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Perhaps no position group was left more vacant than West Virginia’s wide receivers following the end of last season.

With the departures of David Sills and Gary Jennings, two players who accounted for more than 45 percent of the team’s receiving yards last season, the Mountaineers are looking for more production out of their returning upperclassmen and build depth with the underclassmen.

Four redshirt freshmen in Sam James, Bryce Wheaton, Dillon Spalding and Randy Fields will be counted on to not only add depth but also step up and contribute this season.

“We have that group of redshirt freshmen, there’s four of them, and they all redshirted last year,” head coach Neal Brown said. “A couple of them got to play in games, Sam did, Bryce played a little bit. I think both of them have really good skill sets, and they play off each other really well.”

With each of these players seeing very little to no playing time last season, the best way to develop experience for this group, according to Brown, is simple.

“We just have to let them play,” Brown said after the team’s fourth spring practice on March 26.

“I think that, early through four practices, Bryce Wheaton has done some things. He looks like a redshirt freshman at time, and he has to grow. Randy Fields, I’ve been really pleased with him. We’ve moved him around a bunch. Sam James has shown some flashes,” he added.

According to Brown, this young group had some positive contributions during the team’s scrimmage last Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium.

The scrimmage portion of practice was closed to the media, but in his summary, Brown said James scored a touchdown with the help of a “really good” double-move in the red zone and made some plays on screens. Wheaton also added a long touchdown of 35-40 yards.

Both James and Wheaton have been working as outside receivers and opposite of each other.

“Bryce is a big guy that has a huge catch radius, which quarterbacks like to throw to, especially down in the red zone,” Brown said. “Sam is explosive. So, we’re playing them opposite right now.”

Spalding, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury in preseason camp last August, also got in on the action during Saturday’s scrimmage.

“Dillon Spalding made a couple of really nice plays down in the red zone, which was good to see,” Brown said.

The wide receiver position is expected to be led by former Alabama transfer and redshirt junior T.J. Simmons, who Brown called the “catalyst” offensively.

After sitting out a season and racking up 341 receiving yards on 28 catches and a touchdown last season, Simmons is the team’s most experienced receiver alongside Marcus Simms, but Simms is currently away from the team and “dealing with a personal issue” according to Brown.

With Simmons looking poised for a breakout season and others such as junior Tevin Bush expected to take on a larger role, neither of the redshirt freshmen, specifically James and Wheaton, won’t be looked upon to be the main targets as of now and still have some work to do according to Brown.

“I’m pleased with them, I think both of them have a long way to go to be go-to guys, but they both had some bright spots today,” Brown said.

Timing will also become a key factor in the growth and development of the quarterbacks, receivers and passing game overall. This area, like the young receiving corps, is still a work in progress according to Brown and some progress was made during practice as well as the scrimmage.

“It’s not where you need it to be,” Brown said. “It’s improving, part of it is we’re repping three quarterbacks, and we have a lot of young receivers. But it was better. You could see the difference with the very beginning to the very end.”

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