West Virginia in a different place with the WR room
West Virginia finds itself in a much different position than this time last year in the wide receiver room.
Heading into the 2023 winter conditioning, the Mountaineers were losing 85-percent of the total catches, 87-percent of the yards and 89-percent of the scores at the position with a new wide receivers coach in Bilal Marshall hired as well. In total, West Virginia returned just 32 catches for 312 yards and 2 scores from the previous year leaving a lot of room for others to emerge.
That is quite different this off-season as the Mountaineers return 1,243 of the 1,981 receiving yards or 63-percent at the wide receiver spot with the biggest chunk exiting with the departure of Devin Carter. With total catches, West Virginia welcomes back 78 of the 121 grabs or 64-percent from last season.
And it gets even better in terms of touchdowns with 10 of the 12 scores returning or 83-percent.
In terms of snaps played, West Virginia brings back four of the top six players from last season with sophomore Traylon Ray (452), redshirt junior Preston Fox (423), redshirt sophomore Hudson Clement (370) and sophomore Rodney Gallagher (269). The only players not included in that group was Carter who led the room with 498 snaps on the year and EJ Horton with 165.
Still, with Marshall back for his second season the young assistant has a room that is not only much more seasoned but has shown the ability to produce in games this past year. And there is plenty of room for even more upside with so many of the key pieces being early in their development.
That is especially true for players like Ray, Gallagher and Clement who will only be sophomores this coming fall and despite showing flashes haven’t come close to realizing their potential. The coaching staff has expressed confidence in each of those making significant strides as they work on both their bodies and their skill sets over the off-season.
West Virginia also added a pair of pulls from the transfer portal in former Oklahoma State wide receiver Jaden Bray and Mississippi State wide receiver Justin Robinson to help add some experience and even more big play ability to the room.
Bray, 6-foot-2, 200-pounds, was a key target for the Mountaineers as soon as he entered the transfer portal, and the coaches were able to get him to campus for a quick official visit in December.
The Oklahoma native spent three seasons with the Cowboys where he hauled in 48 passes for 686 yards and 4 touchdowns across 25 games on the field. During that time, Bray flashed his abilities and turned in a 4-catch, 53-yard performance with a touchdown against the Mountaineers in 2023.
Bray played 1,070 offensive snaps during his time with the Cowboys and saw his most this past season with 301. However, he made those count flashing big play ability with an average of 12.7 yards per reception. Bray is an outside receiver that can make plays down the field as he spent 292 of his snaps this past season in that role.
He also was good in contested catch situations with reeling in 7 of 11.
Robinson, 6-foot-4, 220-pounds, fills a need for the West Virginia as an outside option as he played 97-percent of his snaps there this past year. He has hauled in 53 catches for 601 yards and 4 touchdowns during his time at the college level where he spent two years at Georgia and the past two at Mississippi State.
He was effective down the field with an average depth of target of 12-plus yards and has hauled in 9 of his 19 contested catch situations. He was a later addition for the Mountaineers but one that should help immediately on the outside and providing a bigger body to get the ball to in the red zone.
Plus there is room for others to emerge as this doesn’t even include the additions made in the 2024 signing class such as Melbourne (Fla.) Central Catholic wide receiver Ric'Darious Farmer, Philadelphia (Pa.) St. Joseph's wide receiver Brandon Rehmann, Jefferson (W.Va.) athlete Keyshawn Robinson, and Princeton (W.Va.) athlete Dom Collins.
Out of that group head coach Neal Brown has already expressed confidence that Farmer is one that will definitely see time early at the slot position. He has impressive stop-and-start ability as well as advanced route running for a high school prospect. He also can handle kickoff returns.
“He’ll play early for us,” Brown said.
But with experience comes the weight of expectations and it will be up to a young, but talented wide receiver room to showcase that they’re ready to make the jump.
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