Despite losing several starters from last season’s offensive line and suffering a couple of unfortunate offseason injuries to key pieces, the Virginia Cavaliers head into 2025 with an experienced, veteran-laden group in the trenches that should be able to provide plenty of protection for quarterback Chandler Morris.
With just over two weeks until kickoff, let’s break down Virginia’s offensive line:
Significant departures: Ty Furnish (Georgia Southern), Brian Stevens, Blake Steen (Mississippi State),
Charlie Patterson (Georgia State), Ugonna Nnanna (North Texas)
Key additions: Makilan Thomas (Arkansas State), Kevin Wigenton II (Illinois), Brady Wilson (UAB), David Wohlabaugh Jr. (Syracuse), Wallace Unamba (Kentucky), Monroe Mills (Louisville)
The starters
The ’Hoos will enter the season with a lot of uncertainty at the tackle position after injuries to their two likely starters, Monroe Mills and Makilan Thomas.
Mills, a standout at Louisville last season and the highest-rated player in Virginia’s crop of incoming transfers, was expected to be the centerpiece of a revamped line in 2025. Unfortunately, Mills suffered a torn ACL in the spring that will sideline him for the season.
After Mills went down, Arkansas State transfer Makilan Thomas was the front-runner to begin the season at right tackle. But a broken bone in his foot suffered during summer practice will have Thomas sidelined for a couple of months at least.
With Mills and Thomas out, senior McKale Boley figures to start again for the ’Hoos at left tackle. The 6-foot-5 senior from Hattiesburg, Massachusetts, missed the first four games of 2024 with an injury, but started each of Virginia’s final eight games at left tackle. Boley was solid, allowing just three sacks in 495 pass blocking opportunities, and, with another year of experience under his belt, enters 2025 with increased expectations — Athlon Sports selected him to their Preseason Fourth Team All-ACC.
Monroe’s injury also led to the signing of grad transfer Wallace Unamba, who spent the spring at Kentucky after playing last season for New Mexico. The biggest member (6-foot-6, 335 pounds) of Virginia’s projected starting line, Unamba did not allow a sack in 10 starts for the Lobos last season.
Although Unamba has been in a camp competition with Virginia-native Ben York for the starting role, most recent reports suggest that Unamba will get the nod to begin the season.
A trio of durable, experienced vets should mean that the strength of Virginia’s line comes up the middle. Noah Josey will start the season at left guard. A familiar face in Charlottesville, Josey has started all 12 games for the ’Hoos each of the past two seasons. The durable grad student from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, posted a solid 80.9 PFF pass-block grade in 2024.
At center, the Virginia will turn to another incredibly experienced piece in the form of UAB grad transfer Brady Wilson. The 6-foot-2, 298-pound center from Spanish Fort, Alabama, started all 12 games for the Dragons last season, where he allowed just two sacks on 485 pass-blocking opportunities.
Wilson is a huge addition for the ’Hoos. His 83.1 overall blocking grade via PFF was fourth among all FBS centers, earning him some preseason buzz — Wilson was a Preseason Third Team All-ACC via Athlon Sports.
Rounding out the unit, Drake Metcalf will slide into the starting right guard position after missing all of 2024 with an Achilles injury. A 6-foot-2, 300-pound grad student, Metcalf posted an 81.4 PFF score in 2023 while playing center at UCF — the 16th-best mark in the country that season.
Depth
Virginia’s offensive line depth has already taken a big hit with the injuries to Mills and Thomas. But the ’Hoos still have plenty of quality pieces with collegiate experience ready to step up when needed.
At tackle, David Wohlabaugh Jr. is a grad transfer from Syracuse who allowed only two sacks on 174 dropbacks last season for the Orange. He started each of Syracuse’s final three games (all ‘Cuse wins) at left tackle in 2024.
Burke, Virginia, native Ben York is another name to watch at tackle. Though only a sophomore, York made three appearances for Virginia last season as a true freshman and has been pushing projected starter Wallace Unamba in camp. Though he’ll likely begin the season behind the more experienced Unamba, York — a Second-team All-State selection in 2023 at Lake Braddock High School — is an exciting young tackle with lots of upside.
On the inside, Kevin Wigenton II appeared in three games at guard for Illinois last season. And Ethan Sipe, 6-foot-5, 325-pound grad student from Nashville, Tennessee, is back after breaking a bone in his foot during the season-opener against Richmond last season. Sipe was a force at Dartmouth, where he spent his first three collegiate seasons.
Overall, the injuries to Mills and Thomas certainly put a cap on the potential ceiling of Virginia’s offensive line. But this is still an extremely experienced unit with a lot of proven, reliable pieces, especially up the middle. If Boley and Unamba can hold up on the edges (and, knock on wood, the ’Hoos don’t have to tap much further into their depth), quarterback Chandler Morris should be well-protected as he looks to reinvigorate a UVA offense that couldn’t get kick-started in 2024.
