Editor’s note: Theo Moll is a Sports Senior Columnist for the 2026 spring semester. His columns are published biweekly.
Just over a month ago, Virginia football stood victorious in Jacksonville, Fla. A school-record 11th win in tow, that Saturday night marked a program high point. And as the Cavalier Marching Band played off this historic football team, that final rendition of “The Good Old Song” signified a victory for Coach Tony Elliott and company. But it also meant something much less certain. With that song, the Cavaliers declared their participation in college football’s annual game of musical chairs — the transfer portal. With their respective entries, hundreds of college football players had already begun to circle a sea of empty roster spots.
The portal is no stranger to any collegiate athletics fan — and it should be even more familiar to a follower of Virginia football’s 2025 campaign. The Cavaliers welcomed more than 30 transfers last offseason, overhauling a roster that had delivered yet another underwhelming, below-.500 season. The result of that transfer-heavy approach? Look no further than Virginia’s 11-win campaign.
Such success in Charlottesville set high expectations for the 2026 offseason — perhaps it paved the way for the rollercoaster-esque portal experience that would ensue. Through December and early January, graduate defensive end Mitchell Melton and graduate safety Devin Neal declared for the NFL draft. Graduate quarterback Chandler Morris was denied a plea for an additional year of eligibility. Senior receiver Trell Harris and junior cornerback Emmanuel Karnley departed Charlottesville, also via the transfer portal. The Cavaliers had unconcealable holes across the depth chart.
Enter Virginia’s 28 incoming transfers — 13 of which came from other Power Four institutions. Among them are a former SEC starting quarterback, a difference-making linebacker from Baylor and an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention defensive back. Those newcomers — graduate student Beau Pribula, senior Matthew Fobbs-White and senior Brandyn Hillman — will all make a difference this season. Virginia football certainly places confidence in these bigger names. But despite that faith, the program learned a valuable lesson in 2025 — sometimes the portal additions that receive the least attention make the biggest impact.
Graduate running back J’Mari Taylor is a perfect case study. Taylor transferred to Charlottesville after four years at NC Central. There, the rusher shined. Taylor’s 1,800-plus ground yards with the program placed him amongst the top 10 career rushers in school history. Over 1,100 of those yards came in his final season with the Eagles, earning the running back the No. 4 slot on NC Central’s single-season leaderboard for the same statistic.
The only problem? Taylor’s impeccable production came at the FCS level. Recruiting site On3 ranked the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference product at No. 20 on the Cavaliers’ long list of incoming transfers.
Just one year later, Taylor had become the epitome of stability within a reignited Virginia offense — he was the only player to receive First-Team All-ACC honors for his regular-season conference champion Cavaliers. As of 2024, Virginia had been without a 1,000-yard rusher for six consecutive years. 2025 ended that streak as Taylor and his 1,062 ground yards enshrined their place in Virginia history.
But maybe the Cavaliers’ bellcow rusher constitutes an exception, rather than a rule.
Enter junior defensive back Ja’son Prevard — a transfer last season from Morgan State. On3 ranked Prevard just two places below Taylor, at No. 22 on Virginia’s incoming transfer rankings. Despite making the All-MEAC second team in 2024 — coincidentally, Taylor made the All-MEAC first team the same year — Prevard’s FCS production was similarly underplayed.
Twelve games later, the defensive back had cemented himself as a stalwart within an eventually dominant secondary. The Cavaliers’ most exhilarating victory of the season — a double-overtime thriller against then-No. 8 Florida State — likely would not have gone Virginia’s way without Prevard’s two interceptions. Though one game does not define a player’s season, an all-conference nod often does — and Prevard’s All-ACC Honorable Mention underscores his crucial role within the Cavalier secondary.
If the MEAC compatriots are not evidence enough, Virginia can turn to yet another unlikely producer in graduate defensive end Daniel Rickert. Rickert transferred to Charlottesville from Tennessee Tech — another FCS program. Despite an extensive resume that included a 2024 All-Ohio Valley Conference first team selection, a shared conference sack title and two forced fumbles, On3 did not bother formulating a transfer grade for Rickert, one of only two incoming Cavalier transfers for whom that was true.
Continuing the pattern, though, the defensive end made the most of his 2025 campaign. Rickert led Virginia in both sacks and quarterback hits. On one of those sacks, Rickert even poked the ball free — but a Duke offensive lineman recovered the fumble before the strip sack could yield Cavalier results. Still, despite his under-the-radar transfer commitment, Rickert served as a force on the Virginia defensive line.
With Taylor’s declaration for the NFL draft, Prevard’s transfer to Kansas State and Rickert’s presumed eligibility exhaustion, Cavalier fans may be rightfully disappointed to learn that none of these three are likely to don an orange and blue uniform next year — that is, unless Taylor finds himself playing for the Denver Broncos.
Though such departures only exacerbated Virginia’s needs for the upcoming year, the pattern of successes demonstrates the program’s ability to evaluate Group of Five and FCS-level talent. Maybe incoming defensive end Ezekiel Larry — a graduate transfer from Yale — will be the next Daniel Rickert. Or graduate defensive back Jalen McNair, transferring to the Cavaliers after six seasons at Buffalo, can take on the role of Ja’son Prevard.
With the portal chaos largely having wound down, Virginia will soon have the chance to showcase its talent-evaluation abilities. Highly touted transfer additions often make significant contributions. Morris, Karnley and Melton were all impactful — Pribula, Fobbs-White and Hillman will be, too. But for each of those three, there is also a Taylor, a Prevard and a Rickert.
It is unknown exactly which of the Cavaliers’ many additions will turn out to be those hidden gems. But come September, the Cavalier faithful will learn their names.
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