CB Ayden Garnes making his impact felt
Cornerback was a priority for West Virginia in the off-season and one that has certainly made his impact felt in fall camp is Duquesne transfer Ayden Garnes.
Garnes is coming off a season where he recorded 51 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, and a sack during his sophomore campaign and became a priority for West Virginia when he entered the transfer portal.
The Philadelphia native played a total of 688 snaps and graded out as one of the highest players on the Dukes' roster. His efforts earned him first-team All-NEC honors at the cornerback and nickel spot at the FCS level.
But he felt he could play at the highest level.
"Yeah always been a chip on my shoulder just because I knew I was underrecruited in high school. I was getting recruited by a lot of Group of Fives but we had COVID and all my junior day visits were cancelled," he said. "My senior year we only got to have four games, Duquesne had hit me up late and I said alright I'm going to go here and work until I got to a place I could move up."
The coaching staff was familiar with Garnes after squaring off against him this past season where he recorded 4 tackles and had a pass breakup without allowing a reception. That carried over into fall camp as secondary coach ShaDon Brown said that nobody had even caught a ball on Garnes through the early stages.
“Ayden Garnes is playing really well," Brown said.
Brown has been impressed with how Garnes has played the deep part of the field well which was an area that he needed to improve upon after he enrolled at West Virginia in January. It’s been an adjustment for Garnes, who could play with his eyes in the backfield and still have success at Duquesne.
“But he can’t at this level. He had to learn that in the spring,” Brown said.
Garnes credits working not only with Brown but his teammate Garnett Hollis for helping him in that department.
"I was little jumpy in looking at things when I first got here he helped me to settle down and get my eyes in the right spots but now he just told me how to settle down and just play loosely and work on our technique," Garnes said.
But his confidence truly began to develop in the spring when he recorded a pair of interceptions on the first day of full pads.
"That’s the first day where I felt I could make a step here, I can do some things here and that’s what skyrocketed me to have a great spring and great summer," Garnes said.
And while Garnes isn’t the biggest option at cornerback at 6-foot-0, 179-pounds, he has added 17 pounds to his frame since he arrived in January and plays the game bigger than his size.
“He’s a slender built lean muscle mass kid but he’s really strong and plays like it,” Brown said.
And his efforts have put him in position to play a major role with the Mountaineers this fall at the cornerback spot. Garnes has made his impact felt so far, but the coaching staff believes more could be on the way.
“He’s been outstanding, and he has a chance to be a plus player in this league,” Brown said.
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