Adams: Putting the best CBs on the grass

The cream always rises to the top is how the old adage goes. Cornerbacks coach Blue Adams is banking on the same thing unfolding over the next couple weeks with his position group.

Adams inherited the position from Brian Mitchell prior to spring ball and also took leadership over a position in flux. The Mountaineers must replace all three of their top cornerbacks from last season’s team and do it with players that either have limited experience or none at all playing for West Virginia.

Gone from the team are last season’s starters Terrell Chestnut and Daryl Worley along with key reserve Ricky Rumph. It’s a total makeover in the position room.

Looking at the roster there are a total of four seniors in Rasul Douglas, Nana Kyeremeh, Antonio Crawford and Maurice Fleming so that’s a plus, right?

Well sort of because Douglas and Kyeremeh have only seen limited action during their careers while the other two transferred to Morgantown from other power five schools. Crawford sat out last season after coming over from Miami and the Mountaineers added Fleming over the summer from Iowa.

So the lens that you would typically look at a senior with is a little hazy at best.

Behind those four sits a pair of junior college players that enrolled in the summer in Mike Daniels and Elijah Battle which bring interesting elements to the mix. Daniels is a physical cover corner but can he hold up that physicality and cover Big 12 wide receivers? Battle excels in coverage but can he do it on a consistent enough basis to warrant a place at the table?

So while there are options, Adams has the privilege of making sense of it all.

“I don’t plan to narrow it down. I do plan on them narrowing it down for me,” Adams said.

The plan is to continue with camp as if there are currently no starters and let the players that get most comfortable and make the most plays to start to separate themselves from the pack. Adams has time on his side and he plans to use all of it if need be.

And if things aren’t resolved by the close of fall camp he also isn’t ruling out the use of a committee in order to get the best mix of players onto the field.

“I think you put the best guys on the grass that you have. If the best guys are four of them then you put all four of them on the grass,” Adams said.

That’s the beauty of fall camp letting players decide their own battles while everybody has a chance to impress in order to move up the depth chart. Adams is looking at the situation with a clean slate and every time he calls one of the cornerbacks numbers he treats them as the starter.

Whether that’s one of the six players I previously mentioned or freshmen. They’re treated as a starter.

“I coach them all hard like they’re my guys. Because when they’re out there they are my starters,” Adams said.

So for now it’s a position room full of potential starters until they start sorting it out.