Welcome to our 2021 Football Season Preview. To view our preview table of contents and read already-completed pieces, click here.

Special Teams rarely gets a ton of press, but the kickers and returners make big differences in the game, affecting field position and providing key points in tight games. Virginia is replacing key pieces of its kicking, punting, and kick return games this season, with few questions settled in the runup to the season.

Position Coach

Ricky Brumfield – VirginiaSports.com Bio

Who’s Gone?

Brian Delaney (PK) – The career 79% field goal kicker graduated after 3 years as UVA’s primary place-kicker. Delaney was a relatively steady presence for the Hoos, including the biggest field goal in recent UVA history in his 50-yarder to take the ultimate lead over VT in 2019.

Nash Griffin (P) – Griffin graduates after handling UVA’s punting duties for 2 years, averaging about 42 yards a kick over his career.

AJ Mejia (PK) – AJ saw action as a freshman but lost the job to Delaney in 2018, never seizing a big role the last two years before his graduation.

Tavares Kelly (KOR) – Kelly took over primary kickoff return duties in Joe Reed’s absence, but left the football team this offseason to focus on Track and Field.

Shane Simpson (KOR) – The one-year transfer shared kickoff return duties, averaging an impressive 31.5 yards per return before graduating and aiming for a pro career as an undrafted free agent.

Who’s Back?

Justin Duenkel (PK) – Sophomore (R) – Duenkel appears to be the front-runner to take over placekicking duties this season after handling kickoffs primarily during the 2020 season. Known for his cannon of a leg, he’s never taken a FGA at the collegiate level.

Hunter Pearson (PK) – Junior (R) – Got a couple opportunities as a true freshman in 2018, going 2/2 on FGs, before an injury let Brian Delaney cement his job. Will compete with Duenkel for placekicking responsibilities this year.

Brendan Farrell (P) – Sophomore (R) – Has never punted for UVA in his two seasons stuck behind Griffin. Will compete for the job this summer against grad transfer Jacob Finn.

Billy Kemp (PR) – Senior – Billy’s the lone experienced specialist here (not counting long snappers) with 40 career punt returns to his credit. He’s averaged a modest 6 yards per return over his career, though that dropped to 5.1 yards per return last season.

Perris Jones (KOR) – Junior (R) – The walk-on running back / defensive back has been on the KOR depth chart for two years now, handling two kickoffs last season. An undersized burner, he’ll look to expand on his role with last year’s options graduated.

Demick Starling (KOR) – Sophomore – An impressive kick returner as a high schooler in Tennessee, Starling is a burner who will have an opportunity this year to take over the job as a kickoff returner for the Hoos.

Mike Hollins (KOR) – Sophomore – Reportedly being considered for a return job, the running back has a nice combination of size, speed, and vision. There are speedier options on the team, but he’s got some mass and a good, low center of gravity that could make him harder to bring down.

Ra’Shaun Henry (PR) – Senior (Bonus) – Though he’s got no collegiate history as a return man, the staff is curious about his speed and big play ability in the return game, working him out at PR this summer. He was All-Area as a kick returner in high school in TX.

Dontayvion Wicks (PR) – Sophomore – It was reported during August practices that Wicks was taking reps as a punt returner. Hard to say he’s definitively going to see time there during the season, but the sophomore is a playmaker and could be an intriguing replacement.

Who’s New?

Jacob Finn (P) – Senior (Bonus) – A grad transfer from Florida, Finn averaged an impressive 46.3 yards per punt in his one season in Gainesville as their primary punter.

Artie Henry (PR) – Senior (Bonus) – A grad transfer from Marshall, Henry served as a secondary punt-return option for the Thundering Herd, returning 5 punts last season for an impressive return average of 12 yards each.

Preseason MVP

Jacob Finn – Nash Griffin was reliable but rarely a field-flipper, and UVA’s punt average was bottom third of the ACC each of the last two seasons. Florida ranked 2nd in the SEC last year in average punt yardage with Finn handling the kicks, and that kind of hidden yardage difference could be a subtle but important difference maker in games this upcoming season.

Breakout Candidate

Demick Starling – Starling has good press coming out of the spring as both a receiver and a returner, and while there isn’t much definitive to go off of, someone’s gotta be the guy to return kicks, and we’re optimistic Starling settles into the role early in the season. Don’t expect him to be Joe Reed overnight, but I see him showing a lot of promise on his way to a multi-year stint as UVA’s primary KOR.

A Stab at the Opening Day Depth Chart

Grade: C

Final Thoughts

Lots and lots of uncertainty this year with the specialists. We’re replacing a 2-year-starting pair of placekicker and punter, who, while not world-beaters, were certainly steady and didn’t cost us games. We’ll always remember Delaney’s 50-yarder to beat VT in 2019.

Jacob Finn at least gives us a good answer at punter, proven in the SEC, and potentially will serve as a 1-year upgrade at the position while we identify our punter of the future. If he can give us an extra 15-20 yards a game over Griffin, that’s a modest but meaningful upgrade in the field position game.

At placekicker, we’ll have to to wait and see how Duenkel and/or Pearson do now that they’re out of Delaney’s shadow. Bottom line is that it’s a total crap shoot how they’ll perform relative to Delaney’s steady performance. Maybe won’t know until one of them wins or loses us a game.

There’s a very real chance the returner positions don’t solidify until the season gets going, with so little experience returning. On punts, Kemp is steady but has always been a bottom-half returner in the ACC. He’s not much of a threat to take one to the house, so maybe there’s a chance a new face takes over. For kickoffs, Starling and Jones are the obvious names, but maybe another player entirely comes out of nowhere to break into the competition. We’ll have to wait and see. Last year’s kickoff return unit actually finished 4th in the league in yards per return, not bad in Joe Reed’s first year gone to the NFL, so it’s possible a regression to the mean is possible, it’ll be a big unknown heading into the year.

At least we’ve got continuity at long-snapper, where the trio of Danny Caracciolo (snapped on all FGs and XPs last year), Lee Dudley (snapped on FGs and XPs in 2019 before being injured last year), and Tucker Finkelston (snapped on punts last year) all return!

Bronco’s key metrics include a target of a 5 yard advantage in starting field position, and while turnovers are a big part of securing that advantage, the special teams are the critical part. The kicking and return games may be question marks as of this August, but appreciate that Bronco is well aware of the importance of getting it right.