Wyatt Milum has seen his college career pass in what seems like the blink of an eye.
The in-state native signed with West Virginia in the 2021 class as a heralded recruit with a long list of major scholarship offers but elected to stay home and play for the Mountaineers.
During his career, Milum has started 43 of 48 games and hasn’t allowed a sack since his freshman season. He is considered as one of the rising offensive tackle options for the upcoming NFL Draft and has increased his Pro Football Focus grade in every collegiate season topping out at 89.7 in his final year.
“You know, my college career is like a blur. It's went extremely fast. I'm extremely grateful to be able to play college football here,” Milum said.
And the senior left no doubt that he will be appearing in the 49th game of his career.
“I plan on playing the bowl game. I want to finish the season with the guys. I feel like that's the right thing to do. That's just my personal opinion,” he said. I want to play in the bowl game. So, that's what I plan to do. That's what I want to do. Yeah, that's what I want to do.”
Interim head coach Chad Scott said that while Milum will play in the game he has had talks with him about how much given his potential future at the NFL level.
"We’re continuing to have talks. He’s practicing, not sure how much he’s going to play in the game but up until this point he’s practicing," he said.
But Milum has indicated he will play as much as he is permitted.
Milum has seen himself develop in a lot of different ways during his time working under offensive line coach Matt Moore and with what has taken a lot of hard work and maturing within the game. The senior offensive tackle credits Moore with how he has been able to nurture his game and helped him grow.
“The biggest thing I reflect on is how much I've grown and matured and just learned the game of football since being here,” he said.
One of the biggest things that Milum has learned over the course of his college career is simply the importance of body maintenance and taking care of that aspect of his development. Because while the college season is long, what he will encounter at the next level is going to be even more extended.
So, Milum has gotten accustomed to using the light beds, cold tubs and recovery boots.
“After you do it a while, it just becomes like a routine. So, like, I'll just go, like, every morning, I get here a couple hours before the meetings, and I do light bed, and I do my shoulder work, and then I go do, it's like rehab, whatever's bothering me,” he said. “So, it really just turns into a routine.”
While Milum isn’t focused on the next level for now, he does have some insight into what to expect when he gets to that point from two of his close friends in Zach Frazier and Doug Nester. Those two went through the NFL Draft process a year ago and they’ve discussed what it will be like.
“I'm not really worried about that stuff right now. I'm still just worried about the season. But, yeah, they've helped me with that process, just telling me what's going to come and everything,” he said.
But for now his focus is on his final game in a West Virginia uniform.
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