It's not every day that a college football coach can secure a commitment from a five-star player. In some ways, that's what happened on Monday for UVa's Bronco Mendenhall as former blue-chip recruit and current Cavalier All-American Quin Blanding made it known that he'd be returning to school for his senior season.
In an official release, the Virginia Beach native spelled out why he had decided not to enter the NFL Draft early and instead return to Charlottesville for one more year.
“After careful thought and consideration, I have decided to stay at the University of Virginia and complete my fourth year,” Blanding said in the statement. “I am fully committed to Coach Bronco Mendenhall, Coach Nick Howell, and the entire coaching staff and the program they are building. I am committed to my teammates and want to help lead my team to a bowl game while at UVa.
“My focus has been and will continue to be helping the team get better and growing as a player," he added. "I look forward to having the opportunity to play in the NFL in the future but my immediate focus right now is my team and contributing to a winning season in 2017. Go Hoos.”
Blanding is coming off another standout season in terms of production, as he finished behind classmate Micah Kiser as the ACC's No. 2 tackler and was 10th best nationally at 10 per game. It was the third year in a row that Blanding has been the second-best tackler in the league.
Considering that he posted 115 tackles as a first-year, 123 the following season, and then another 120 this fall, it's safe to say that he's in striking distance of Jamie Sharper's school-record 435 between 1993-1996. Already, Blanding is ninth all-time at Virginia, just behind Randy Neal (367) for eighth and 29 away from James Farrior for fifth.
And yet, aside from tackles and first-team All-ACC nods, Blanding's decision (as well as Kiser's) to come back to school gives Mendenhall and the Wahoos eight projected returning starters: Andrew Brown and Eli Hanback at DE, Chris Peace and Jordan Mack at LB, and Bryce Hall and Juan Thornhill at CB. In addition, UVa is expecting to return two key defensive playmakers who weren't able to play in 2016: Cornerback Tim Harris and outside linebacker Malcolm Cook.
When you add in the younger player who made significant contributions, namely first-year LBs Landan Word (who started two games) and Matt Terrell, the situation looks even brighter.
Given the clear development of Brown during his junior season as well as the play of the rookies, the Cavaliers will undoubtedly have a great chance to be markedly better as a group in 2017 than they were this year.
With Blanding back, the big decisions/challenges that face Mendenhall will be who is the heir apparent at nose tackle and how the DB depth will be used to fill the other safety spot. UVa will have both of its main corners back next year and add Harris, meaning Thornhill could slide back to safety if Mendenhall chooses that route. He could also look to others within the program, such as Chris Sharp, first-year DB Chris Moore, or several others who are either redshirting or coming from the 2017 recruiting class.
Either way, Blanding's decision gives the group a playmaker at each of the three levels of the D and it allows Howell and Mendenhall to bring other players along more slowly without having to throw them into the fire.
In short, it's a huge positive for a program that's certainly in desperate need of those types of developments.
