COMMITMENT! Virginia secures second JUCO transfer in defensive end Cassius Peat

The Virginia Cavaliers defensive line has gotten little but bad news this offseason. Juwan Moye and Steven Wright were dismissed from the program for disciplinary reasons. James Trucilla and John Kirven both had their careers end due to injuries.

But that gloomy streak ended Wednesday with the news that JUCO defensive end Cassius Peat will be joining the Hoos this fall.

Jamie Oakes of 247 Sports was first with the news:

Defensive line coach Vic So’oto seems excited at his new pupil, too:

Peat has had a strange and twisting path to Charlottesville. Coming out of high school, he was a high 3-star recruit with offers across the Power Five. He enrolled at Michigan State in 2015 and redshirted his freshman year.

Peat then left the Spartans before the start of the 2016 season and enrolled at Pima Community College in Arizona. After playing his 2016 year at Pima, he committed to UCLA but never enrolled. In the summer of 2017, he thought he was headed back to Michigan State, but that reunion fell through.

Peat’s next stop was Scottsdale Community College (the Fighting Artichokes) for the 2017 season. In January, he announced a commitment to Arizona State in a tweet that was deleted fairly soon thereafter.

This naturally leaves open the question of whether Peat’s commitment will lead to an actual enrollment at UVA. For now, though, signs point to the Hoos receiving some much needed immediate depth (and talent) in the defensive trenches.

Peat no doubt fits the mold of a defensive end in a 3-man front, checking in at 6-foot-4 and 280 pounds; that’s almost a carbon copy of Andrew Brown’s frame. He’s strong against the run and disruptive against the pass. Expect him to compete for a starting role, but there’s no question he’ll see the field plenty if he enrolls and stays healthy.

Peat—who is the younger brother of New Orleans Saints offensive tackle Andrus Peat—will have two years of eligibility remaining.