Josiah Persinger

Sophomore cornerback on Virginia's 2026 roster.

CB · Virginia · So. · #7

5′11″ · 179 lb · Roanoke, VA · Salem

Recruiting

3★

CB recruit

No. 857 nationally · Signed with Virginia

Last played in 2026.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Sophomore cornerback on Virginia's 2026 roster.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Virginia in 2025.

The full story, with sources

How he projects

Grades highest in speed and man coverage.

The full scouting read

Next upSat Sep 26 · 6 pm ETvs DelawareScott StadiumVirginia by 19.5

Josiah Persinger

CB · Virginia · So · #7

This is his second year in the same secondary at Virginia. The receipt on tape: 1 tackles, 0.5 TFL against Norfolk State, Week 2, 2026.

1 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

season totals
seasons on the roster
game log

Career stats

Season	Team
2026	Virginia	1	--	0.5	--	--	--
2025	Virginia	2	2	0.0	1	--	--
Career		3	2	0.5	1	--	--

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2026 season · 1 game

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 2	W 59-3vs Norfolk State	1	0	0.5	0.0	—	0	Season-high 1 tackles

2026 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2 seasons under Tony Elliott — 13-4 over that span.

2025Virginia11-3HC: Tony Elliott · Balanced

2026Virginia2-1HC: Tony Elliott · Run-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles (0th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles for loss#520 / 939 · 39th pct

0.5

QB hurries#283 / 939 · 35th pct

Sacks#285 / 939 · 35th pct

0.0

Passes defended#411 / 939 · 28th pct

Solo tackles#937 / 939 · 0th pct

Tackles#940 / 939 · 0th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits

Per-game splits

Through 1 game: 1.0 TKL/g, 0.5 TFL/g, 0.0 SACK/g, 0.0 PD/g — splits start at 3 games.

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Tony Elliott

Pass share

34.3%

68 pass / 130 run

Plays / game

66.0

3 games

Team sack rate

6.6%

76 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy.

Awards

Player standing · 2026

Backup

On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

The secondary · Virginia

#23Jaylen JonesS · Sr.66 tackles · 2025
#18Jalen McNairS · Sr.50 tackles · 2025
#6Brandyn HillmanS · Sr.49 tackles · 2025
#30Ethan MinterS · Jr.47 tackles · 2025
#7Josiah PersingerCB · So.2 tackles · 2025

18 more on the roster · Virginia team page

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology