Virginia picks up former Iowa State cornerback Kyle through portal

Posted on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, 5:04 pm

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By Jerry Ratcliffe

Tayvonn Kyle (Photo: Iowa State Athletics)

Virginia continued to shore up its secondary via the transfer portal on Monday when the Cavaliers gained a commitment from former Iowa State cornerback Tayvonn Kyle.

The 5-foot-11, 189-pound corner spent the last five seasons with the Cyclones and was an honorable mention All-Big 12 in 2019 and 2020. After entering the portal on Dec. 20, he chose Virginia over Purdue and East Carolina.

Originally from Valdosta, Ga. (Lowndes H.S.), he was rated a 3-star, the No. 1276 overall recruit in 2018 by On3 Consensus. He was he No. 120 cornerback in the country and the No. 127 overall prospect in the state of Georgia.

He appeared in 32 games at Iowa State and posted 76 tackles, 11 passes defended, an interception and half a sack on 372 career snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. 

For 2022, in 206 coverage snaps, he surrendered only 17 receptions on 28 targets for 159 yards and four touchdowns. Opposing quarterbacks owned a 115.9 NFL passer rating on their targets against Kyle in 2022.

In 2020, his best season as a Cyclone, he was in on 255 coverage snaps, gave up 23 receptions on 45 targets for 230 yards and a score. He had one interception and broke up six passes and had a 64.1 NFL passer rating against him.

Kyle joins former North Carolina safety Cam’Ron Kelly, originally from Chesapeake’s Oscar Smith High School, to shore up UVA’s secondary, which lost star corner Fentrell Cypress to the portal (Cypress committed to Florida State) and Anthony Johnson, who will explore his NFL options.