Editor’s Note: This is the eighth installment 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, and our seventh piece here which takes a look at UVa's options at running back.

Canadian wide receiver Terrell Jana was one of UVa’s breakout performers in 2019, going from a seldom-used rotation player the year before to a key contributor in his junior season.

After catching just 13 passes in his first two seasons in Charlottesville, he blossomed into a top target for Bryce Perkins and served as a great compliment to senior wide receivers Joe Reed and Hasise Dubois.

Last fall Jana caught 74 passes, one fewer than Dubois and three less than Reed, the team’s receptions leader. He turned those 74 grabs into 886 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 12 yards per catch and 76 yards receiving per game.

Jana graded out well for the 2019 campaign, with the second-highest season average on the offense (behind Dubois) per Pro Football Focus. His top performances came in the back half of the season, starting with the win at North Carolina. Against the Tar Heels, Jana posted a team-high grade of 80.3, which makes sense considering he hauled in 13 receptions for 146 yards, both career highs.

For the remainder of the season, he remained trouble for defenders, going over 100 yards receiving two more times and scoring three touchdowns. As a result, UVa’s offense took off after sputtering in the middle third of the schedule. Jana also posted decent run block numbers (when considering his size) and had just one penalty on the year.

Jana did a lot of his damage around the line of scrimmage in 2019, when he became one of Perkins’ top targets. He is a dependable route runner with solid hands and a knack for finding space where there shouldn’t be much to work with.

On this first clip, coming during UVa’s win at Carolina, Jana runs one of his staple routes, the comeback.

Working one-on-one against the defensive back, he makes a strong cut out and then tracks the football, making a great diving catch on an underthrown ball. Jana has outside leverage on the route (meaning the defender is on his inside shoulder) and makes a quick and easy break to the sideline.

Here’s a similar play, this time against Notre Dame. On a 3rd and 9, Jana takes his defender head on and makes a precise cut back to the line of scrimmage at the sticks, making the catch coming back towards the football. Unfortunately he was marked just a half-yard short of the line to gain but otherwise executed the route and the catch perfectly.

One trait that all good receivers must have is the ability to improvise and keep themselves “alive” for their quarterback. Perkins made a lot of throws on the move by extending plays, so UVa’s receivers were always working to find space and create an easy throw for their scrambling QB. Jana excels in that area, as he shows in the play below.

After running a great route at the snap and working open against single coverage, Jana breaks his route off and works back towards Perkins and makes a big catch. It may seem simple, but subtle movements off of a route concept can be the difference between the quarterback finding a receiver for a catch and not.

Jana is also great at finding small pockets in zone coverage. Knowing where to go against coverage is a huge asset in UVa’s quick-throw offense, and a big reason why the junior wideout was so productive a year ago.

On this play against the Heels, Jana runs a simple curl route and finds a hole right between the UNC defenders and turns for Perkins to make the throw. The result is an easy pass and catch for a 14-yard gain.

This next play is a good example of excellent footwork coupled with good route-running and instincts. Jana is running a quick five-yard stop route and sees a defender crossing in front of him. He executes a quick little spin and cut, drifting a yard or two back towards the hash which gives him the space he needs to make the catch, though this seems more like an improvisation than an actual route concept.

Footwork is so important on these shorter routes and Jana is excellent at timing his cuts and not running lazy, rounded-off routes. On this play against Georgia Tech, he is running a quick in-and-out route, almost like a v-cut in basketball. Watch how his footwork at the snap puts the defender on his back foot, and then makes him look silly with a strong inward cut, stop, and turn outside. The result is an open receiver for Perkins and a nice gain. A slightly more nonchalant route likely doesn’t earn Jana much separation and would’ve resulted in a much more risky throw for Perkins, should he have chosen to make it.

While Jana was a force to be reckoned with around the line of scrimmage, he made plenty of tough catches down the field as well.

This first example is one that shows him combining several of his strengths outlined above and making a difficult catch to cap off the play. On this play against Pitt, Jana finds a hole in the zone, keeps working for a scrambling Perkins, and then does a great job going up and getting the ball at its highest point and hanging on despite a big hit from a Panthers defender.

On the replay angle below, you can see Jana, working right to left, find the soft spot in the zone behind one level of defenders and in front of the other before making the catch.

There isn’t a lot of analysis on this next play: It’s just a great catch. Jana gets matched up on a linebacker on 3rd and long, which Perkins sees at the snap. He simply runs a nice seam route and makes a tough, contested catch on a nice throw for a big gain.

This next play, against Florida in the Orange Bowl, is similar but also involves Jana having to turn his body to make the grab on a much deeper throw. Despite blanket coverage from the Gators, Jana makes another impressive catch and comes down clean despite a near break-up from the defender.

Late in the loss to Louisville, Jana made several spectacular grabs including this next one. On a desperation throw towards the sideline, he has to turn at the last minute, find the football, make the catch cleanly, and find a way to get a foot in bounds. Oh, and do it all during a torrential downpour. He manages all of that and sets UVa up in the red zone for a late score. This play demonstrates Jana’s ability to adjust to the ball in the air and make a strong catch despite a few adverse circumstances.

Our last example is Jana’s touchdown catch in the Orange Bowl. This play shows him fight through some physical defense early in the route, including what looks like a hold from the defender, as he gets up the field to make the catch. Jana does a really nice job tracking the football here, an underrated part of making plays deep down the field. He times his catch perfectly and levels the game for the Wahoos.

Also, notice his subtle hand movements later in the route. There isn’t enough to call him for pass interference but he definitely gets the better of the hand fighting between him and the defender. These subtle hand movements are used a lot by receivers and are often not called by referees unless the defender is clearly impaired by a big shove. Jana had several plays this year where he was able to create space with subtle hand movements on comeback routes, a valuable skill that can be a big help to a receiver if used right.

Jana was originally going to be one section of a Film Room piece on Virginia’s returning receivers, but he had enough positive plays and impact to have his own separate. The Vancouver native had more positive plays highlighted in our season review than any other player on the roster. And he is the most important returning player on Virginia’s offense and arguably the team as well, and should once again be a big part of what the Wahoos do when they have the ball.

While players often change what they do when they see more playing time, Jana should probably see a similar type of role with new players taking the Dubois and Reed usage. Jana is simply very good at the role UVa has for him in this scheme and his increased usage in the back half of the season should be a good sign for what is to come in his senior year.

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