Virginia Football Transfer Profiles: Can Chandler Morris Be the Upgrade at Quarterback That UVA Needs?

Virginia Football got flashes of good play from former quarterback Anthony Colandrea, but there was too much inconsistency and turnovers from the young quarterback. Since the days of Bryce Perkins and Brennan Armstrong, Virginia has been in search of good, sound quarterback play to lead to help them win games and they hope that the new transfer they brought in can help steady the ship in what is going to be a big year four for head coach Tony Elliott.

Virginia has made a big push in the transfer portal this offseason and one of the most notable additions they made was at at quarterback, where the Cavaliers brought in former Oklahoma/TCU/North Texas quarterback Chandler Morris to replace former starters Anthony Colandrea (transfer to UNLV) and Tony Muskett. There is little doubt that Morris is going to be the starting quarterback for UVA this season, but how much better can he make the offense? The Cavaliers have not had a strong passing attack in a few years, despite having one of the best wide receivers in the ACC, Malachi Fields. Fields is now gone to Notre Dame so Morris is going to have to find a new No. 1 target.

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 Colandrea or Muskett.

While there is optimism that Morris is going to be an upgrade in the Cavaliers QB room, that is not shared by every analyst.

CBS Sports Will Backus is not buying that he will be, as he named Virginia's quarterback room one of the bleakest in the country in a recent column:

Quarterbacks: Chandler Morris (Gr.); Gavin Frakes (Sr.); Grady Brosterhous (Sr.); Daniel Kaelin (So.); Cole Geer (Fr.); Bjorn Jurgensen (Fr.)

"A program could certainly do worse than Morris (as evidenced by this very list), who was a 2024 All-AAC second team selection after throwing for 3,774 yards and 31 touchdowns in his one year at North Texas. While those are great numbers, he didn't get anywhere near that in his previous stint at the power conference level — even though he spent a combined four years at Oklahoma and TCU. All that to say, this writer is skeptical Morris can replicate his North Texas production at Virginia. Kaelin's the one to watch behind Morris, but he has yet to take a snap in a real college football game."

Morris has the experience to be successful, but Virginia's schedule also works in their favor. They are not projected to face hardly any top defenses in the country this season. While Morris has a new-look receiving corps in places, this could be an improved offense and that is what he was brought to Charlottesville to do.