Cavalier Receivers Have Something to Prove

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

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Adam Mims understands why some outside the Hardie Center might look at the University of Virginia football roster and conclude that the wide receiver group is the team’s biggest question mark.

“I get it,” said Mims, who coaches the Cavaliers’ receivers. “You don't have the names from the past that have been super productive here.”

Of the five wideouts who caught at least 16 passes for UVA last season, only Kameron Courtney (25 receptions) is still in the program. Virginia’s other returning receivers include senior TyLyric Coleman and sophomores Isaiah Robinson, Dillon Newton-Short and Josiah Abdullah. Those four combined to catch 10 passes in 2025.

Among the newcomers are true freshman Dylan Cope and transfers Tyson Davis (Central Michigan), Rico Flores Jr. (UCLA), Jacquon Gibson (UMass) and Da’Shawn Martin (Kent State). Of that group, only Flores has competed at the Power-4 level, but Mims is confident his charges will uphold the standard that’s been set at UVA in recent years.

“Just seeing the day-to-day, seeing how these guys work and seeing what they can do, I think we'll be able to answer a lot of questions,” Mims said.

So do offensive coordinator Des Kitchings and running backs coach Keith Gaither.

“I believe we have the right mentality in the room,” Kitchings said. “The guys are going to put forth the work and build that continuity and trust with the quarterbacks, et cetera, and that room will step up and contribute.”

Gaither said: “I think Coach Mims will get that room to a shape where we can count on a couple more guys.”

Young receivers such as Cope, who enrolled at Virginia in January, and second-years Abdullah, Newton-Short and Robinson have the talent to contribute, Gaither noted, but “they’ve just got to grow up at a faster pace than they anticipated. So we’ve got work to do, and it’s not just on Mims. It’s on all of us offensive coaches. We’ve got to help develop that room.”

The Wahoos are heading into their fifth season under head coach Tony Elliott. He's a former Clemson wideout, and his program at UVA has had a run of excellent receivers.

In 2022, Keytaon Thompson and Dontayvion Wicks caught 53 and 30 passes, respectively. In 2023, Malik Washington had a program-record 110 catches, and Malachi Fields added 58. Fields led the Hoos with 55 receptions in 2024, and Trell Harris (59), Cam Ross (53) and Jahmal Edrine (43) combined to catch 155 passes in 2025.

For the Cavaliers, who finished 11-3 in 2025, training camp starts next week, and competition for playing time among the receiving corps figures to be fierce.

“You don't have that marquee guy just yet,” Mims said. “And so I think for every single one of them, the opportunities are there and they're real. And so now they're fighting and they're competing amongst one another to show and prove that they’re the guy.

“Back in 2023. I don't think any of us knew that Malik Washington was going to be that guy, the All-American player that he was. But it happened, and in ‘24 it happened. In ‘25 it happened. You don't know who that guy is going to be, and so all you want to see right now is just guys competing to be that guy. And the hope and prayer is that you have a multitude of guys like that.”

Spring practice gave Mims an opportunity to start evaluating his latest group.

“We have some new faces, some guys that haven't played as much, some younger guys,” Mims said, “and it's giving everybody that fair shot to prove who they are, who they can be, what they can do, how consistent they can be, if they can go out and make the plays, if we can trust them. It’s allowing them to do that each and every day and prove to us, prove to their teammates, that they're guys that we can rely on. And that's a day-to-day process.”

Virginia opens the season Aug. 29 against NC State at Scott Stadium. “The closer and closer that you get to game day,” Mims said, “you're going to have guys that start to separate themselves simply based off of the productivity, the consistency and the trust that they've earned and that they've shown. And those guys, they reveal themselves.”

Asked which wideouts stood out to him in the spring, Mims cited Courtney, Martin and Flores. They’ve trained well this summer, too, “and so hopefully they continue on that trend,” Mims said, “and we'll continue to have other guys that come out and push them. I think about Dylan Cope. Even though he’s young, he's pushing guys and he's going to continue to, because he cares.”

Flores, who began his college career at Notre Dame, was a two-year starter at UCLA, where he caught 26 passes for 274 yards last season.

Martin, who’s also a dynamic kick-returner, had 33 receptions for 507 yards and four touchdowns at Kent State in 2025.

Gibson led UMass in receptions (63) and receiving yards (616) last season and was named to the All-MAC third team.

Davis caught 25 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns at Central Michigan last year. He missed the 2024 season with an injury, but in 2023 he caught 29 passes for a team-best 444 yards and four touchdowns.

When the Hoos are looking for additions to the roster, Mims said, “the biggest thing is fit. Even in a transfer portal world of speed dating, you’re still trying to find guys that fit your program, that fit your room. That's first and foremost before anything else.”

All four transfers “had something that they brought to the table that was attractive to us and that we needed in our room to help us out,” Mims said, “and the thing about every single one of them that we've brought in here, they’ve all been a great fit for our program and a great fit for the University of Virginia. They've been tremendous, tremendous young men. That in itself goes a long way.”

The Hoos head into camp with a deep, experienced, talented offensive line, and that should benefit the passing game. “But I think the biggest help for that receiver room will the guys opposite them,” Kitchings said.

“Our secondary is pretty freaking talented, and [the receivers] have to practice against them every day. It's the best prep they can have for our season. And so if the right mindset is taken, if they take the right approach each day ... then they’ll reap the benefits.”

Mims expects nothing less from his receivers.

“They care about it,” he said. “They're passionate about it. They go out and they make plays. And I think we've seen over the last few years that we've had some pretty good ball players that have come out of this room. So hopefully that trend continues.”

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