Virginia’s offensive line has gone from a problem area to the kind of unit that can set the tone for an entire season, and the Cavaliers are bringing back the kind of experience that makes that leap look sustainable.
The turnaround started after a rough stretch from 2022 through 2024, when Virginia was giving up the second-most sacks in the ACC in both 2023 and 2024. But once the program started developing players in-house and leaning harder into the portal, the line began to look like a strength instead of a liability.
That change showed up fast. Brady Wilson and Drake Metcalf stabilized the interior, giving Noah Josey the kind of help he needed at left guard. McKale Boley also took a major step forward, turning in the best season of his career and emerging as one of the ACC’s better pass protectors.
The results were hard to miss in 2025. Virginia allowed the third-fewest sacks in the ACC and finished just 123 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns shy of having the conference’s top rushing attack. That kind of production doesn’t happen by accident.
Now the Cavaliers may be even better.
Barring any fall camp changes, Virginia’s projected starting five is Boley at left tackle, Josey at left guard, Metcalf at center, Makilan Thomas at right guard and Monroe Mills at right tackle. The resume across that group is loaded with conference recognition.
Boley earned 2025 Third Team All-ACC honors, was named 2025 Second Team All-ACC by Phil Steele, and enters 2026 as a Phil Steele Preseason Fourth Team All-American and a First Team Preseason All-ACC selection from both Athlon Sports and Phil Steele.
Josey picked up 2025 Third Team All-ACC honors and was also named 2025 Third Team All-ACC by Phil Steele. For 2026, he landed on the Second Team Preseason All-ACC lists from Athlon Sports and Phil Steele.
Metcalf was named 2026 Third Team Preseason All-ACC by Athlon Sports and Fourth Team Preseason All-ACC by Phil Steele.
Mills earned 2024 Honorable Mention All-ACC recognition and was a 2024 Fourth Team All-ACC pick by Phil Steele.
Thomas also brings all-conference experience from his time at Arkansas State, while Mills did the same at Louisville. In all, every projected starter has earned all-conference honors at some point.
They’re all graduate students, too, and the group averages nearly 33 career starts apiece. That’s rare company.
Virginia’s edge doesn’t stop with the starters. The Cavaliers have real depth behind them, which matters plenty in the trenches where injuries and short-term absences are part of the job.
Alex Payne, a sophomore tackle transfer from Southern California, gives Virginia another option. Payne arrived at USC as a consensus four-star recruit. Ben York, a junior who has played in 15 games and often against top-level competition, is another piece on the outside.
Jon Adair, a sophomore, adds more experience after appearing in big games against teams like Duke and Virginia Tech.
Inside, Grant Ellinger played in all 14 games in 2025 and contributes as both a special teamer and a flexible interior lineman. Noah Hartsoe offers a similar profile, and Virginia also brought in Ryan Brubaker, a graduate transfer from South Carolina with SEC experience.
The Cavaliers also have younger players in the mix, including Jim Harris and Dylan Biehl.
The biggest reason for optimism is that Virginia is getting healthier at the right time. Last season’s line was already elite, but it was also dealing with injuries.
The 2025 group rarely had a steady right tackle, cycling through Jack Witmer and reserves. Mills was supposed to start there, and Thomas was the next man up, but both suffered season-ending injuries.
Now both are back. The loss of Wilson, whose eligibility is exhausted, matters, but Metcalf can move to center comfortably, which he has done before. With that kind of flexibility, Virginia has a chance to be better than it was a year ago.
Other ACC teams have quality up front - SMU, Georgia Tech, Florida State and Virginia Tech among them - but none can match Virginia’s mix of experience, production and depth. That’s why Phil Steele ranked the Cavaliers first in the conference, and why Virginia has a real chance to back up that ranking in 2026.
In Other News...
Virginia Just Locked In A New Piece Of Its 2027 Schedule
Virginia has filled another slot on its 2027 football calendar, announcing a home date with Arkansas State that gives the Cavaliers a little more clarity on what that nonconference slate will look like. The matchup will be the first meeting between the programs, and it adds to a schedule that already includes a home game against William & Mary, with one more opponent still to be named.
The Red Wolves game was originally set for Sept. 18, 2027, before both schools agreed to move it up three weeks, turning it into an earlier-season date in Charlottesville. For Virginia, the adjustment matters because every piece of the nonconference puzzle helps shape how the season opens, and this one now sits in place while the final slot remains unresolved. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Just Became One Of Kentuckys Biggest Early Season Tests
Kentuckys non-conference schedule is shaping up as an early stress test, and Kansas is the first game on the list that really feels like a measuring stick. The Wildcats get that one on Tuesday, Nov. 10, which gives the season an immediate high-end challenge before the calendar even settles into conference play. For a program that is always judged against its biggest matchups, this is the kind of opener that can reveal a lot about where the roster stands.
Virginia is part of that same early stretch, and it brings a different kind of pressure. The Cavaliers will host Kentucky in what will be the Wildcats first true road game of the season and a piece of the SEC/ACC Challenge, so the setting alone raises the stakes. Add in Louisville coming to Rupp Arena after Kentucky dropped last seasons meeting at the KFC Yum Center, and the first month has a little bit of everything: a marquee opponent, a rivalry game, and a road test that should tell plenty about how ready this team is. [Read more 🡒]