UVA Football Depth Chart Released: Michael Rocco to start at quarterback

After an entire summer of mostly media-driven buildup, the great Virginia Football quarterback mystery has been solved. Coach Mike London has released the depth chart and announced this afternoon that last year's starter Michael Rocco has earned himself the position again this year, with Phillip Sims listed as No. 2 and David Watford getting third chair.

"It just became apparent that Michael has the best grasp of the offense right now," London said in his weekly media teleconference.

This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. After all, Phillip Sims, whether he's more athletic (read: SEC-like) or not, wasn't even able to work with the coaches until fall camp.

The resolution to this "quarterback controversy" won't give fans -- or Rocco -- much rest, though. It won't take much more than a hiccup to get Sims involved, and I wouldn't be surprised if we saw some playing time for Sims this Saturday against Richmond, to get him warmed up, if nothing else.

London complimented Sims' big arm and initial grasp of the system. He'll receive on-the-job training throughout the season as the staff watches his progression and his ability to learn the rest of the system.

As to Watford, London said that they would try to redshirt him for the season. Switching him to another position is out of the question, according to Watford earlier this summer.

"I came here to play quarterback so that's what I want to do," Watford had previously said. "Whatever Coach London has in plan for me after camp, I'm OK with it. Whether it's redshirting, whether I'm playing. ... I'm working hard to get on the field, but whatever Coach London has at the end of the day for me, it's up to him."

"It's his call."

In other notable news, Drew Jarrett was announced the field goal kicker, to replace Robert Randolph, who had a 76.7 field goal percentage last year.

Here is the full depth chart, which features a whopping seven true freshmen in LT Michael Mooney, DE Eli Harold, DE Mike Moore, MLB Kwontie Moore, CB C.J. Moore, SS Anthony Cooper and CB Maurice Canady.