Editor’s Note: This is the 12th (and penultimate) 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, 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, our ninth piece here which looked at UVa's other options at receiver, our 10th piece here which focused on the transfers on offense, and the 11th piece here, which focused on how the Hoos use pre-snap motion on offense.

A mainstay on Virginia’s defense last season, Blount played in all 14 games, starting 11. His season got off to a great start with a seven-tackle, two-sack, and an interception performance in the season opener at Pitt. And as a reward, he was chosen to break the rock in the locker room after the victory.

Blount was one of UVa’s most-productive defenders in 2019. He finished second on the team in tackles with 95, and recorded 6.5 tackles for loss. He got after the quarterback as well, with 3.5 sacks and a QB hurry. In pass coverage, Blount excelled too. Then then junior safety finishe with three interceptions and three more pass break-ups, and was named to several All-ACC teams for his efforts.

Film Review:

Blount has flashed ball skills throughout his career at Virginia and was disruptive in the secondary last season.

This first play didn’t go down as an interception, as it was called incomplete on the field and the ruling was upheld (incorrectly) on review. Still, this play against Virginia Tech is a great example of the UVa legacy tracking the ball in the air, making the catch, and displaying some nice footwork along the back of the end zone.

Hendon Hooker sails the throw a bit under duress and Blount beats the receiver and defensive backs to the spot, before making the catch.

The next play, coming in the first half at Notre Dame, demonstrates solid athleticism and coverage skills as well as ball tracking.

Blount turns and makes a nice read in coverage, timing his jump almost perfectly, and deflecting the ball at the highest point of his jump. He wasn’t able to bring it in for an interception but he did a great job identifying a poor decision from the quarterback, and nearly turned it into a turnover with an athletic play.

Here is another deflection nearly turned into an interception. On the first play from scrimmage against Florida, Blount is somewhat hidden in underneath coverage and he does a good job holding his ground and staying in the throw lane. When UF's Kyle Trask releases, Blount times his play on the ball well and earns a deflection. Nick Grant nearly came down with the tip for an interception.

Blount impacts the game at the line of scrimmage as well as in pass coverage. UVa runs a lot of exotic blitz looks, sending cornerbacks and safeties after the quarterback often. He was no exception and in UVa’s season-opener at Pitt, he cashed in with two sacks of Panthers QB Kenny Pickett.

The example below was his first of two sacks and demonstrated an ability to sneak up to the line, take a great route into the backfield, fight off a block, and make an athletic tackle of the quarterback as he looked downfield.

Here’s another example of Blount blowing up a play, this time on a big 4th and 1 stop that turned the ball over on downs and quite frankly changed the game dramatically with the Wahoos trailing late.

ODU is running a quarterback power play with Stone Smartt needing a yard to gain, and Blount recognizes the play quickly and reacts. He gets downfield in a hurry, finding a seam in the blocking and cutting down Smartt before the line.

Finally, here is a quarterback pursuit play from the backside against Miami. Look how Blount gets off the ball at the snap and has to run wide around the would-be blocker, but still has the speed to make up ground and force N’Kosi Perry to stumble into a Zane Zandier tackle for no gain.

A critical and versatile piece of Virginia’s defense last fall, Cross started all 14 games for the Wahoos last year, playing several different positions. He started the season at safety before moving to cornerback when Bryce Hall went down with a season-ending injury in the sixth game of the campaign. He ended up playing 221 snaps at free safety, 241 at corner, 189 at slot corner, and 251 more at box safety last year.

Cross finished the season with 60 total tackles (36 solo) and four tackles for loss. He had one sack, which came in the ACC Championship Game against Clemson, and recorded a pair of interceptions, both against Liberty. He also broke up six passes and had one QB hurry.

Film Review:

Cross’ biggest strength as a defender is probably his ability to come downhill from safety and wreck a play with excellent pursuit.

The first clip we have for Cross is just that, this time against William & Mary. It will be hard to miss him on this play, as he races by everyone else on the field and easily runs down Tribe QB Hollis Mathis for a loss.

This play demonstrates great recognition and speed, finished off by a solid tackle.

Like Blount, Cross is a solid blitzer that can get after the quarterback. Check out this example of a blitz from the Nickel spot against Clemson. Cross sneaks up to the line of scrimmage and puts an athletic inside move on running back Travis Etienne. The result is a whiff by the Tigers' back and a sack of Trevor Lawrence.

Cross’ best weapon in coverage is his ability to break on a receiver and disrupt the pass. This first coverage example is punctuated by a big hit on Pitt tight end Nakia Griffin-Stewart, jarring the ball loose and forcing a Panthers punt.

Once Cross moved from cornerback to safety, he was tested often and with mixed results. He was beaten over the top by some speedy receivers but continued to flash his ability to come downhill and break up passes.

Below is a play against Duke where Cross knows the throw will be coming to the line to gain for a 1st down. He simply slides over and times his hit on the receiver perfectly, knocking the ball free.

Finally, here is an example of great coverage and awareness against Louisville. Cross is step-for-step with his receiver on the edge and breaks well on the comeback route. The result is another pass broken up for the do-everything DB.

Virginia is really fortunate to be in such a strong situation at safety. Blount and Cross performed well in 2019 and both are back and as of this writing remain healthy. So too is senior Brenton Nelson, a safety who sees most of his time at Nickel corner and will be included in our review of the corners next week. The Wahoos also boast a number of younger guys who provide nice depth, including Joseph White and Antonio Clary, among others.

But the player that we didn’t profile above who is most likely to make an impact and shake things up at safety is De’Angelo Amos. A grad transfer from JMU, he joined the program late this summer and quickly earned a jersey number. UVa’s new No. 30 was an FCS All-American with the Dukes, appearing in 44 games and recording 135 tackles, 6.5 for loss, with a pair of sacks, a pair of interceptions, and 11 PBU’s in his Dukes career.

If Amos can earn significant playing time at safety, perhaps Cross moves over to cornerback or rotates around between several different positions.

UVa now has four experienced and capable options at safety, one of which can help out at other positions and another that fills the slot corner role, which makes the position group one of the very best on the roster.

JOIN CAVSCORNER TODAY!

If you are not already a member of CavsCorner, come join us and see what all of the buzz is about.

Click HERE to subscribe and get all of the latest news and join hundreds of other UVa fans in talking about Cavalier football, basketball, and recruiting. You won't be disappointed!