Season in Review: UVa once again returns plenty at safety

With spring ball getting started next week, our series moves to the safeties as we compare the current situation to the way things were prior to the season and then project out how things look later this year.

You can check out our previous features on UVa’s offense (quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, and the offensive line) and defense (the D-line, the outside linebackers, and inside linebackers) by clicking those links.

In 2019, UVa went to the Orange Bowl in large part because its defense made some big plays. While the defensive backfield was ravaged by injuries, the Cavaliers still had a handful of talented guys at safety who made plenty of plays.

Joey Blount finished second on the team with 95 tackles (6.5 for loss) with 3.5 sacks and a team-high three picks. Listed at safety, Brenton Nelson was a key part of UVa’s defensive backfield especially once he began playing a lot of Nickel corner. Though he only played in eight games, he still made a bigger impact than his 19 tackles, one pick, and two PBUs might imply.

Joining them at safety was De’Vante Cross, who saw snaps there and at cornerback due to injuries. Of his 684 total snaps from scrimmage that year, per PFF College, Cross played 251 in the box, 189 in the slot, 241 at corner, and 241 at free safety. He racked up 60 tackles (fifth on the team) with four for loss in addition to one sack and a pair of picks.

The Cavaliers also got an early glimpse of Antonio Clary, who saw action in five games before a knee injury ended his season.

All of this speaks to why the Hoos carried such high expectations going into the 2020 season: They returned every conceivable contributor at safety with a wealth of experience to boot, just like the sizable experience at other positions on D.

In fact, that was a big reason why most assumed that Virginia’s secondary would be a relative strength in the fall. And that was even before the Cavaliers added JMU transfer D’Angelo Amos in the summer. A multi-year contributor in Harrisonburg who shined on punt return as well, the grad transfer was an All-CAA pick at safety.

All told, UVa expected to have a solid group at the position going into the fall campaign.

In the end, it’s fair to say that the group never really lived up to the potential. Teams went over the top quite often against Virginia and the lack of production became a real liability at times.

Amos played in all 10 games and finished with 47 tackles (third on the team) with three for loss to go with a pair of pick and four PBUs.

Blount’s season was impacted by injuries, as he was able to play in just five games. That’s why he ended up with just 25 tackles (2.5 for loss) to go with his sack and one interception.

Cross, meanwhile, only played 10 snaps at free safety and another 61 in the box, spending the vast majority of his time at CB (544 snaps). A concussion cost Nelson all but four games of the season and Clary, who played in eight games, finished with 24 tackles. Coen King was a bit of a revelation in spots, seeing time in eight games and racked up 30 tackles.

In terms of grades, the safeties struggled. Nelson had the highest, though his time was at the Nickel. Blount finished with a 65.0 overall and Clary with a 61.3, though he had nice grades in run D (77.2) and tackling (81.1) across his 277 snaps. King, meanwhile, put up a 69.5 in run defense.

This one is a challenge. While we said during the ILBs review that it might be the first where saying “down” made the most sense, given the way all of 2020 played out—with heightened expectations given returning experience not paying off—it’s hard to be too optimistic here.

The Cavaliers won’t have Nelson or Amos back but all of the others return including Blount, who is taking the NCAA up on its offer for a “super” senior season.

There’s no doubt that Bronco Mendenhall sees DB play as a major focal point going into the season. He shook up his defensive coaching assignments this offseason, moving Shane Hunter from ILBs to safeties and moving Ricky Brumfield from offense to CBs in addition to his duties as STs coordinator. Those moves allow Nick Howell to oversee the entire secondary as a whole.

Given the amount of experience UVa has coming back and the increased focus, it will be interesting to see if the Hoos can rebound at safety. There’s certainly talent, especially if Cross moves back from CB to his more natural position. In addition to potentially having him, UVa will get Blount, King, Clary, and a host of younger guys like Joseph White and Donovan Johnson back. After opting out in 2020, Tenyeh Dixon is slated to return as well.

For now, we’ll say we’re cautiously optimistic (especially for the long term because of the additions in the 2021 recruiting class) which is why we’ll say that the stock is up for now.

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