The Virginia football team began spring practice March 30, which coach Bronco Mendenhall called his favorite time of the year. He said he was looking forward to forging his team’s identity and building the culture, and he hadn’t realized how much he missed this time of year last season, when spring football was canceled because of the pandemic.
Momentum and good feelings had been building during the practices so far, but Mendenhall did deliver some bad news Monday: Wide receiver Lavel Davis Jr., who turned heads last season as a true freshman, and Georgia Tech transfer linebacker Chico Bennett Jr. will both miss most if not all of the 2021 season after tearing ACLs.
Mendenhall said there’s a chance they could come back in November. But if you know football, you know ACL tears are terrible and often season-ending.
The loss of the 6-foot-7 Davis could be a huge blow to the offense, but I do think that depth at receiver could help the Cavaliers overcome it somewhat.
Davis burst onto the scene in the opener against Duke, snagging four catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns. On the season, he recorded 20 receptions for 515 yards and five touchdowns. The South Carolina native’s 25.8 yards per catch led the ACC by more than 5 yards and was second in the nation behind Western Michigan’s Jaylen Hall (26.9).
Davis hit a lull in the middle of the season, going catchless against Wake Forest and sitting out the Miami and North Carolina games. However, he came on strong in the final two games, combining for six catches and 141 yards versus Boston College and Virginia Tech.
There’s no doubt that the loss of Davis hurts. He is obviously a guy that quarterback Brennan Armstrong can just throw it up to, and there’s a decent chance Davis will come down with the ball. But I think Virginia is strong enough and deep enough at receiver to mostly weather the issues that will come up with Davis being out.
Billy Kemp IV led the team with 67 receptions and is back. Promising young players Dontayvion Wicks and Ugo Obasi both missed last season with injuries but will fortify the position. The former was especially being looked at as a primary threat in 2020 after getting his feet wet with three catches in 2019.
It’s especially important now that transfer Ra’Shaun Henry decided to return to Charlottesville for his extra year. He is expected to be a bigger contributor after catching just seven passes (but four went for TDs) in 2020, because he has a 90-reception season under his belt from his time at St. Francis (Pa.). The Cavaliers also have Demick Starling ready to step up after he recorded four catches as a true freshman, and Swiss Army knife Keytaon Thompson is back as well, and he had seven catches.
Even the enigmatic Tavares Kelly returns after tallying nine catches in five games in 2020. Additionally, Nathaniel Beal III is another tall player at 6-4 that could find a role, and former defensive back Jaylon Baker has switched to wideout.
Finally, and someone you don’t want to forget about, is Oklahoma State tight end transfer Jelani Woods, another 6-7 guy who collected 31 catches over his three seasons with the Cowboys. So there are players that are capable of stepping up and filling the void left by Davis. I am not trying to downplay his loss, and I get what he brings to the team are some tools that can’t be taught, but he did have 20 catches last season, not 70, 60, or even 50. I do think this loss can be mostly overcome.
Bennett, a 6-4, 250-pound junior, was a defensive end at Georgia Tech who was expected to play outside linebacker in UVa’s 3-4 alignment. He played in seven games for the Yellow Jackets last season and had 13 tackles, 1.5 for losses, and he had 15 stops in five 2019 contests. Virginia is trying to figure out who will start at the OLB spot vacated by NFL-bound Charles Snowden. Returning starter Noah Taylor has the other outside spot locked down. Mendenhall indicated that sophomore Hunter Stewart is currently listed No. 1 on the depth chart at the other outside position. My guess is Bennett wasn’t going to start but was going to be a valuable rotational piece for the ‘Hoos.
I hope both players can come back fully healthy and ready for 2022.
The news was not all bad Monday for the football team. There was a commitment as well as three-star defensive back Will Hardy pledged to the Cavaliers in the Class of 2022. Hardy is a 6-2, 185-pound prospect from Greater Atlanta Christian, the school that produced Malcolm Brogdon and Isaiah Wilkins.
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