Virginia quarterbacks were sacked 47 times during the 2024-25 season, coming in at the fourth-worst in the country. That’s 3.92 times per game, at the cost of 303 yards of offense, second-worst in both categories. Run blocking was equally lousy, as the Cavaliers have not had a 500-yard rusher since 2019. Simply put, coming into this season, the offensive line has work to do.
However, entering this season, the roster looks nearly unrecognizable, as the Cavaliers have 23 departures — four of them from the offensive line — and 31 additions. As a result, there’s reason to be optimistic for this unit’s immediate future, in no small part thanks to Virginia football’s activity in the transfer portal.
Virginia has managed to find replacements for three departing offensive line starters— two were casualties of the transfer portal, one was lost to medical retirement — and upgrades for the rest of the unit. Seven of the 31 incoming transfers are offensive linemen. A headliner is graduate center Brady Wilson, who recorded an 83.1 grade from Pro Football Focus last year at Alabama-Birmingham — the fourth-best for a center in the entire country.
The structure of the line could likely feature Wilson at center, graduate transfer Kevin Wigenton II and returning graduates Drake Metcalf and Noah Josey taking the bulk of the starts at guard, graduate transfer Wallace Unamba at right tackle and returning senior McKale Boley at left. Don’t be surprised if graduate transfer tackle Tyshawn Wyatt sees significant snaps, and look for graduate transfers David Wohlabaugh and Makilan Thomas to get some work in as well. Returning players like graduate students Ethan Sipe and Jack Witmer, senior Noah Hartsoe and sophomores Ben York and Grant Elinger will provide depth.
Wigenton II, a transfer from Illinois, has had his playing time fluctuate throughout his career due to injuries, but in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, he expressed an optimistic outlook on his body feeling “as good as it’s felt in a really long time.”
The former Illini is not the only lineman who has dealt with injuries. Metcalf has yet to see game action at Virginia since he transferred in from UCF in 2024. There, in 2023, he registered a 81.4 grade, only to suffer a season-ending achilles injury last spring. Both are now healthy, and while Metcalf has spent most of his career at center, the pair, along with Josey, should see most of the guard starts this upcoming season.
Like Wilson and Wigenton, all five of the other line additions are graduate students. Of those five, all have lined up at tackle throughout their long careers. Unfortunately, the crown jewel, graduate left tackle Monroe Mills, the eighth-best player in the portal, suffered a similar fate to Metcalf one year ago and is expected to miss the entire year.
The injury to Mills means the four other transfers will be called on to step up. Wohlabaugh, Thomas, Wyatt and Unamba all can bolster the ends of the line. Wohlabaugh comes to Charlottesville by way of Syracuse, via Kentucky. He started three games for the Orange last season, grading out with a crisp 80.0 grade. Thomas, hailing from Arkansas State, qualified for Second Team All-Sun Belt in 2023 and started nine games in 2024. Both Wohlabaugh and Thomas should see a decent amount of snaps.
Wyatt missed the last four games of 2023 and all of 2024 with a leg injury but started every game in 2021 and 2022 for James Madison. Wyatt’s strength lies in pass protection, and his presence at left tackle — the most important position on the line, protecting the quarterback’s blindside — was key for an ascending passing offense in his years with the team.
The former Duke will likely see significant snaps, but Unamba and the returning Boley seem poised to start. Unamba has had quite the journey to Charlottesville. His collegiate playing career began in Texas JUCO at Kilgore College, where he dominated in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, he had a one game stop at Florida Atlantic before redshirting and transferring to New Mexico in 2024, where he allowed zero sacks over ten games .
Boley likely remains the starting left tackle for Virginia. He gave a slightly disappointing performance last season, registering a 60.4 PFF grade and struggling with injuries early. However, when he was fully healthy in 2023, Boley started all 12 games, ended the season with a team-best 88.2 pass blocking grade and put up excellent performances against multiple ACC foes.
Three freshmen will join the unit as well. While it wouldn’t be surprising if any or all of them redshirted, they should play crucial roles as soon as 2026, especially given the waning eligibility of the current starters. Center Jon Adair, guard Grayson Reid and tackle Jim Harris are ranked on ESPN, respectively, the ninth, 26th and 55th best players at their positions in the 2025 high school recruiting class.
Change was needed, and the donors, athletic department and coaching staff have delivered one of the best transfer classes in the country. There’s certainly plenty of talent coming in, talent whose potential can be realized by Terry Heffernan, who is entering his third year as offensive line coach and run game coordinator.
Heffernan, in a video interview with Virginia Athletics, said, “I want to motivate. I want to drive. I want to push. I want to get everything out of every guy that plays for me.”
If Heffernan can bring the best out of this unit, then massively improved play may be on the horizon for this offensive line, and thus the offense as a whole.
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