Virginia Football: Who's on the roster heading into Signing Day?

College football rosters consistently reshape themselves. Seniors graduate each year. New freshmen arrive to take their places. Players transfer to different schools or give up on football altogether. This constant change is one of the things that makes college football such a compelling sport to follow.

Roster turnover is no different at Virginia. 14 seniors exhausted their eligibility in the fall. 23 incoming freshman have either signed with UVA or are set to sign on February 3rd, which is National Signing Day. 4 previous commitments decided to leave the program following Mike London's departure, the most recent being offensive line prospect Stephen Spanellis.

With a new staff in Charlottesville, 2016 could be a year of great roster change for UVA. Coach Bronco Mendenhall and his assistants will start recruiting players to fit their systems. They'll usher other players out of the program who aren't great fits. Still other players will decide on their own to move on.

Each FBS football program has a scholarship allotment of 85 players. By my count, Virginia returns 66 scholarship players and holds 23 commitments for the 2016 season. Here's a breakdown by year and position:

4

CB Tim Harris

CB Divante Walker

CB Wilfred Wahee

SS Kelvin Rainey

2

CB Kirk Garner

S Quin Blanding

3

CB Darious Latimore

CB Myles Robinson

S Juan Thornhill

1

CB Kareem Gibson

10

7

Nick Grant

Darrius Bratton

Deedrick Daniels

Chris Moore

Bryce Hall

Jordan Mack

Aidan Howard

2

DT Andre Miles-Redmond

DT Donta Wilkins

1

DT Andrew Brown

3

DE Chris Peace

DE Darrious Carter

DE Cory Jones

4

DT James Trucilla

DT Eli Hanback

DE Naji Abdullah

DE Steven Wright

10

3

Osiris Crutchfield

Stephen Moye

Christian Brooks

2

OLB Zach Bradshaw

OLB Mark Hall

2

MLB Micah Kiser

OLB Malcolm Cook

2

OLB Eric Gallon

OLB C.J. Stalker

3

MLB Jahvonni Simmons

MLB Dominic Sheppard

OLB Gladimir Paul

9

3

Landan Word

Matt Terrell

Robert Snyder

2

Matt Johns

Connor Brewer

0

0

1

Nick Johns

3

1

Sonny Abramson

4

RB Taquan Mizzell

RB LaChaston Smith

RB Albert Reid

FB Connor Wingo-Reeves

1

RB Daniel Hamm

2

RB Jordan Ellis

RB Olamide Zaccheaus

1

RB Christopher Sharp

8

1

Tre Harbison

3

Kyle Dockins

Jamall Brown

Keeon Johnson

2
Andre Levrone

Doni Dowling

1

David Eldridge

1

Warren Craft

7 

3

Joseph Reid

Cole Blackman

Hasise Dubois

0

1

Brendan Marshall 

2

Evan Butts

Richard Burney

1

Tanner Cowley

4

2

Christian Baumgardner

Andrew Trainer

5

C Jackson Matteo

G Ryan Doull

G Sean Karl

T Eric Smith

T Michael Mooney

4

C Eric Tetlow

T Sadiq Olanrewaju

G Jack McDonald

T Jack English

2

G Steven Moss

OL Jake Fieler

3

OG Ryan Bischoff

OT Grant Polk

C RJ Proctor

14

2

Ben Knutson

Dillon Reinkensmeyer

1

K Dylan Sims

1

1

K Holland Corbett

At the moment, Virginia projects to have 89 scholarship players after National Signing Day, which will leave it with a surplus of four. Coach Mendenhall and staff may also look to add an additional player or two to the incoming freshman class. We've documented UVA's desire to land another quarterback.

Eventually, Virginia will have to get down to 85 players. The Cavaliers usually experience attrition during the off-season as spring and summer grades come in. Additionally, Mendenhall has spoken about the increased level of conditioning he demands. There's a possibility that off-season workouts will weed out its fair share.

Lastly, the coaching staff could choose not to extend the scholarships for fifth-year seniors. These would be players who have redshirted at some point in their careers. The following players are currently eligible for a fifth year in 2016:

Connor Brewer - QB; Matt Johns - QB; Albert Reid - RB; Jamall Brown - WR; Kyle Dockins - WR; Ryan Doull - OL; Sean Karl - OL; Michael Mooney - OL; Jackson Matteo - OL; Dylan Sims - K; Andre Miles-Redmond - DL; Mark Hall - LB; Divante Walker - DB; Wilfred Wahee - DB; Kelvin Rainey - DB.

Virginia's roster certainly isn't bare and there's enough talent and depth in most positions that UVA could improve in 2016. The future, of course, is harder to project. It's clear UVA needs to find some offensive linemen before 2017, or it will have some significant depth issues there. Virginia will also need to improve depth at quarterback, running back, and receiver.

Stay tuned to Streaking The Lawn as we get closer to National Signing Day, and as Virginia's roster takes shape throughout the spring and summer.