Virginia’s 2025 outlook comes with enough talent and continuity to make a few bold calls feel more like educated guesses than wild swings.
Start with Beau Pribula. ESPN’s Football Power Index has Virginia at No. 32, which looks modest for a team that won 11 games and beat an SEC team in a prominent bowl game.
But if the Cavaliers really do have one of the easiest schedules in the ACC by opponent 2025 record, plus the most experienced roster in the country, Pribula has a clear path to a huge season. He’s a dual-threat quarterback, he’ll have an elite offensive line in front of him, and Virginia’s run-heavy approach should keep defenses from living in two-high looks.
That combination could push him into the top five quarterbacks in the ACC, right there with Darian Mensah, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, Kevin Jennings, CJ Bailey, Mason Heintschel and Steve Angeli.
The ground game should be dangerous too. Virginia’s offensive line is built to make life miserable for opposing fronts, and the backfield has the kind of talent that can turn that advantage into real damage.
Peyton Lewis stands out as the one with the physical tools to become a superstar quickly. Behind him, the line still looks strong even after the loss of Brady Wilson, with a healthy Monroe Mills and Makilan Thomas joining the mix.
J’Mari Taylor already showed what this group can do, earning First Team All-ACC honors last season behind the same blocking unit.
On the other side of the ball, Virginia finished 2025 with the ACC’s second-best scoring defense, and there’s reason to think that level of production can hold with all the continuity and skilled transfers in place.
The biggest swing factor is offense, and it may come down to one specific package: 12 personnel. When Virginia had a quality two-tight end set, it averaged north of 40 points.
Once Dakota Twitty went down with a season-ending injury at Louisville, the offense lost its rhythm and never stayed fully consistent. Replacing Sage Ennis won’t be easy, and there’s no guarantee the Cavaliers can find the right version of that look again.
But if they do, it could be the key that unlocks the whole offense.
In Other News...
Virginia Suddenly Faces A Huge Problem Up Front This Fall
Virginias defensive front is heading into the fall with a very different look, and the challenge is clear after several key graduate players moved on from last years group. The Cavaliers still want the same things from that unit in 2026: pressure on the quarterback, sturdiness against the run and enough depth to hold up through an ACC schedule. Fisher Camac gives them a returning starter to build around, while transfers like Ezekiel Larry and Nnanna Anyanwu are expected to be part of the answer on the edge.
The bigger issue is how quickly all of those pieces can come together once camp opens. Virginia will need returning players and newcomers to mesh fast on the interior and on the outside, because the margin for error up front is thin when so much production has to be replaced at once. The coaching staff has options to sort through, but the real test is whether the Cavaliers can turn that mix into a front that still looks like a strength rather than a work in progress. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia's New Rotation Reveals One Ryan Odom Question Fans Will Feel
Ryan Odoms first Virginia rotation is starting to take shape, and the early read says the Cavaliers are trying to replace a lot of lost production without leaning too hard on any one newcomer. The staff has spent the offseason sorting out who can handle real minutes, who can help stabilize the offense and which returning pieces can grow into larger jobs as the 2026 season approaches. In that mix, Chance Mallory and Thijs De Ridder stand out as the most important names to watch because their roles feel central to how far this team can go.
The bigger question is how Odom balances certainty with experimentation once the season actually starts. Virginia has enough candidates to fill out a rotation, from bench wings to a few developmental options, but the lineup still feels like a work in progress rather than a finished product. Odom has talked through player roles and growth as projections, not guarantees, and that leaves one familiar coaching challenge hanging over the roster: how much of the plan is already set, and how much still depends on someone emerging in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]