Reinforcements Bolster Hoos at Key Position

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Jahmeer Carter went into last season as the anchor of Virginia’s defensive line, and the plan was always for him to play a lot. Rest is important for interior linemen, though, and Carter got precious little in 2024.

Carter, a 6-foot-2, 310-pound tackle from Baltimore, played 767 snaps last year. When opponents had the football, he was usually on the field, whether he was fatigued or not.

“Jahmeer’s a warrior,” associate head coach Kevin Downing said.

Even so, that workload exacted a toll on No. 90 as the season went on. Downing, who coaches the Cavaliers’ defensive tackles, would have liked to have been able to spread some of Carter’s snaps among other players, but he had a paucity of options.

Jason Hammond, who started alongside Carter for the first four games last year, suffered a season-ending injury Sept. 21 against Coastal Carolina. Hammond’s absence left Virginia with essentially a three-man rotation at tackle for the rest of the season.

“We got really, really thin when Jason got hurt,” Downing said.

With Hammond out, Anthony Britton, a redshirt freshman, had to take on a much larger role, and he ended up playing 510 snaps last season. A fourth tackle, Michael Diatta, who’s now at Oklahoma State, played 311 snaps last season. Terrell Jones, one of the team’s most versatile linemen, played 235 of his 289 defensive snaps at end.

“As a coach you want to play as many guys as possible,” defensive coordinator John Rudzinski said. “It minimizes exposure, and it keeps guys fresh.”

At times last year, Downing said, he would take Carter and Britton off the field in passing situations just to give them some rest. “You get faster, but what you lose a little bit is a little power and pushing the pocket back. But we had to do that just so Jahmeer and Anthony could survive and get through the game.”

Defensive tackles often are asked to battle two offensive linemen at once, which means they’re “taking on 600 pounds, snap after snap after snap after snap,” Downing said. “It just begins to wear on you a little bit physically, and then you just don’t have the same juice probably that you need.

“The good thing is, there’s just a lot more depth in there this year, which breeds competition, which makes everybody better.”

At ACC Kickoff last week in Charlotte, N.C., Carter was asked about his position group. “This offseason has been awesome,” he said. “We have so much talent from the guys that we’re returning and the guys we have brought in. Every day we know it’s a competition, so that’s helping us get better.”

Training camp starts Wednesday for the Wahoos, who are in their fourth year under head coach Tony Elliott, and Downing’s group includes Carter, Hammond, Britton, Jones, true freshman Sichan John and transfers Hunter Osborne (Alabama) and Jacob Holmes (Fresno State).

“We have the most depth we’ve ever had at that spot [during Elliott’s tenure], by far,” Rudzinski said, “which is really positive, because somebody’s gonna [twist] an ankle, somebody’s gonna dislocate a finger in the middle of a series. It’s just the nature of playing that spot. That depth is super important.”

Downing said his position room “is very diverse as far as guys’ strengths and what they can do. You got stout guys, you got good movers, you got playmakers, so it’s really exciting.”

It starts with Carter.

“Jahmeer has played a ton of football,” Downing said. “He’s the alpha, he’s the leader in the room. Britton is still a young guy, but he played a lot last year, so you will see a big improvement from him. And I thought Jason was really, really coming on until he got hurt, so it’ll be good to get him back going.”

Holmes logged 430 snaps for Fresno State last year. Osborne didn’t play much at Alabama, “but he’s a big, physical, strong kid that’s really smart,” Downing said.

Jones’ athleticism will serve him well at tackle, Downing believes, “and then you’ve got Sichan.”

John, who starred at Hebron Christian Academy in Georgia, was one of the six freshmen who enrolled at UVA in January, “so we got a chance to get him through some practices in the spring, which was really good,” Downing said. “He’s physically the most gifted first-year defensive lineman we’ve taken since we’ve been here. He has a chance to be a special player.”

The Hoos are deeper at defensive end, too, where assistant coach Chris Slade’s options include returning players Billy Koudelka, Mekhi Buchanan, Jewett Hayes, Chase Morrison and Gabe Sneed and transfers Mitchell Melton (Ohio State), Fisher Camac (UNLV), Cazeem Moore (Elon) and Daniel Rickert (Tennessee Tech).

“This is the biggest we’ve been since I’ve been here, in numbers and size,” said Slade, a former All-America defensive end for the Cavaliers who’s in his fourth year on Elliott’s staff. “We’re three-deep at both end spots.”

Slade said Downing’s tackles work “hand in hand” with his group. “They’re taking a lot of the doubles, which frees up a lot of our guys up to win one-on-one blocks. It’s just a cohesive unit, and we’ve all got to work together. But when those guys are playing well they take up a lot of doubles, which alleviates some of the pressure on the edge guys.”

The tackles’ job “is to push the pocket,” Downing said, “so the quarterback can’t step up.”

In 2024, Virginia recorded only 19 sacks, the second-fewest of any ACC team. To improve in that area, Downing said, the Hoos have “got to be better on first and second down, because when you’re third-and-4, it’s not a big sack down. Quarterbacks are going to get the ball out fast. So I think as we improve up front, coverage and pressure work together. As we get better rushing the quarterback, I think it’ll help us in the back end and vice versa.”

Upgrading both lines was a major priority for the Cavaliers coming out of last season, and they look significantly stronger on each side of the ball.

“I think the talent on the O-line is going to make us better,” Downing said. “They’re extremely gifted. A lot of bodies. We’ll be able to go against each other, and iron sharpens iron. You get better.”

Elliott said: “There’s no penciled-in starters, because we’ve got enough competition at every position along the offensive front and the defensive front, and that’s what we’re after. In particular on the defensive side of the ball, I don’t care who the starter is. I want 12 to 13 starting-caliber guys [up front], because you want to be able to roll those guys in.”

Carter is heading into his sixth year at UVA. In his final college season, he wants to be “as disruptive as possible,” Carter said. He’s also looking to have a bigger impact as a pass-rusher.

“I think I’ve demonstrated well that I can stop the run,” Carter said, “but obviously the game is always changing, which means I have to change, and [with the] air raids and all the passing quarterbacks we play in this league, it’s important to work on that.”

Only two ACC teams allowed more yards per game than UVA (408.3) last season: Stanford (413.5) and Wake Forest (435.0).

Hammond had plenty of company on the sideline, as injuries ravaged every position group on the Cavaliers’ defense. That made for a frustrating season for Rudzinski’s unit, but Carter is confident 2025 will be different for the defense.

Virginia, which finished 5-7 in 2024, opens the season Aug. 30 against Coastal Carolina at Scott Stadium.

“We have a lot of expectations for ourselves,” Carter said. “We’ve done a lot of work in the transfer portal to address the needs that need to be addressed.”

To receive Jeff White’s articles by email, click the appropriate box in this link to subscribe.