7/27/2023 football Edit

What returns for West Virginia football on defense in 2023?

Keenan Cummings • WVSports

Managing Editor

What returns for the West Virginia Mountaineers on the defensive side of the ball? (USA Today Sports Images)

West Virginia finished the season 5-7 in 2022 and it is a big year for the football program for many reasons.

So WVSports.com takes a look at just how much the Mountaineers have set to return in 2023 in regard to both snaps and production on the defensive side of the ball.

So, what do the Mountaineers have coming back?

--West Virginia returns 12 of the top 20 players from last season in terms of snaps played. That list includes No. 1 LB Lee Kpogba (724 snaps), No. 2 S Aubrey Burks (667 snaps), No. 4 S Marcis Floyd (596 snaps), No. 8 DB Malachi Ruffin (449 snaps), No. 10 DL Sean Martin (410 snaps), No. 12 OLB Jared Bartlett (365 snaps), No. 13 S Hershey McLaurin (328 snaps), No. 16 S Davis Mallinger (292 snaps), No. 17 DL Mike Lockhart (269 snaps), No. 18 DL Edward Vesterinen (252 snaps), No. 19 CB Jacolby Spells (246 snaps) and No. 20 LB Lance Dixon (195 snaps).

--Those who will not return for West Virginia are No. 3 DL Dante Stills (599 snaps), No. 5 DL Jordan Jefferson (553 snaps), No. 6 LB Exree Loe (537 snaps), No. 7 S Jasir Cox (505 snaps), No. 9 CB Rashad Ajayi (430 snaps), No. 11 DL Taijh Alston (385 snaps), No. 14 OLB Lanell Carr (319 snaps) and No. 15 CB Wesley McCormick (294 snaps).

--The defensive line was hit hard considering the two most experienced options have exited the program with the graduation of Dante Stills and Jordan Jefferson entering the transfer portal. Those two combined for 1,152 snaps and made up 7.5 of the 15.5 total sacks on the defensive front. When you throw in Taijh Alston, the Mountaineers will only return 6 of the sacks from last season on the defensive line. And Sean Martin accounted for 4 of those over the course of last year.

--Stills will be by far the biggest loss and replacing what he did up front could prove to be highly difficult even after bringing in transfers to help that process.

--Three of the top six in terms of snaps played are gone from the defensive line spot.

--Overall, West Virginia returns 15 of the total 26 sacks recorded on defense. In terms of forced fumbles, the defense only returns 3 of the 7 overall.

--At linebacker, West Virginia returns the most productive player in Lee Kpogba who led the team with 92 tackles in his first season. The Mountaineers must replace Exree Loe, but do return Lance Dixon who could look for a bounce back campaign.

--The Mountaineers return each of the players that recorded the 4 interceptions last year. There is a shakeup in the secondary with three of the top seven departing but return plenty of depth and have added pieces through the transfer portal such as Montre Miller and Keyshawn Cobb.

----------

• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.

• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.

• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel

• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan

•Like us on Facebook