By Jerry Ratcliffe

Perhaps the most interesting additions to Virginia’s football roster for the 2026 season via the transfer portal were quarterbacks Beau Pribula from Missouri and Eli Holstein from Pitt.

We’ll give you a look at the Cavaliers’ 27 new players from the portal and highlight a few, with a complete list, position-by-position at the end of the article.

In modern-day football, if you don’t have a quality quarterback, you’re playing with one hand tied behind your back. Wahoo fans saw what a difference a solid QB could do last season when transfer Chandler Morris directed UVA to a program-record 11 wins, a spot in the ACC Championship game and a win over Missouri in the Gator Bowl.

Now, it’s a Missouri quarterback who will try to continue that momentum in ‘26. Pribula, who started for Missouri and played several ranked SEC programs head-to-head before being sidelined by injuries, is set to direct the Cavaliers.

He chose UVA over Washington, Tennessee, Nebraska, Georgia Tech and Stanford during he portal chase. Pribula missed three games during the regular season and opted out of the Tigers’ bowl date with Virginia.

Ranked the No. 15 QB in the portal, Pribula came to Missouri from Penn State, where he spent two seasons but didn’t see a lot of action. At Mizzou, he completed 67 percent of his passes and amassed 1,941 yards, 11 TDs and 9 interceptions in 10 games, while rushing for 297 yards and six scores.

He is expected to be Virginia’s starter in ‘26.

Holstein has two years of eligibility remaining and was brought in to serve as backup to Pribula this season and to become UVA’s starter in 2027.

After transferring to Pitt from Alabama in 2023, he won the Panthers’ starting job in ‘24 and threw for 2,228 yards and 17 touchdowns, completing 62 percent of his passes. He started out last season winning the first two games, but after losing to West Virginia in overtime and struggling, Holstein was replaced at halftime against Louisville and didn’t start again.

Certainly the Cavaliers did a good job of also restocking the running back room after J’Mari Taylor declared for the draft and Harrison Waylee’s eligibility expired. UVA brought in three backs, highlighted by Tennessee speedster Peyton Lewis, a Virginia native, who was used in the Vols’ backfield rotation last season. Solomon Beebe from UAB and JeKail Middlebrook from Middle Tennessee are also expected to contribute along with returning backs Xavier Brown and Zay Davis.

Lewis was a two-time state 55-meter champion with a personal best of 6.34 seconds, who as a running back, hits the hole with that speed. A good sized back at 6-1, 212 pounds, he played in 13 games as a reserve true freshman, then last season was part of a three-man rotation and rushed for 4.1 yards per carry, scored 7 touchdowns and picked up 290 yards on 70 attempts in 10 games.

UVA should get production out of the four receivers, a couple of slot, a couple of wide outs (stories on every Cavalier committed appear on this website over the last several weeks and are archived for your reading pleasure).

Defensively, the Cavaliers should get immediate results from at least two of the safeties in Michigan’s Brandyn Hillman and Christian Ellis of Virginia Tech, along with corners Omillio Agard from Wisconsin and Jacobie Henderson from Rutgers.

Virginia gained four “edge” players, all with impressive pass rushing numbers, particularly 6-6, 247-pound Devon Baxter from Michigan.

OFFENSE

Quarterback
Beau Pribula, 6-2, 212, Missouri
Eli Holstein, 6-4, 225, Pitt

Running Back
Peyton Lewis, 6-1, 212, Tennessee
Solomon Beebe, 5-10, 205, UAB
Jekail Middlebrook, 5-10, 196, Middle Tennessee

Wide Receiver
Tyson Davis, 5-10, 175, Central Michigan
Jacquan Gibson, 5-11, 195, UMass
Da’Shawn Martin, 6-2, 175, Kent State
Rico Flores, Jr., 6-2, 205, UCLA

Tight End
Connor Cox, 6-6, 250, North Carolina

Offensive Line
Alex Payne, 6-6, 315, Southern Cal
Ryan Brubaker, 6-5, 313, South Carolina

DEFENSE

Defensive Line
Jonathan Allen, 6-2, 290, UAB
Darrion Henry-Young, 6-4, 283, Coastal Carolina
Zion Wilson, 6-3, 318, East Carolina

Edge
Devon Baxter, 6-6, 247, Michigan
Ezekiel Larry, 6-2, 240, Yale
Nnanna Anyanwu, 6-5, 240, UTSA
Matthew Fobbs-White, 6-3, 235, Baylor

Safety
Jalen McNair, 5-9, 198, Buffalo
Brandyn Hillman, 6-0, 200, Michigan
Jaylen Jones, 6-1, 195, Georgia State
Christian Ellis, 6-0, 202, Virginia Tech

Cornerback
Omillio Agard, 5-11, 180, Wisconsin
Justin Ross, 6-2, 185, Navy
Jacobie Henderson, 5-11, 198, Rutgers

SPECIAL TEAMS

Long Snapper
Wyatt Rubinoff, 6-2, 225, New Hampshire