Depth, quality of it, improving on the WVU roster
Depth has been a buzzword surrounding West Virginia football for quite some time, but looking up and down the roster the Mountaineers have appeared to have found it.
While you can use the word in a number of ways, it ultimately comes down to simply having more bodies on the practice field.
Quality depth is what truly separates many college football programs from the pack and the Mountaineers are starting to generate just that.
Al-Rasheed Benton has been with the program five years as a redshirt senior and has noticed a seismic shift when it comes to the topic of depth on the roster. As a freshman, he was required to take a high number of reps just in order to fill out the practice as many of the first teamers at the time did the same.
That isn’t exactly the case around camp Mountaineer anymore.
“Now we have a lot of guys that can contribute and understand their role and what we need of them,” he said. “We can get guys in there and get guys different reps.”
But what are the benefits of having quality depth?
For one, West Virginia now simply has more options to choose from when it comes to filling out the depth chart and inserting players into game situations. But there first has to be a trust established from the coaches and other players on the field before that can happen.
That has cultivated over the past several seasons with more players getting into the program and buying into the message as well as addressing needs through recruiting.
“The guys we have here are helping other guys understand the scheme and mentoring them so it’s pushed them along even further. In other years we may have had some guys that aren’t ready at this point but we have more guys ready,” Benton said.
The work that West Virginia has done in the off-season with strength and conditioning coach Mike Joseph also has helped put players into a position physically where they can contribute.
Adding to that fact is that head coach Dana Holgorsen said that more players than ever are testing out as "elite," during the off-season programs. The elite tag is designated to those players that perform at high levels in strength, speed and agility training.
The typical number for that in the program at one time is around four to five total players, with most being NFL type talent, but this season that number is three to four times that and there are three freshmen that met that mark in Dylan Tonkery, Brendan Ferns and Jacob Long. That's progress.
For the first time in several years, West Virginia has multiple bodies that could contribute on every spot on the roster and that also aids on the practice field. While more reps are required when the numbers are low, having a stocked cupboard relieves some of that strain.
“I can tell a huge difference in the way we’re all feeling, morale,” sophomore defensive end Reese Donahue said. “It’s nice to have that kind of depth and not only is it depth but it’s people I feel I can rely on as well.”
It’s been part of a process since West Virginia made the move to the Big 12 Conference to build depth on the roster after realizing that while the first 11 could contribute, the situation was murky behind them. Now, only five years later the Mountaineers are trending upward in the depth department.
And that’s good news for everybody.
“We have a lot of guys in a lot of different positions,” Benton said.