One Player From Each Virginia FBS School That Will Need to Step Up

As the 2024 college season looms, there will be a new crop of star players form a plethora of schools, including those in the Commonwealth of Virginia at Virginia Tech, Liberty, Old Dominion, James Madison and Virginia.

At each school, there will be at least one player to keep an eye on to have a breakout season.

At Old Dominion, redshirt junior defensive end Amorie Morrison will look to rebound from a down 2023, which saw him get 4.5 tackles for loss and just one sack, Morrison will look to get more in the direction of his freshman season, when the Virginia Beach native had 3.5 sacks and five TFL.

Morrison played in all 12 games in his freshman season, but since then, has only played in 12 games combined.

If Morrison plays a full season, it could mean big success for the ODU pass rush and the Monarchs’ defense as a whole.

At James Madison, the Dukes will look to capitalize on a great first season at the FBs levels.

JMU has eight new additions of defense slated to start, one returning player, redshirt senior linebacker Taurus Jones had a big season in 2022 with 10.5 TFL but had just four last seasons.

Jones will need to get back around the double-digit mark to have a big impact on a JMU defense that is replacing a lot from 2023/

Jones had two interceptions in that 2022 season, the only of his career, and would serve the Dukes well to get back to that level this season, as JMU will not be catching anyone off guard like they did some last season, marked as an upper echelon team in the Sun Belt.

Jones comes into the season with 25 games under his belt.

Liberty will likely look to redshirt senior wide receiver Treon Sibley to help lead Kaidon Salter and the Flames’ offense.

Sibley comes into the season with plenty of experience, having played in 48 games over the last five seasons.

2023 was his best yet, as the Akron, Ohio native caught 23 passes for 467 yards and four touchdowns, matching his total from the two prior seasons combined.

The Hokies of Virginia Tech might be looking to transfer defensive lineman Kelvin Gilliam Jr., to help bolster the Virginia tech defense.

Gilliam, from Richmond, Virginia., transferred to the Hokies from Oklahoma, where he was used mostly as a backup, playing in six games for the Sooners last season and nine games the year before.

Gilliam was limited by an injury last season and was highly recruited coming out of powerhouse Highland Springs High School.

He should see a starting role for the Hokies and should be able to lead the Hokies defense to the backfield.

For Virginia, UVA will look to Malachi Fields and JR Wilson to help the WR corps this season.

With last year’s leading receiver Malik Washington now in the NFL with the Dolphins, those two will be expected to step up, but for Wilson, it will be an even bigger step as Fields had over 800 yards receiving last season, but Wilson had only 98 yards on 10 catches.

If Fields can match his 2023 and Wilson can take a step up, it will help Cavs QB Anthony Colandrea take another step forward after passing for over 1,900 yards in 2023.