ESPN Predicts Who Will Be Virginia Football's Top Three Most Impactful Transfers in 2025

In the transfer portal era of college football, it can he hard to tell who has had a successful offseason and who has not. Sure, there are transfer portal rankings, but those can be a crapshoot, as evidenced by teams like Florida State falling apart after being heavy in the portal offseason after offseason. That does not mean every team is going to have a bad haul, but until the season starts, it is anybody's guess as to how good these teams have done have done.

Which makes Virginia Football under Tony Elliott such a fascinating team this fall. The Cavaliers have not made a bowl game in his previous three seasons and that is the goal in 2025. Virginia has a massive transfer portal class, with 30-plus new players coming into the program and it is one of the highest-rated in the ACC according to 247Sports.

Who could be the three most impactful transfers for the Cavaliers? Here is who ESPN chose:

1. QB Chandler Morris

There is a chance that Morris could in fact be a huge upgrade at the position, but he only has one real season to show for it. Morris only played in five total games during his lone season with Oklahoma and then transferred to TCU. He played in four games for the Horned Frogs in 2021, including a standout performance in an upset win over No. 12 Baylor. Morris was 29-41 for 461 yards and two touchdowns in that game.

He would battle an injury that would limit his playing time in both 2022 (when the Horner Frogs made an appearance in the national championship game) and then in 2023, when he only played in seven games. Morris threw for 1,532 yards, 12 touchdowns, and five interceptions while completing 66% of his passes. He would then transfer to North Texas, where he would have the most productive season of his collegiate career.

For the Mean Green last season, Morris threw for 3,774 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions while completing 63.1% of his passes. He also had 242 yards rushing and four touchdowns. According to PFF, Morris finished as the highest-grade player on the North Texas offense with 78.9 grade in 887 total snaps at quarterback.

It comes down to if 1) Morris can stay healthy and 2) Was his production a product of the kind of teams he was facing on the field last season? I would argue that when he was healthy at TCU, he did have games where he put up big numbers, so last season might not have just been a product of facing weak defenses. Morris has more experience and has been more productive than either Anthony Colandrea or Tony Muskett.

2. WR Jahmal Edrine

Across three seasons with FAU and Purdue, Edrine has totaled 63 catches for 944 yards and eight touchdowns. It feels like Edrine is going to be a starter with this group, but we will see what the fall brings. He is a projected starter for the Cavaliers this season and they will need someone to replace the production of last year's leading receiver Malachi Fields and Erdine is the most likely candidate.

3. DB Devin Neal

Our own Aidan Baller broke down the commitment of Neal earlier this offseason:

Neal joins the Hoos with one year of eligibility after redshirting in 2024. 

"In 2023, Neal was a standout for the Cardinals, recording 74 tackles (second on the team), four interceptions (most on the team) and six pass deflections (second on the team). The breakout year earned Neal a Third-Team All-ACC selection in 2023. 

The Lexington, Kentucky native was relatively underrecruited coming out of high school, holding offers from Baylor, Cincinnati, Bowling Green, and Eastern Michigan. Neal played his first three seasons of college football at Baylor before transferring to Louisville for his last two. Neal was shifted out of the rotation in 2024 due to a crowded secondary room, a possible reason for his transfer. In five seasons of college football, Neal has played in 51 total games, including 33 games at Baylor and 18 at Louisville, recording 149 total tackles, 101 solo stops five tackles for loss, six interceptions, seven passes defended, two forced fumbles and a sack.

Neal did not play for Louisville in the game against Virginia this season, but he had an incredible game for the Cardinals when he faced the Cavaliers in 2023, recording 11 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery to lead Louisville to a comeback win over UVA."

Additional Links

ESPN Ranks Virginia Football's Offseason Among the Best In the ACC

New Field of 64 Projections Has Virginia Baseball Among The Final Four Teams In

UVA Baseball Surging Toward NCAA Tournament Berth at Just the Right Time