Ranking of the five best 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 choices since 2001, we have more than enough names to make it interesting here.

Thomas Jones, John St. Clair, Shannon Taylor, and Antwan Harris are not eligible for this ranking. Although they were drafted in 2000 (around the turn of the century), they finished their careers at the University of Virginia in 1999, and I have decided to no longer include them. Thomas Jones would have made the list if this rule had not been implemented. But a rule is a rule, and there is nothing I can do about that.

If you disagree, I invite you to write your own article titled Top 5 UVA Soccer Players Since 1999.

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

#5 Bryce Perkins (2018-2019)

Bryce Perkins was a fixture on television for every Virginia football and college football fan during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He was one of those athletes that you always felt hopeful that your team would win because he would come out of the locker room wearing the jersey of your favorite team.

In 2019, he set the UVA single-season 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 over 300 passing yards, and first all-time among quarterbacks with 1,692 rushing yards.

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Bryce led the Cavaliers to 16 wins in two years, two straight bowl appearances (2018 Belk Bowl and 2019 Orange bowl), an ACC Championship appearance, AND he's one of two quarterbacks who has been beatable since 2000 Virginia Technology. The latter is more sad than impressive, but facts are facts. #TDN

#4 Heath Miller (2002-2004)

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

Miller was a first-team Freshman All-American selection in 2002, a two-time All-ACC selection (2003 and 2004), and a recipient of the prestigious John Mackey Award in 2004, given annually to college football's best tight end. He underperformed in 2003, failing to even finish in the top three in voting despite having better statistics than receiver 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 being stripped of his Heisman (which was returned earlier this year). As we make things right in 2024, let's go ahead and present Heath with his 2003 Mackey Award.

Heath left UVA after his junior year and went on to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2005-2015. He's a two-timer 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 playing in just three games during his freshman year at UVA in 2000 and splitting time with Bryson Spinner in 2001, Matt Schaub took full control of the quarterback role for the first time in 2002, his junior 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 just seven interceptions . Virginia went 9-5 with Schaub under center in 2002 and won the Continental Tire Bowl against West Virginia.

Set number: X66658 TK3 R4 F26

In 2003, there was Heisman talk about Schaub when the season started. But after a shoulder injury kept him on the bench for a few 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 another Continental Tire Bowl victory against the Pittsburgh Panthers, where Schaub put in an MVP-caliber performance.

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

#2 DBrickashaw 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, the football legend’s rise to dominance began. In high school, he played both sides of the ball and never wanted to leave the field. He was always going to be a great college football player; it was just a question of which school he would be good 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 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

DBrickashaw was selected fourth overall in the 2006 draft by the Jets from New York and was part of the foundation of their offensive line for the next decade. He missed ONE (ONE!!) snap of the regular season due to a trick play. Brick is a three-time pro bowler, an NFL legend and an eternal Virginia football icon.

A great football player? 100%. But my wish is that everyone who reads this will watch the video below. Brick is also a great person, and hearing what his former teammates and coaches have to say about him makes me even more proud to say 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 without a doubt the best football player to come out of the University of Virginia. He made the entire city of Charlottesville and many others throw up the L after one of his 20 career sacks. The man with the ultimate vibes, a great leader and one of the best noses for sniffing out a quarterback that college football has ever seen.

James Lang-USA TODAY Sports

His fourth year in Virginia is my Roman Empire (something I think about all the time). He entered the season on so many watchlists you'd think it was a typo.

He backed up all that love in the preseason with 69 total tackles, 19 TFLs, 14 sacks, nine pass deflections, three forced fumbles and one interception, winning the Hendricks Award, given to the nation's best defensive team. Long was also 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 we may never see replicated in Charlottesville again.

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

---

Since the turn of the century, the top five football players to wear orange and blue are Bryce Perkins, Heath Miller, Matt Schaub, DBrickashaw Ferguson and Chris Long. I will never walk away from an argument, but I think I absolutely nailed this.