BREAKING: Virginia reaches into SEC territory to land huge 4-star offensive lineman Josey

Josey picks Wahoos over Georgia, Alabama and other powerhouses

By Jerry Ratcliffe

From a “redneck gym” and an eye on Wall Street, Virginia reached into SEC territory to claim its first consensus 4-star football recruit Thursday night when prized offensive lineman Noah Josey announced he would join Bronco Mendenhall’s program.

Josey is a 6-foot-5, 290-pound standout from noted Brentwood Academy in Brentwood, Tenn., who has potential to play anywhere on the offensive line.

The big lineman could have chosen any major football power in the country, but chose Virginia over Georgia. He also had offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Baylor and a host of others, including Virginia Tech.

COMMITTED!!🔶🔷🔶@UVAFootball @UVACoachBronco @Coach2J @theBAFootball @Rbcoachdgraham pic.twitter.com/kGnR9spd6Y

— Noah Josey (@NoahJosey) October 2, 2020

“I honestly think of myself as a guard,” Josey told DawgNation, a publication that covers Georgia football. “I’ve had many coaches tell me I could play tackle because I have pretty long arms and my feet are pretty quick. A lot of the tackles who are playing really well right now are pretty close to my measurements.”

Josey, whose father, Bryan, played offensive tackle at Vanderbilt in the early ‘90s, is a man of faith and wears No. 77 for Brentwood.

“The reason I wear number 77 is the number seven is definitely a holy number,” Josey said. “I can’t be number seven because of the position I play, so I tried to get it as close as I could.”

He also wears 77 because he admires Tennessee Titans liineman Taylor Lewan, a former first-round pick out of Michigan.

“He embodies what I love, which is being physical and nasty and basically a jerk on the field,” Josey told DawgNation. “I love it.”

An Under Armour All-American, who also excels in throwing the shot put and discus, Josey said that one of the things he valued in choosing a school was academics, which was one of the factors in choosing UVA.

“It would definitely be a high-lovel academic school,” Josey said. “Academics are very important to me. A big football school as well. That’s where football is valued greatly and the fan base is very big.”

This is exactly how I feel right now—leeeesssssssgggooooo!!!! #TheStandard21 #GoHoos #Wahoowa pic.twitter.com/Gjd0qGEyae

— UVACoachAtuaia (@UVACoachAtuaia) October 1, 2020

He said that location didn’t matter because most football players only get to go home a few times of year. Brentwood is certainly driveable from Charlottesville.

During the pandemic over the summer, Josey said he and some pals built their own “Redneck Gym,” with support beams, chiseled fence posts that are used to rack their weight bars. They collected a few weights and worked our hard.

While that is basic, Josey has a keener eye on his future and wants to study business finance and investments at Virginia.

“I’m really big into the stock market,” he said. “I have a little money in the stock market now that I mess around with.”

He said he has studied the market during the pandemic shutdown, learning how it works.

Virginia has two other commitments that have been rated 4-stars, but not consensus.

Defensive end Josh McCarron from the Seattle area, is a 4-star by Rivals but not 247Sports. Also, offensive lineman Logan Taylor is a 4-star by 247 but not Rivals.