Cavs’ Torchia knows his role

Walking around practice, Virginia tight end Joe Torchia looked left and right.

Suddenly and shockingly, he noticed fewer players lining up at his position.

One player, current Dallas Cowboy John Phillips, left after using up his eligibility. Another, Rod Wheeler, departed for personal reasons.

It raised the question: Is Virginia still considered Tight End University?

“It is to be proven,” said Torchia, a junior from Cold Spring, N.Y. “We will find out.”

Torchia enters the season as the top tight end, but is still waiting on his first reception as a Cavalier. He expanded on the thought while noting that there is pressure to live up to the standard set by past Virginia stars.

“It is to be proven every year. Nothing will be given to you,” he said. “Every year, whether it was Heath Miller, Tom Santi, Jonathan Stupar, John Phillips, they proved themselves to be big-time producers for this program.”

“They are gone,” he added, “and now Colt Phillips and I have to prove it. It is not a title that is given. It is a title that is earned.”

Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell said Torchia brings the needed skills at tight end.

“He has such great hands for a big guy,” said the senior southpaw. “He tracks down balls and he moves very well in traffic. It is amazing to watch.

“He is going to make plays for us. I know that.”

Despite the fact that Virginia has fully moved into the spread offense under first-year offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon, Torchia admitted that he was not concerned to see how tight ends would be used.

“I really wasn’t nervous,” he said. “Coach [Al] Groh wasn’t going to bring in something that was going to hurt our team. He is obviously going to bring something that is going to help our team.

“The tight end role, whether it changes or not … I don’t think it has. Coach Brandon is going to find any way to help the team. Any way that I can help the team I am ready to do it.

“I am confident in coach Groh’s decision to bring in coach Brandon and I am confident in coach Brandon’s schemes.”

Just how will Torchia be used this season? The best way to find would involve a ticket to a game or a plasma television.

“The offense stays … I am really not going to talk about that,” he said with a smile. “Sorry, I don’t want to give anything away.”