Editor’s Note: With summer beginning to wind down and offseason workouts ending this week, the beginning of fall camp is set for next Friday. In this series, we’ve been going position by position to take a look at the current circumstances of each one, giving it a grade and then giving our reasoning behind it as well as outlining what needs improving before the Wahoos open their at Pittsburgh next month. Check out the other installments in the series focusing on the offense, including pieces on the offense (QBs, RBs, WRs, O-Line, and TEs) and defense (DTs, DEs, OLBs, and CBs).

As we close out this offseason series with a breakdown of the players UVa has at safety, it’s a position where the Wahoos should feel pretty comfortable heading into the start of practice.

After they both missed varying degrees of time due to injury last two seasons, the Cavaliers are set to have Brenton Nelson and Joey Blount back healthy to start the year. Needless to say, when you’re looking to replace a ballhawk like Juan Thornhill, that’s the sort of experience that helps get you picked to win your division.

In Nelson and Blount, Virginia has a pair of experienced DBs to lean on in the back of the secondary. Blount had the third-highest grade on defense a year ago behind Bryce Hall and Thornhill and the second-best coverage grade behind Hall. Nelson, meanwhile, was one of just six defenders to play snaps from scrimmage in all 13 games but was clearly impacted by injuries throughout even though he was in on 689 plays on D, sixth-most on the team.

Because of the mix of depth on the roster a year ago, Bronco Mendenhall and his defensive staff were able to use Thornhill wherever they needed and therefore line Nelson up in the Nickel a great deal, as the majority of his snaps (429) came in that spot. With both Blount and Nelson available as well as De’Vante Cross and Chris Moore and a slew of young guys who could end up at corner or safety, it remains to be seen how things will shake out in terms of slotting and rotation. Given that they essentially competed at free safety, Blount and Nelson each have more experience there with Blount playing far more snaps at strong than Nelson.

Grade: B+

The reality is that losing Thornhill is a big blow and he’s going to be an especially tough guy to replace. Blount and Nelson have a great deal of experience and when they’re on the field together, good things are likely going to happen. It is, however, hard to not have some durability concerns because of how much time they’ve missed during their UVa careers. So much of that is outside of their control, obviously, but it’s a concern nonetheless. And the one thing standing between our grade here and breaking into the A category is that when you replace your defense’s best all-around player, the level of experience behind your most-experienced pieces needs to be sound.

A season ago, UVa had Thornhill and Tim Harris, meaning the Cavaliers could line up with Nelson on the slot and not miss much of a beat. When those guys were out, they leaned on others. Cross, for example, clearly has finally found his home after time at quarterback and wide receiver in the past. Having Moore healthy helps because in 2017 he showed a lot of flashes as a young guy the Cavaliers could count on. Getting Myles Robinson back should help too, though he could certainly play corner if the coaches decide that’s where he can help.

But still, that group played in just six games combined last fall with Cross accounting for five of them and in one of those games he played just two snaps from scrimmage. His play in the game against Liberty, where he was in on 59 snaps and had an 83.7 tackling grade, bodes well.

Ultimately, Blount and Nelson are the story for Virginia at safety right now and until some of the younger guys prove themselves, the health of that duo is going to be especially critical. How they are slotted in the scheme and how Mendenhall and Co. account for the loss of Thornhill’s production will be a major storyline in 2019.

Blount and Nelson are great pieces and, when healthy, UVa should have a solid rotation at safety. There’s going to need to be some re-defining of rolls in that room and that’s to be expected when you lose a guy like Thornhill. The Hoos have a lot of clay to mold at safety even if they end up being less conventional because of the skillsets of those on the roster.

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