Rodney Gallagher growing on both sides of the ball for West Virginia
West Virginia expects Rodney Gallagher to see the field on both sides of the ball this fall.
The sophomore wide receiver has been playing both ways since the fourth practice of fall camp and is something that the coaching staff initially tried in spring football.
“He may be our best man defender right now. He’s going to play,” head coach Neal Brown said.
Gallagher played cornerback in high school and even then displayed the ability to play man coverage even without spending any time working on his craft. But Brown also saw some of those traits that could make it a part-time fit while watching him on the basketball court.
Gallagher was skilled in man defense and was able to stay in front of the opposition and also displayed good ball skills by being active with his hands. Combine that with his change of direction and it at least opened up the possibility for him to get some work on defense.
But he has since expanded that role.
“We put some pressure on him and played him in a lot of run scenarios where he had to tear off blocks and play the run,” Brown said. “We haven’t asked him to do that to this point but when you’re going to play on that side of the ball you’re going to have to do that.”
That move is made possible by the fact that Gallagher has shown the ability to not only physically handle both roles but mentally where they can put in a small package for him to get reps and showcase a different skill set than what he does on offense.
But it’s important to remember that Gallagher’s primary role is at wide receiver and he has continued to get better there by demonstrating two nice catches and runs in the first scrimmage. He finished last year with 10 catches for 74 yards and 15 carries for 87 yards but is looking to be more of a natural fit in the offense as opposed to having to scheme ways to get him the football.
“He’s looking a lot more fluid as a receiver, too,” Brown said. “I’m proud of him because we’re putting a bunch on him mentally and he’s spent extra time here to make doing both ways work.”
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