Position Group Preview: Wide Receivers

With the football season opener right around the corner, we’re continuing our Position Group Preview series with the receiver room, one of the deepest position groups on the entire roster.

2024 Performance

In the previous two seasons, UVa’s passing game has been targeted towards one or two top receivers who took the lion’s share of the targets and receptions. In 2024, UVa’s top receiver was senior Malachi Fields, who caught 55 passes for 808 yards and five touchdowns, leading the team in all three categories. Fields capped an impressive UVa career with his best season, and will now finish his career at Notre Dame after transferring there in the offseason.

While Fields was quite good, the problem was that UVa struggled to find other options consistently, at least at receiver. Trell Harris had an impressive start to the season, but only played in four games, featuring in the first three games and returning for the season finale. He recorded 15 catches for 221 yards and two touchdowns in 2024, and flashed big-play potential in September. The injury that kept him out for most of the season was quite damaging to UVa’s offense, as they lost their best big-play threat, and defenses were able to put more focus on stopping Fields. 

Notre Dame transfer Chris Tyree was expected to be a big part of UVa’s passing game, but simply never had the breakout that Cavalier fans hoped for. Tyree finished the season with 24 catches for 136 yards and no touchdowns. JR Wilson recorded eight catches for 121 yards and a garbage-time TD against UNC; He transferred to Florida Atlantic in the offseason. UVa received contributions from a bunch of other receivers, but none had more than 12 catches on the season, and only senior Ethan Davies found the end zone, scoring late in the loss to Clemson.

The Projected Starters: Trell Harris, Jahmal Edrine, Kam Courtney

This year, it seems fair to say that Virginia’s passing game will need to spread the ball around more. While we’re listing three potential starters here, plenty of receivers will play. 

Harris is back, and if he can stay healthy, perhaps he can pick up where he left off last year and become a tough-to-cover big-play threat in UVa’s offense. Virginia also went out and added a few transfers, highlighted by former Purdue wideout Jahmal Edrine. Edrine finished second in receiving yards for the Boilermakers last year, catching 23 passes for 365 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Edrine missed the 2023 season with injury, and before that had a breakout campaign in 2022 at FAU, catching 39 passes for 570 yards and six touchdowns. Edrine is a physical receiver who can hopefully replace a lot of what the Hoos are losing with Fields’ departure, and UVa’s offense is hoping he can rediscover his 2022 form in 2025. 

We’re penciling in Kameron Courtney in the slot position, though he can play both inside and outside. Courtney was forced into action as a true freshman when other receivers were banged up, and UVa’s offense made a concerted effort to get him the ball. As a freshman, Courtney caught 12 passes for 114 yards, appearing in nine games. Courtney had an impressive spring game performance, catching a touchdown pass. While he’ll be far from the only receiver to play in the slot will rotate in and out quite a bit, Courtney should have a meaningful role on the 2025 UVa offense.

The Depth Options: Cam Ross, Jayden Thomas, Andre Greene, Suderian Harrison, Josiah Abdullah, Dillon Newton-Short, TyLyric Coleman, Triston Ward, Eli Wood, Isaiah Robinson, Trevor Ladd

While many of the players listed above are technically depth options, some will be defacto starters, or will play a significant number of snaps throughout the season. 

Let’s start with the other two transfer additions. Virginia added speedy slot receiver Cam Ross from JMU in the portal, and will be hoping to utilize his big-play ability. Ross, who started his career at UConn, caught 37 passes for 443 yards and three scores with the Dukes last year, and could certainly end up in the starting lineup. Ross should also be a contributor on special teams, where he’s been a dangerous returner throughout his career. UVa also added Notre Dame transfer Jayden Thomas, just a few days after he participated in the National Championship game with the Irish. Thomas is another physical target and a very solid blocker; with Notre Dame in 2024, Thomas recorded 18 catches for 167 yards and a pair of touchdowns. 

Virginia has an interesting group of returnees and young newcomers as well. Suderian Harrison is back for year #3 with the Hoos, and it feels like there is some untapped potential there. Harrison caught 11 passes for 99 yards in eight games last season. Andre Greene Jr returns for his second year with Virginia after moving over from North Carolina. The Richmond native finished 13th on the team in receiving last year, with nine catches and 74 yards, playing in 11 contests. UVa also returns depth options Eli Wood and TyLyric Coleman, both of whom saw playing time in reserve roles last year.

UVa added a talented group of freshmen receivers in the 2025 class as well. Josiah Abdullah and Dillon Newton-Short both enrolled in the spring and had impressive moments in the spring game. Abdullah in particular could end up having a pretty big role on this team, and looks ready despite his lack of collegiate experience. UVa also added talented in-state receiver Isaiah Robinson who should compete for a backup role, but has intriguing long-term potential.

The Breakout Candidate: Kam Courtney

We’re going with Courtney, who showed some ability on the field last fall, and a year later, should be ready for a larger role. Obviously there are only so many snaps and targets to go around, but Courtney looked good in UVa’s spring game, and his versatility as a player that can line up both inside and outside, could put him in a position for a larger role than UVa’s other slot options.

The Big Question: Can this group create the big plays UVa needs?

Virginia finished 88th nationally in 20+ yard pass plays last year. While Fields was a fantastic possession receiver, taking the top off the defense wasn’t his strength. Harris could do it, but once he got hurt, UVa’s big plays dried up and they were forced to nickel and dime their way down the field, which produced very mixed results. When the big plays were a more-common feature in the offense, UVa scored more. The Hoos struggled to finish drives on 3rd down and in the red zone, so those big plays helped keep the offense on track, and when they were gone, UVa struggled.

Hopefully Harris can stay healthy, but UVa also needs other receivers to make dynamic plays, either getting behind coverage or making plays after the catch. Senior quarterback Chandler Morris has showed an ability to make big-time throws and create chunk plays during his career. His North Texas offense finished 6th nationally in 20+ yard passing plays last year. So can this group of receivers find space to make these big plays and prevent UVa from having to execute perfectly in other areas?