Leadership a constant for WVU's veteran offensive line
Over the past three seasons, West Virginia's Brandon Yates has totaled 2,081 snaps. That experience has helped him and his fellow offensive linemen become leaders for the Mountaineers.
Between Yates, Wyatt Milum, Tomas Rimac, Ja'Quay Hubbard, and Nick Malone, there is a lot of returning experience on the O-line. All five guys registered at least 400 snaps in 2023 and are not only stepping up as leaders up front for the Mountaineers but also for the entirety of the team.
"All of us, we have a very strong bond and chemistry in that room. Every guy wants to not disappoint the next guy next to him. You can see that on the field last year and it definitely improved since the spring until now. We all gel together really well, we all know each other’s strengths, we all know each other's weaknesses and we all play pretty strong for one another," Yates said.
WVU lost Zach Frazier and Doug Nester who were two starters on the O-line last season. In their places comes Hubbard and Malone, two guys who have rotated in for large chunks of snaps in the past.
"Wyatt he does a good job, he’s the leader in the group, he does really good things. Tomas, he’s not the most outspoken guy but he worked extremely hard and he’s a genetic freak, I’d brag on Tomas all day long," Hubbard said, later adding, "Ja’Quay he’s a high-energy guy. Nick Malone, I love that guy, he loves to joke around, he loves to keep things pretty light. He’s pretty good as well, he does the right things, he’s a vocal leader in the room as well. We all do pretty well in being a leader to the team and being a leader to each other."
With the experience comes the responsibility for the guys up front comes an increased expectation to lead.
"Everybody is a leader in that room, we have to be a leader of the whole team. We’re the oldest guys on this team so we all got to lead very differently. Everybody looks at us, we’re the biggest people on the field, we’re the giants on the field and to not have high energy the whole team is like, if they don’t have high energy, why do I need to be? So, we got to all be high energy and we all got to be leaders in the room. We all use that and gel together really well," Yates said.
The five of them combined for 6,906 career snaps since the start of the 2021 season and are hoping that experience carries over to their play on the field this season.
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