By the time Bronco Mendenhall sat down for his usual post-NSD media availability on Wednesday, it was barely 12:30 p.m. and the Wahoos had already put the finishing touches on what is by far his best class since arriving in Charlottesville.

The Wahoos signed 24 players, including former Varina standout and 2020 commit Lorenz Terry, who is doing a post-grad year at Fork Union.

Now that the dust has settled, let’s get into some hard takeaways on what this class means for the program.

First, let’s try to set the table: The Cavaliers have some idea right now what their roster will look like in 2021 but it’s far from a done deal. The “normal” ebbs and flows of transfer impacts could dramatically shift going into the spring. Everyone should be expecting to see eye-opening attrition not only around the country and throughout the league but possibly even at UVa.

Now, what’s also important to keep in mind is that the final decisions for seniors wishing to return next year to use that “free” year of eligibility won’t come until next week, per Mendenhall. So, even if a player said initially that he wanted to return he could change his mind and head out, or vice versa. We’ll do a deeper roster dive down the road once that’s all hashed out.

All of the above will impact a host of storylines for next year, including the way things take shape and the number of guys at various positions including those who transfer in (which Mendnehall said he specifically keeps space to provide opportunities for down the line).

For now, we know UVa is likely to have several spots to fill on the O-line, the Cavaliers will need to find some new pieces to fit into the equation at OLB, and there will likely need to be some younger players who step up in the secondary. How “young” remains to be seen.

All of that helps to make up just a portion of the backdrop upon which we can view Virginia’s 2021 recruiting class. As of this writing, the Wahoos sit at No. 26 nationally with 24 commits.

In this piece, we’re going to break down a few key elements of this class and how things set up going forward.

In his entire tenure at UVa, Mendenhall had signed exactly four four-star recruits going into this cycle. Now, he’s got three more in Bryce Carter, Noah Josey, and Josh McCarron. But beyond them, the Wahoos did well to keep improving their recruiting, which is something Mendenhall has often spoke about just as he did on Wednesday afternoon.

The focus, he believes, is to have each class be greater than and not equal to. The data shows that Virginia’s recruiting classes continue to get better and better.

Below you’ll see all of Mendenhall’s groups since he arrived on Grounds. The class of 2016, which was mostly Mike London’s of course, is included for context.

The level of quality in your recruiting can difficult to achieve when you also have quantity and so far, UVa has been able to build better classes on top of better classes.

Lastly, it’s worth discussing Carter and McCarron. The former, an in-state defensive lineman who UVa lists at 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, could be someone who plays right away. Carter landed at Life Christian Academy after playing at Thomas Dale, where he was all-state in 2019 with 101 tackles (23 for loss) with nine sacks. He probably needs a little more weight on the frame but given the potential depth issues, don’t be surprised if he’s able to make some early contributions.

The same might be said for McCarron, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound outside linebacker from Washington. Though his team wasn’t able to play this fall due to the pandemic, McCarron is coming off a junior year where he put up 89 tackles (30 for loss) with 21 sacks and three forced fumbles. How much he’s able to play early will largely depend on where he is weight wise and how quickly he picks things up but Mendenhall raved about him the same way he raved about Carter.

In 2016, 10 of UVa’s 25 signees were players who were either from the Commonwealth or played high school ball here. The following year, it was eight. By 2018, that number had dipped to three. The past two classes have included three and one (we’ll count Terry toward 2021) respectively.

So, in a cycle when UVa should have seen a bump in their in-state haul, the Cavaliers did just that. They signed 10 players who have that same connection to Virginia.

While in-state recruiting isn’t the end all be all, it’s certainly good to see the Hoos doing well at home given Mendenhall’s continued comments about how much an emphasis they’re putting on recruiting well closer to home.

Among the Top 30, the Hoos signed the No. 7 player in the state (Carter) as well as No. 10 (Taylor), No. 16 (Jay Woolfolk), No. 24 (Michael Green), No. 25 (James Jackson), and No. 29 (Jonas Sanker).

Virginia needed to do its heaviest lifting in 2021 at defensive back and on the offensive line. And in the end, nine of the signees are slotted for those two areas.

Mendenhall had plenty of great things to say about the O-line additions of Ty Furnish, Josey, Charlie Patterson, and Taylor. The highest-rated prospect of the group, Josey comes in with a lengthy offer list and at 6-foot-5, 280 pounds offers a lot of potential. Taylor, the Canadian native who attended Episcopal in Alexandria, is listed by UVa at 6-foot-7, 295 pounds and just missed being a fourth four-star in this class. Both Furnish (6-foot-4, 250 pounds) and Patterson (6-foot-7, 285 pounds) are Georgia natives that provide even more quality depth. Among this group, Taylor, who will enroll early, seems most likely to help right away. Still, the foursome gives UVa an excellent dose of talent in the trenches.

Meanwhile, at defensive back the Hoos added five players in Javin Burke, Micah Gaffney, Aidan Ryan, Sanker, and William Simpkins. The highest rated among the ground is the 6-foot, 170-pound Gaffney but without knowing the makeup of UVa’s secondary group, it’s hard to know which might be the most likely to help right away. Burke, like Taylor, is among the players who will enroll early.

In addition to the three four-star guys mentioned above, UVa has a number of players who seem like true impact players. For the purposes of this piece we’ll highlight four of them, two on each side of the ball.

On offense, it’s three-star RB Amaad Foston and QB Jacob Rodriguez while on D it’s DL Michael Diatta and ILB West Weeks.

Foston, listed by UVa at 6-foot, 210 pounds, didn’t participate in football this fall but is headed to UVa early. He led the state of Georgia in 2019 with 2,772 yards and 46 TDs while helping John Milledge Academy to a 13-0 season and state title. Mendenhall said this week that Foston is as close to a featured back as UVa has signed thus far in his tenure.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, is listed at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds and will also enroll early. Having played both quarterback and safety, he led his team to the state semis as a sophomore and to the quarters as a junior. Mendenhall was also extremely complimentary about Rodriguez, who he said reminds him of something between Brennan Armstrong and Taysom Hill. With UVa’s QB depth, landing guys like Rodriguez and Woolfolk gives the position stability it hasn’t had in a long, long time.

On the other side of the ball are the 6-foot-5, 265-pound Diatta and the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Weeks.

A native of Antioch (TN), Diatta played both DE and O-line for Cane Ridge and was his region’s defensive lineman of the year this season after putting up four sacks and 10 tackles for loss in six games of a shortened season. He’s someone else to keep an eye on next fall in terms of guys who could come in and carve out some early PT.

Weeks, meanwhile, was the source of at least some worry among fans heading into NSD, first when he picked up a Stanford offer and later when Georgia Tech made a run. But the Watkinsville (GA) standout, who racked up 250 tackles during his career at Oconee County High School, stuck with the Hoos. Despite his future at linebacker, Weeks has played receiver and quarterback for the Warriors during his career, which speaks to his versatility and athleticism. As with McCarron, his ability to put on weight and digest the scheme will be paramount but his football IQ is apparent. He seems like a great fit at ILB for the Cavaliers.

JOIN CAVSCORNER TODAY!

If you are not already a member of CavsCorner, come join us and see what all of the buzz is about.

Click HERE to subscribe and get all of the latest news and join hundreds of other UVa fans in talking about Cavalier football, basketball, and recruiting. You won't be disappointed!