Musket Blasts: 2014 Needs OL

With summer camp season approaching, WVSports.com takes a look at each position group and what we expect the West Virginia coaching staff to be targeting in the class of 2014. Today we look at the offensive line.

What's on campus and how many will West Virginia take?

Counting the incoming class, West Virginia will have 15 total offensive linemen on scholarship. But out of that group three are seniors with Pat Eger, Curtis Feigt and Nick Kindler, while three more are juniors as Quinton Spain, Mark Glowinski and Stone Underwood each have two years of eligibility remaining. Due to that fact, I expect West Virginia will take their usual allotment of offensive lineman in this cycle with the Mountaineers finishing with somewhere between 3-5 signees.

Who's on board?

West Virginia currently has no commitments.

Who's off of the board?

Several top offensive lineman with offers are already committed to other programs with Quenton Nelson (Notre Dame), Andy Bauer (Ole Miss), Reilly Gibbons (Miami), Kyle Trout (Ohio State), Jimmy Byrne (Notre Dame), Juwan Bushell-Beatty (Michigan), Orlando Brown (Tennessee), Kavaris Harkless (Louisville), Steven Moss (Virginia), Sam Mustipher (Notre Dame), Coleman Thomas (Tennessee), Alex Dalton (Oklahoma), Jarrett LaRubbio (Kentucky) and Jake Sanders (Duke) casting their lots with other programs.

What recruits does West Virginia have the best shot at landing?

Avon (Oh.) offensive tackle Walter Rauterkus is the one prospect that we're watching very closely as West Virginia is currently out front for the rising senior and he's already visited twice. Several others that are interested in the Mountaineers are Westerville Central's (Oh.) Nick Richardson, Niles (Oh.) McKinley's Josh Krok, Middletown's (Oh.) Chance Sorrell, Elkton (Md.) Eastern Christian Academy's Jamie Herr, Weeki Wachee's (Fla.) Marcus Applefield and Woodland Hills (Ca.) Pierce C.C.'s Justin Scott. All of those prospects have either visited or plan upcoming trips to West Virginia.

Are there any longshots?

A pair of prospects that will be very difficult for West Virginia to pull but both have mentioned the Mountaineers in the past are Bethel Park (Pa.) offensive tackle Mike Grimm and St. Petersburg (Fla.) Lakewood offensive guard Isaiah Wynn. The four-star prospects are being courted by many of college football's biggest programs, but have talked about possibly making a visit to West Virginia in the past. Grimm has a close relationship with lead recruiter Tony Gibson as well.