The Cavaliers have finished their final workout of the offseason, we’ve counted down position by position to give you a clearer sense of the roster, and UVa’s first practice of fall camp is right around the corner.

But before the Wahoos get going tomorrow evening, we thought we’d take a look at three things we’re going to be looking for when they (finally) take the field behind and usher in the start of another football season.

Of the 278 carries that weren’t attributed to QBs in 2018, only 78 of them were by anyone not named Jordan Ellis (and 16 of them were for Olamide Zaccheaus). Needless to say, there’s a lot of heavy lifting that has to be done at running back among a group of guys who have never shouldered anything like the load Ellis did in his last two years in orange and blue. PK Kier comes in as the top returning running back, having carried it 26 times for 80 yards last season. Him being out for chunks of time in the spring allowed Wayne Taulapapa to emerge as the No. 1 going into the summer. While you have to be careful to draw too many firm conclusions from early fall practices, watching the way personnel is used is one of the things that does tend to provide a great deal of value. Lamont Atkins, who gained a team-high average of 8.3 yards per carry on his three rushes last year, figures to be in the mix as well as senior Chris Sharp. But the guy that could be most interesting to track over the three practices open to media members in the first three weeks may well be Mike Hollins. The first-year has impressed in his short time in Charlottesville thus far by all accounts and he’s someone that clearly fits what the staff has looked for at the position. How all that translates to the field and how much trust he can earn quickly could be a big storyline for this team given how rock solid things are at other spots on the offense.

UVa brought in former Penn State lineman Alex Gellerstedt with the hope that he could help out immediately at tackle the way Marcus Applefield did when he transferred in from Rutgers last year. But aosteochondritis dissecans, a condition that develops in joints, caused a piece of his femur to break off and lodge in his knee joint. Surgery to repair it was successful but Gellerstedt is going to miss the entire 2019 campaign. So, while he does have another year to play in 2020, it puts the Hoos in a tougher spot than they expected in the short term. Virginia returns Ryan Nelson, Bobby Haskins, and Chris Glaser, who have all seen reps at tackle, be it in season or in practice, and Ryan Swoboda—who also has some experience there—seems primed to make major contributions at tackle even if he ends up not being one of the outright starters. The Cavaliers also return Dillon Reinkensmeyer, someone who could fit at guard or tackle if the staff decides to go with a different center. Because personnel is a big focus in these early practices, how things look on the edge will be especially telling if for no other reason than it sets the launch point for how the coaches see different guys.

As we mentioned during our Looking Ahead series, the defense doesn’t have nearly as many holes to fill as the offense in terms of finding production and experience to replace guys who have moved on to the next level. But the task of replacing Juan Thornhill is a considerably tall one. Fortunately, UVa has two very good safeties in Brenton Nelson and Joey Blount but neither of them has consistently played strong safety. Whereas with the tackles it’s about who is doing what and with the running backs it’s how much load is this player carrying versus that, with the safeties it’s both at once. Early practices will tell us a lot about what the rotation might look like and what roles guys will be carrying between the two spots.

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