Wahoos have three that won't shirt but others who still could

When the NCAA changed the redshirting rules prior to the 2018 season, it added a new type of calculus to the idea of playing freshman during their first years in college.

For UVa, where Bronco Mendenhall has made clear that players must earn their fifth years, the rule has allowed the coaching staff to get a better feel for where players are in their development as they gauge how likely it is those young players can help right away.

Mendenhall has not shied away from his continuing goal of helping the program right away so thus far the Cavaliers have been fairly consistent when it comes to playing freshmen.

As the Wahoos enjoy their idle week, we thought it would be a good idea to check in (with the help of snap data provided by PFF College) on where things stand five games in to try and get a sense of how likely players are to retain or burn their redshirts this fall.

DT Jowon Briggs: Five games played, five starts, 102 snaps

RB Mike Hollins: Five games played, zero starts, 14 snaps

LB Nick Jackson: Five games played, zero starts, 16 snaps

Takeaways: If you were going to choose three signees from the 2019 class most likely to have played in each of UVa’s first five games, this seems like the three that would have made the most sense.

Briggs has been a starter since early in fall camp and while the Cavaliers continue to rotate along that defensive front, he’s been an integral piece of the puzzle. Hollins saw all of his from-scrimmage reps so far this season in the William & Mary game but he’s a key contributor on numerous other special teams units, which in this program is a necessity. The same can be said for Jackson, who also saw all of his defensive snaps against W&M though he has not played as many snaps on STs as Hollins. It’s fair to expect that Hollins will continue to get shots to earn carries as he continues to adjust to the college game and though the path to PT isn’t quite the same for Jackson, the coaches have raved about him. Given that they are each in primary backup conversations at their relative positions, is fair to expect Hollins and Jackson to play at various points moving forward.

Three games played : LB Jairus Satiu, WR Dorien Goddard, DB Tenyeh Dixon

Two games played: DB Antonio Clary, OL Ja’Quay Hubbard, WR Dontayvion Wicks

One game played: DB Fentrell Cypress, OL Jonathan Leech, DL Ben Smiley

Takeaways: Thus far Satiu, Dixon, Clary, Hubbard, and Cypress (in the Notre Dame game) have all played solely on special teams. Given that they’ve played in the three games, it’s fair to expect that Satiu and Dixon are very likely to continue to play. The others it seems very much to be determined if they get over the four-game mark.

In the case of Goddard, Wicks, Leech, and Smiley, the situation is a little different.

Goddard played at receiver against W&M and continues to be listed on the two-deep. It’s very likely that he too will play more this season and therefore go into next season as a sophomore. Wicks, meanwhile, played at receiver against W&M as well but has not played since due to a concussion. If healthy, he’s likely to play simply because of how athletic and dynamic he is but with two games now having passed it remains to be seen how that will play.

In the trenches, both Leech and Smile are likely to burn their shirts only if there are injuries in front of them. Leech, despite being light at this stage in his development, filled in at right tackle for nine snaps against Old Dominion and it’s fair to think that the likelihood remains that he’ll play more depending greatly on what happens at tackle. Smiley played 13 snaps from scrimmage against the Tribe in addition to special teams units so it seems that without some problems to solve elsewhere on the D-line the staff is unlikely to get him past the limit.

Lastly, there are two members of UVa’s 2018 class who played enough last fall to be sophomores this year but could be in line for a more unconventional redshirt: WR Ugo Obasi and NT Jordan Redmond.

This path to a redshirt for players after their first year in a program is usually related to injuries that nag them at the start of a season.

To this point, both Obasi and Redmond have played in one game this season but the limited time appears to be largely for differing reasons. Obasi has been dealing with injuries since prior to/during training camp and just made his debut this season in Virginia’s loss at Notre Dame. All of his snaps were on either kick return or punt coverage. Redmond, meanwhile, played all seven of his from-scrimmage snaps in the W&M game after playing in eight games last fall. His lack of reps seems most attributable to Briggs’ emergence.

It is possible that Obasi retains his redshirt should injuries arise but the most likely path forward is probably more that he plays. Redmond’s potential to regain that year may well depend on injuries as well but to those more firmly in the rotation on the D-line.

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