 starter at tight end. He joined the program in July after a successful 2019 campaign at CMU, where he began his career as a QB. Poljan was named second-team All\-MAC last year, catching 33 passes for 496 yards with four touchdown grabs. He wrapped his Chippewa career with 45 receptions, 718 yards and six scores. In addition to being a talented receiver, Poljan is a big body at 6-foot-7, 260 pounds and graded out well as a run blocker as a junior.

Film Review:

Unfortunately, Central Michigan doesn’t have a lot of games and highlights on YouTube for review. We have one clip, though, that shows Poljan’s size and speed in combination.

On this play, Poljan is lined up on the left side of the line and runs a basic out route into the end zone. Notice his impressive get-off speed at the snap, certainly above average for a player of his size and an in-line tight end.

If you’d like to see more quick clips of Poljan, check out the package CMU put together for him and released in June.

Career at St. Francis:

The Wahoos lost their top two receivers from last season and went to the transfer market to try and replace some of that productivity. Earlier in the summer, they received a commitment from Henry, who had a big 2019 season at the FCS level. The Texas native’s career took off last fall, when he caught 90 passes for 1,118 yards and nine receiving touchdowns. He finished fourth in the FCS in receptions for the year and was named All-NEC as a result.

Henry had just 19 career receptions prior to last season and really made a name for himself and generated plenty of FBS interest when he hit the transfer portal.

Film Review:

Having run a diverse set of routes for St. Francis, Henry was used in a number of ways. On this first play, he is given a delayed tunnel screen target with blocking set up for him. He does a great job sliding under his blocker to make the catch and make the first defender miss before getting up field.

Henry can make plays down the field, as well. On this play against Delaware State, he beats his defender easily crossing the face of the quarterback, tracks the ball well, and hauls in the throw for a touchdown.

Finally, Henry could become the next Cavalier receiver to catch everything. Check out this incredible touchdown catch against LIU, with Henry scaling the defender, making the catch over him, and getting a foot down in bounds to secure the score.

There’s still so much we don’t know about the upcoming football season, of course, including when or if it’ll be played. But UVa has a host of important transfer additions and the four players profiled above are all talented enough to have an impact for the Cavaliers on offense.

All four have played significant snaps and were reasonably to exceptionally productive at their previous stops.

Henry and Simspon are experienced players that will need to adjust to the higher level of competition, of course. Simpson also has to overcome the injury he suffered last year, and stay healthy.

Walker played at a high level but will need to adjust to his new home and schemes, as well as fight for playing time and find his niche.

Lastly, Poljan is an impressive athlete who has only played tight end for a couple of years, and like Henry and Simpson, must adjust to ACC-level competition.

It’s clear that all four are in a position to contribute, if not start, in 2020 or whenever the Wahoos play again.

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