I forgot about Cole. Eli is a good option for 27. I also wouldnāt be surprised if he got limited run in the fall with a specific package
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Iād direct snap to him lmao! Big dude going up the middle
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The QB that stood out to two sources was Eli Holstein. It wasnāt that Beau Pribula had a horrible day is just Holstein played very well. Two separate people said they were impressed by his pocket timing, him going through his progression and his poise. He did also run the ball well when he chose to. He had two nice throws to WR DaāShawn Martin - both of them
interesting quotes here!
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The Hoos On Podcast this week said that he may be in charge of this yearās short yardage package.
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Two OLās appear on The Athleticās āfreakā list
No. 44: Makilan Thomas, Virginia, OL
A standout at Arkansas State, Thomas transferred to Virginia before last season but broke his foot two days into camp. The 6-2 1/2, 320-pounder has had an excellent offseason, showcasing some impressive strength and athleticism, especially for his size. He did 480 pounds on a close-grip bench press and back-squatted 600 pounds for three reps with every rep faster than 0.60 m/s.
He vertical jumped 30 1/2 inches and broad jumped 9-2. His 4.38 shuttle time wouldāve been the fastest by any O-lineman at the NFL combine in the past three years. His 7.59 3-cone is also quite good. In addition, he hit 18.43 mph on the GPS.
No. 22: McKale Boley, Virginia, OT
The son of Super Bowl champion linebacker Michael Boley, McKale has had an outstanding career at UVA and looks like heās going to have a promising one in the NFL. At 6-5 1/2, 330 pounds, the younger Boley broad jumped 9 feet, 3 1/2 inches this offseason. Heās also hit 19.12 mph on the GPS and clocked a 4.50 in the 5-10-5 shuttle (that would have topped the best time by any O-lineman at this yearās NFL combine by .04 seconds) and 7.60 in the 3-cone drill.
QB listed as well!
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Eli can spin it. I wouldnāt read too much into one session. I have some issues with Eliās overall delivery and mechanics, but nothing Iād call a red flag. To @uvadoc06 point, I think he could be a really fun wrinkle in the goal line and redzone packages. For as much as I bag on Des, I have to give him credit for developing a decent package last year that featured a lot of evolutions from the Hoocat formation. I expect that to expand this year with more tools.
@zblakey Those numbers are silly for Makilan. The strength number are very impressive. A 600lb squat is in line with where he should be be but the bench and upper body strength jumps out. The footwork is definitely exception as well. Boleyās number jump out because I donāt think of him as being that quick on his feet but those are impressive numbers especially given his size.
Iāve said it elsewhere, but I love this offensive line and as they go this team will go.
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Makilan just has the look of an NFL OLman.
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Canāt recall which preview show it was, but Thomas, Josey and Metcalf were being interviewed in the oline room and Thomasā upper body is massive. His build is perfect for a run mauling guard. Made Josey look like a normal size dude, which of course he is not.
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We really used to have it so bad bro. We thought that game was rock bottom and then 24 hours later we lost #1, #15, & #41. We used to be in straight HELL.
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Our projected starting OL is an embarrassment of riches. We havenāt had that much size and talent across the OL since the Groh days. Just gotta stay healthy but I like some of our depth options a lot too.
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Probably the fastest Iāve ever truly turned off a UVA game in my life. Just remember thinking āyea, Iām not letting this team ruin my day.ā
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Iāve done this for the last couple of years and thought Iād share it here. Tried to find a method of predicting the season based on who has a combination of the best team and best path. I divided the teams into five tiers based on a little bit of what I think, what they did last year, and who they brought in.
Took that information and broke the teams into tiers. This isnāt a prediction as much as itās a how talented each team is and how tough theyāll be to play. Delta is how much I expect the team to improve and average is the expected EOY ranking. Green is significant improvement, light green slight improvement, blue is approximately the same, yellow slightly worse, red much worse. On the far right is the realistic best case scenario (beat everyone they should, win close games, and get a few breaks) and worst case scenario.
I feel pretty confident about the top four barring injuries. I think Miami is going to be really good unless Mensah goes down early and then there will be a clear second tier. If thereās a team that I think could jump into tier two Iād pick Clemson, followed by NC State and then VT. If Iām really wrong on a team it could be Cal. If JKS stays healthy and they can protect him, they could make a big jump or potentially be a spoiler. But I think like VT, itās going to take them a year or two to make a jump.
Using this, I matched up every team based on win probability. I used a standard formula, which gives .95 as the highest win probability, reserved for FBS vs FCS. Each game is given a win probability based on their tiers, with OOC matchups given a Tier based on how I think those teams will be. That gave me a predicted order of finish of:
I also went game by game and picked and came up with this:
I think I got all of the conference games right. I have no idea how theyāre going to work all the tiebreakers so I didnāt try too hard ranking them.
Using this, here are some predictions and hot takes:
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UVA gets 10 wins, but doesnāt make it back to the ACCCG. We lose at SMU and drop one of Cal, FSU, or VT.
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Miami makes and wins its first ACCCG.
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Multiple coaches are fired before week 6. I think FSU is 2-4 in Week 6 and UNC is 1-5, and theyāre both gone.
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The winner of the Week 3 game vs. SMU and Louisville ends up in the ACCCG.
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There is a clear top and very clear bottom of the league. I think BC, UNC, and Stanford are all going to be awful and then there are a glut of teams between 4-8 wins without a ton of separation.
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VT is much better and builds up a ton of excitement, then gets steamrolled at the end of the year, going 5-0 or 4-1 going into the Pitt game, but loses 5 of their last 7.
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Dukeās end of portal madness really hurts them and they go from the ACCCG to not making a bowl.
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The ACC doesnāt get a signature win in the early season and it results in only one team getting into the CFP.
Thanks to anyone who made it to the bottom of the long post. Canāt wait for the season and look forward to being massively wrong.
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What a post! Thank you!!!
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This season has me feeling like I could take 10 state fans on at one time. Iām so ready to be an emotional wreck against state lmao
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Thanks for the compliment. Been a lot of fun to put together as an excel nerd and thought instead of putting it onto my desktop Iād put it out into the world.
Yeah I have very high hopes for us. Love our O-Line and think the defense could be top 15 if we can find the right recipe on the defensive line. Getting Holmes and Moore back is huge. But no matter what I will overreact to week 0.
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Iāll probably need @BDragon to bring me off the roller coaster week 0 lol!
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You mean it wasnāt already ruined?
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Thanks for stopping by. I love the post. I admittedly donāt get all the logic that goes in to it, but I get the outcomes you presented.
Iām not quite as bullish on the team as your 10 wins and just miss out on the ACCCG predictions, but I absolutely think itās possible. My concern is the letdown/random game thatās still possible like the Wake game last season (granted Morris going down played in to that) or the ACCCG debacle. 10 wins everything has to go right, or we have to get something special with an upset against SMU, a win on the road at FSU and what could be one of the wildest environments weāve seen in a while at VT.
All that said, I think Vegas is sleeping on the Hoos with the 7.5 that doesnāt feels good at all. The overall talent and depth of this group is better than what we saw last year, and for as much as people bag on the staff, they absolutely rung every bit of talent out of that team and maximized just about everything. I have faith they will be able to do the same this year, and I have higher expectations given the talent.
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