Johnson among several DBs that UVa is counting on this fall
As the Cavaliers transition from spring ball to the offseason, if there is a consistent message for UVa beyond the need to score more points and lean on its offensive weapons, it’s also that the Hoos have to find ways to be better against the pass.
It stands to reason then that Bronco Mendenhall is very serious about how things shake out in the secondary.
What’s interesting about UVa’s defensive backfield coming out of spring practice is how different the group may look come the season opener…but also how much is still the same.
De’Vante Cross has moved back to his more natural home of safety and the Wahoos, in addition to getting a fully healthy Darrius Bratton back, will have two transfer cornerbacks (and Florida natives) in Anthony Johnson and Josh Hayes.
A 6-foot-1, 205 pound junior, Johnson was a big time transfer target prior to the start of the second semester. He appeared in 32 games with five starts as a Cardinal and 42 tackles (four for loss), two picks, and 15 PBUs to his credit. Hayes, meanwhile, will head to Charlottesville this summer after having recently announced his decision to transfer to Virginia following graduation this spring. He played in 52 games at NDSU and helped the Bison win three FCS national championships. Along the way he made 22-straight starts at cornerback and led the FCS in fewest passing yards per game (138.6) in 2019. In three seasons with the Bison, he made 132 career tackles (3.5 for loss) and broke up 21 passes, which includes two career interceptions.
At safety, Joey Blount and Cross return for their “super” senior seasons, giving the Cavaliers even more experience from which to work. The combination of experience and "new" experience underscores the sense of urgency that Mendenhall and Co. want in the secondary.
“It’s as fierce a competition as we can develop to put the best five football players on the field,” he said after the spring game. “If that ends up being five corners, it’s five corners. If it’s one safety and four corners, that’s what it is. In the game of college football now, there’s so much RPO, right? So much covering the slot and so much tackling. The best five cover-and-tackle players will be on the field for us regardless of position. We’re going to drive and leverage that competition all the way up to the very first game and every game after to ensure we have the best five players out there. That’s why you saw us add another graduate transfer as well.”
Johnson, Hayes, and Bratton, as well as “super” senior Nick Grant (who missed part of spring ball due to injury) will all be battling for time at corner. It was clear on Saturday that the Cavaliers have a lot to work with given Johnson’s physicality.
“One of the things that we knew after last year is that we needed improved play at corner in particular,” Mendenhall explained. “In looking at the grad transfer portal—not just the transfer portal but the grad transfer portal—we knew about Anthony because we played against him. And he has film against the same opponents that we play. So we believed, with our other choices, that our safest assessment or truest assessment or more accurate assessment on Anthony because we knew the receivers he was covering. We knew the running backs he was tackling. We knew the quarterbacks he was defending. That carried a lot of weight for us.”
Mendenhall credited UL’s coaches for being open and honest about who Johnson was both on and off the field.
“What we didn’t know…they said that he was an amazing young person, always optimistic, tried really hard, but until you do business with someone in that context it’s hard to know for sure,” he said. “So we had to trust also what we saw on film. And he’s probably at this point exceeded expectations is what I would say in terms of his intent, his practice habits, what kind of teammate he is, and also, he’s urgent. That’s one of the things the graduate transfers are providing and I really like. When they come in, like Tony Poljan a year ago, they know their clock is running and I like the urgency and the mindset that brings. And Anthony fits right into that mindset.”
Given the way the roster sets up and how things look going into the fall, it’s very possible that UVa will be in plenty of five-DB looks. That is as much about the need for better coverage as it the talent on the roster.
“We’re just using the best personnel we have at this point in the spring,” Mendenhall said said. “One of my core beliefs is we just find the best 11 players at any time and that’s who we play with. So nothing is different from what we have done before. Shoot, when we first arrived the same configuration existed. So you saw about every configuration we had today with the resources we have.
“Our secondary right now is deeper, right?,” he added. “And the numbers are allowing us to do that. With offenses in college, including our own, when they’re so spread out, it just makes more sense for both at this point in the spring.”
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