For WVU more pass catchers are wanted this fall
There are no issues at the top of the West Virginia wide receiver rotation.
Three of the top four players at the position return after combining for 192 catches, 2,739 yards and 24 touchdowns meaning that there is plenty to be excited about when it comes to primary pass catchers.
That returning trio consists of seniors Gary Jennings, who led the team in catches and yards, and David Sills, who led the team in touchdowns, along with junior Marcus Simms who is the primary deep threat on the Mountaineers roster. A lot of talent and experience there.
Even as a fourth option Alabama transfer TJ Simmons was one of the standouts of spring giving West Virginia a solid core of wide receivers to build upon heading into the fall.
“You have a veteran group and the best guys with some good touches, good yards and valuable playing experience,” offensive coordinator Jake Spavital said.
But just like what the program encountered last year, behind those four there are some serious questions about which players on the roster are going to rise up and provide some relief.
Last season along with Ka’Raun White, those three returning pass catchers made up almost all of the production at the position for the Mountaineers.
In fact, no other wide receiver on the roster caught over ten passes and only one in the now departed Reggie Roberson caught over five and none of those came outside the non-conference portion of the schedule.
As a result of that many times a season ago players at the position were visibly tired during late comeback attempts due to taking on too many reps and that can’t continue this fall.
“We didn’t have solid backups and those receivers played way too many plays,” Spavital said.
That simply has to change. But who will step up and do just that? Well that is somewhat of an open book at this stage of the process as the Mountaineers are working through who will step up.
In regards to experience, senior Dominique Maiden put together a consistent spring after a series of ups and downs in year one as a player that could step in at one of the outside spots. On the inside, one-time running back Tevin Bush provides a much different option that features some explosion there.
There will be an influx of talent into the program when it comes to the freshman class as well.
Randy Fields was already on campus after arriving in May and the other three in Sam James, Dillon Spalding and Bryce Wheaton were not far behind arriving in early June.
Maiden and Bush are far from set in their roles as backups and just like the now departed Roberson was able to do a year ago, there will be room for those freshmen to get on the field.
The Mountaineers also can help ease some of the concern at the position by mixing in the tight end position as well and creating more three wide receiver sets to cut down on the amount of players at the position that will need to step up and play right away to fill out numbers.
It’s a position brimmed with upside, but again in order for the offense to truly take the next step there will have to be more players ready to catch passes than just the top four on the roster. There has to be more players emerging to give others a breather.
There’s still some more months to sort it out and some headway is being made but questions remain.
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