Ranking the top-five UVA football players of the 21st century

Virginia Cavaliers football hasn’t exactly been a top program in the country since the turn of the century. But with 47 NFL draft picks since 2001, we have more than enough names to make things interesting here.

Thomas Jones, John St. Clair, Shannon Taylor, and Antwan Harris will not be eligible to make this ranking. Although they were drafted in 2000 (the turn of the century), they finished their careers at THE University of Virginia in 1999, and I have decided to cut them from eligibility. Thomas Jones would have made the list had this rule not been implemented. But a rule is a rule, and I can do nothing about it.

If you disagree, l welcome you to write your own article titled “Top 5 UVA football players since 1999.”

Reminder: This is my opinion, and I welcome everyone reading this to call me any name they wish after reading this.

#5 Bryce Perkins (2018-2019)

Bryce Perkins was appointment television for every Virginia football fan and college football fan for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He was one of those athletes for whom you always felt a sense of hope in your team winning because he came out of the locker room dressed in your favorite team’s jersey.

In 2019, he set the UVA single-season passing record with 3,538 yards and for total offense with 4,307 yards. He is third all-time in the Virginia football record books with 47 passing touchdowns, third all-time with five games of 300+ passing yards, and first all-time among quarterbacks with 1,692 rushing yards.

Bryce led the Cavaliers to 16 wins in two years, two straight bowl appearances (2018 Belk Bowl and 2019 Orange Bowl), an ACC Championship game appearance, AND he is one of two quarterbacks since 2000 to beat Virginia Tech. That last part is more sad than impressive, but facts are facts. #TDN

#4 Heath Miller (2002-2004)

Heeeeeaaattttthhhhhhhh!!! I wonder if that ever annoyed him throughout his college and professional career. After every catch in Charlottesville and Pittsburgh during his NFL days, no matter how many yards he caught it for, he would hear the crowd chant an extended version of his first name. I bet he still hears that today, walking down the street. It has to be annoying by now; it just has to.

Miller was a first-team Freshman All-American selection in 2002, two-time All-ACC selection (2003 and 2004), and a recipient of the prestigious John Mackey Award in 2004 – which is presented to college football’s best tight end every year. He got absolutely hosed in 2003 and didn’t even finish in the top three in voting, even though he had better stats than the recipient, Kellen Winslow II.

Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Heath had 70 receptions for 835 yards and 6 touchdowns in 2003 while Kellen Winslow II had 60 receptions for 605 yards and 1 touchdown. He only won the award because (1) his father was an All-American tight end and (2) Miami finished the season 11-2 and won the Orange Bowl.

Winslow winning the Mackey Award in 2003 is more criminal than Reggie Bush getting his Heisman taken away from him (which was returned earlier this year). While we are making things right in 2024, let’s go ahead and give Heath his 2003 Mackey Award.

Heath left UVA after his third year and went on to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2005-2015. He is a two-time Super Bowl Champion and will forever be one of the first names people think of when they think of UVA football.

#3 Matt Schaub

After only appearing in three games during his first year at UVA in 2000 and splitting time with Bryson Spinner in 2001, Matt Schaub took complete control of the quarterback role for the first time in 2002 during his third year.

That season, he earned first-team All-ACC honors, ACC Offensive Player of the Year, and ACC Player of the Year after an impressive season of 2,976 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, a 147.5 QB rating, and only seven interceptions. Virginia went 9-5 with Schaub under center in 2002 and won the Continental Tire Bowl against West Virginia.

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In 2003, there was Heisman chatter for Schaub entering the season. But after a shoulder injury benched him for a couple of games, that talk unfortunately went with the wind. Schaub still made the most of the season, throwing for 2,952 yards, 18 touchdowns, and leading the Cavaliers to yet another Continental Tire Bowl victory against the Pittsburgh Panthers, where Schaub put on an MVP-caliber performance.

Schaub was drafted in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons, where he played until 2006 when he was traded to the Houston Texans where he was until the end of 2013. He had a short stint with the Raiders in 2014 and with the Baltimore Ravens in 2015. He then wrapped up his successful NFL career back where it began in Atlanta from 2015 to 2020 when he officially retired from playing football 25,467 passing yards and 140 total touchdowns later.

#2 D’Brickashaw Ferguson

The story of D’Brickashaw Ferguson is nothing short of fascinating. Brick was born with a heart murmur and underwent open heart surgery at a young age. Once that surgery was successful, that’s when the dominating began for this football legend. He played both sides of the ball in high school, never wanting to come off the field. He was always going to be a great college football player; it was just a matter of which school he would be great at.

Thank God he chose to come to Charlottesville. Brick was a four-year starter on the offensive line and was essentially a brick wall throughout his career. He was an All-American first-team selection in his fourth year, an All-ACC first-team selection in 2004 and 2005, and played in four consecutive bowl games for the Cavaliers.

Photo by Randy Litzinger/Icon SMI/Icon Sport Media via Getty Images

D’Brickashaw was selected fourth overall in the 2006 draft by the New York Jets and was part of the foundation of their offensive line for the next ten years. He missed ONE (ONE!!) regular-season snap because of a trick play. Brick is a three-time pro bowler, an NFL legend, and a forever Virginia football icon.

A tremendous football player? 100%. But my wish is that everyone reading this watches the video below. Brick is also a tremendous human being, and hearing what his former teammates and coaches have to say about him makes me even more proud to say that he is a Virginia Alumni.

#1 Chris Long

This might be the most obvious #1 answer in history. Since the turn of the century, Chris Long is undoubtedly the best football player to come out of the University of Virginia. He had the whole town of Charlottesville and many others throwing up the “L” after any of his 20 career sacks. The ultimate vibes guy, a tremendous leader, and one of the best noses for sniffing out a quarterback college football has ever seen.

James Lang-USA TODAY Sports

His fourth year at Virginia is my Roman Empire (something I think about constantly). He entered the season on so many watch lists that you would think it must have been a typo.

He backed all that preseason love up with 69 total tackles, 19 TFLs, 14 sacks, nine pass deflections, three forced fumbles, and one interception and won the Hendricks Award – which is given to the top defensive end in the nation. Long also was the 2007 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, a unanimous first-team All-American, and finished 10th in the 2007 Heisman Trophy voting.

A career that we may never see anybody come close to duplicating again in Charlottesville.

Just how good was Chris Long, and how valued was he to the Virginia football program and Charlottesville community? Well, Chris Long’s jersey was rightfully retired on November 24th, 2007, while he was still an active member of the Virginia football program. Was this a stunt to get the people going before #16 Virginia faced #8 Virginia Tech in Charlottesville? Maybe so. Did it work? I’ll let you look it up.

Since the turn of the century, the best five football players to wear orange and blue are Bryce Perkins, Heath Miller, Matt Schaub, D’Brickashaw Ferguson, and Chris Long. I will never run away from a debate, but I think I absolutely nailed this.