One of many portal additions for UVa last week, Fresno State defensive lineman Jacob Holmes picked the Hoos following a visit to Charlottesville. Holmes visited UVa over the weekend of the December 14th, a few days after entering the transfer portal, and picked Virginia over offers from Mississippi State, Houston, Virginia Tech, San Diego State and more. Holmes played three years at Fresno State, and has one year of eligibility remaining. The former Bulldog played his high school football at Chandler High School in Arizona, the same high school that former UVa quarterback Bryce Perkins played his prep football.

Holmes was a productive player at Fresno State, which explains all of his early interest when transferring. The 6-foot-3 300 pounder recorded 24 tackles this season, including 7.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Those numbers are impressive for an interior defensive lineman, and Holmes has a history of being disruptive from the tackle spot. In 2023, Holmes had 17 tackles with 7 TFLs and 5 sacks. Holmes has a nose for the football too, forcing one fumble and recovering another.

Virginia needed help across the roster, but particularly in the trenches. UVa is losing a number of defensive linemen either to transfer or graduation, and Holmes is a player that should be able to come in and make an immediate impact. His havoc play numbers are quite encouraging, especially since he did it over multiple years. And at Fresno State, Holmes saw plenty of quality competition playing in the Mountain West.

For UVa, this was a home run addition. It fits a need, and Holmes is not much of a projection. He has played three years at high-level G5 football, and has been consistently good. Holmes will not be UVa’s only defensive line addition, and they already have a promising group of young tackles. Holmes should fit right in, and hopefully help UVa improve their woeful pass rush in addition to plugging run lanes.

While Holmes has shown himself well at Fresno State, this is an opportunity for him to prove himself against bigger offensive lines. The Mountain West is a good league with lots of good players in it, but the ACC will have more physical line play than what he saw at Fresno, and if he continues to play as he did with the Bulldogs, Holmes could use this opportunity to get some attention from NFL scouts. The opportunity at Virginia makes sense, too. UVa has a desperate need for better play in the trenches, so there’s no reason Holmes shouldn’t be able to come in and play right away. We’re still waiting to hear what Jahmeer Carter will do, and if he’ll exercise a final year of eligibility or move on. If he comes back, that’s even more depth in the middle of the defense. If he doesn’t, Holmes probably becomes the defacto starter in his spot.

Defensive linemen rotate quite a bit, so a player like Holmes isn’t going to play every down, but we feel pretty good about penciling him in as a starter for now. Given his production, and the competition level he’s faced, Holmes is a pretty well-known commodity at this point. And his pass rush ability might allow him to be a three-down player, something that Carter has been striving for, but hasn’t quite reached yet. The addition of Holmes, along with other additions in the front seven, should help UVa’s defensive line be more formidable in 2025.