1. UVa seems relatively healthy heading into the opener but has a few players working back from injuries.

Virginia released its first depth chart of the 2024 season just before Tony Elliott’s press conference on Tuesday afternoon. At a quick glance, everything looked normal and for the most part as expected, with the regular starters and backups listed. At a closer look, however, there were a few players absent from the depth chart that required a follow-up from Elliott.

Defensive lineman Ben Smiley was nowhere to be found and Elliott confirmed that the senior is working through an injury. Expected to be part of the two-deep, Elliott indicated that Smiley will be back at some point but is just now returning to practice after missing some of fall camp. Smiley’s absence puts more pressure on the starters up front to play well and more often, while it may open up opportunities for younger players further down the depth chart.

Redshirt freshman running back Noah Vaughn was missing, too. Vaughn played quite a bit in the Spring Game and figured to compete for the backup running back spot, currently held by Jack Griese. Elliott confirmed that both Vaughn and fellow redshirt freshman Donte Hawthorne are working back from injuries and both should miss Saturday’s game. When Vaughn returns, he should be in the mix for playing time.

The good news is that nearly everyone else that was banged up in camp and expected to play a lot is listed on the depth chart. That includes left tackle McKale Boley, receiver Andre Greene and running back Xavier Brown, all of whom missed some of the camp practices with media availability a couple of weeks ago.

2. There will be plenty of rotation in the secondary.

If there’s one position group where the depth chart ordering may not be particularly relevant right now, it’s cornerback. At one corner spot, Jam Jackson and Dre Walker are listed as “OR,” indicating either could start and both will likely play. On the other side Kempton Shine is listed as “OR” with fellow transfer Kendren Smith, who can also factor in at other spots in the secondary. Corey Thomas and Malcolm Greene are listed as “OR” at the spur (nickel) spot, as well.

Elliott said that the plan is to play a lot of guys in the secondary and the fact that these players are all listed as “OR” is probably not a bad thing. It appears that UVa has a two-deep with enough players that are at least challenging for playing time, if not outright having earned it at this point. And as Elliott also said on Tuesday, having players with varying size and skillsets, particularly at the spur position, allows the defense to have more diverse looks and run specific packages to get their best 11 players on the field on a given play.

Saturday’s game should feature quite a few different players in the back end of the defense and it seems like the competitions of camp will bleed into the season.

3. Richmond may be an FCS opponent but shouldn’t be overlooked.

UVa desperately needs to get off to a good start this season, and for that reason it feels like a good year to open with an FCS opponent. Last season the Hoos were thrown into the fire with a de-facto road game against Tennessee followed up with a matchup against a good JMU team, but this year, they need to find a way to get to 1-0 and go from there.

Still, even as a foe coming from the FCS ranks, the Spiders should be taken seriously.

Richmond rallied after a slow start last season to make the FCS playoffs and was picked to finish second in its conference this season. Elliott spoke about what the Spiders can do defensively and they also return several key players on offense, including an all-conference receiver in Nick DeGennaro. Quarterbacks Kyle Wickersham and Camden Coleman are listed as “OR” on Richmond’s depth chart, which could provide another wrinkle in Saturday’s game. Not to mention, Richmond has a history of giving UVa trouble at Scott Stadium, at least for stretches, and won by three scores in Charlottesville in 2016.

1. Who is Billy Koudelka?

One stunner of a name featured on UVa’s depth chart was the walk-on freshman, who is listed as Chico Bennett’s backup at the bandit position. Koudelka’s name was not really mentioned at all during camp and was a little-known addition to the roster. Elliott mentioned that he played well in camp and was actually committed to play lacrosse at Jacksonville University before choosing to walk-on and stay close to home at Virginia. Koudelka’s size stands out too, with the freshman listed at 6-foot-8, 237 pounds. It’s too early to know what to make of his sudden rise during fall camp but the fact that he’s listed on the depth chart shows that he earned his way into the conversation and could end up playing a significant role this year.

2. Which true freshman will have the biggest impact this season?

Along with Kudelka, there were a couple other true freshmen listed as backups on the two-deep. At center, Grant Ellinger is listed as the backup to Brian Stevens, and in the secondary Ethan Minter is on the two-deep at safety behind Jonas Sanker. Kicker Max Prozny is listed as the backup kickoff specialist as well.

So will one of those players end up working their way into a large role in year one, or will another freshman come from outside the current depth chart to surprise?

Elliott also mentioned freshman Kevon Gray as a depth option in the secondary, and there were others, like receiver Kam Courtney, who drew praise during camp. The hope is that neither Ellinger or Minter would have to start games as they’d likely be doing so replacing one of UVa’s top five players (Stevens and Sanker), which would obviously be a bad development. But overall, this may be a quiet year for true freshman playing time, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing and could be an indication of better depth across the roster.

Both Kam Butler and Chico Bennett will record sacks on Saturday.

Virginia’s pass rush will be under the microscope this season, after finishing dead last nationally in sacks. And while Smiley being banged up heading into the opener is disappointing, it’s good news to see Butler and Bennett back on the depth chart together.

Last year neither guy was healthy throughout the season and Butler only played in four games before an injury cut his season short.

With UVa needing more pressure on the quarterbacks, Elliott said the expectation is that Butler and Bennett can get back to the level they were playing at when healthy, especially during the 2022 season. And maybe starting against an FCS offensive line will allow Butler and Bennett to create some momentum for their 2024 season, which needs to be a bounce-back year for the defense to be successful.