Rose rising to the occasion for the WVU defensive line

Football can come at you fast sometimes.

West Virginia defensive lineman Ezekiel Rose could be a case study in that.

After arriving from the junior college level last season, Rose worked his way from a rotational player at first to one of the most productive linemen on the roster even supplanting one-time starter Adam Shuler during the course of the year.

Rose finished with 24 tackles and 5 sacks, showcasing his high-energy level and often-referenced motor on the field with his highlight game coming against Iowa State where he recorded a sack, batted down a pass and drew a penalty causing havoc in the backfield.

“He’s a very vocal guy, a high energy guy,” defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said. “He’s definitely a leader up front and always smiling.”

But think about that for a second.

Lost in all of this is just how little experience Rose actually has on the defensive line. A one-time pass-catcher at Clarksdale High School in Mississippi, he only made the move to the defensive line during his senior year of high school. He didn’t really become serious about it until his time at East Mississippi C.C. where he was able to use his unique combination of size and athleticism.

There he worked under former defensive line coach Davern Williams, a former NFL player himself, that started to mold him with the technique aspect of playing the position. It took some time.

It wasn’t an easy transition and admittedly that first year was full of struggles as he attempted to become a player that was worthy of a scholarship to play at the highest level. But eventually the light did turn on and that drew the attention of West Virginia.

The Mountaineers needed help up front and Rose was a somewhat raw, but intriguing prospect given his athleticism and overall motor. After a visit he would commit to the program and enroll for the spring giving him a head start on what he needed to learn to see the field.

But the student quickly has become the master.

Arriving as a junior he now is entering his final season of eligibility and due to departures across the board up front he is now being asked to elevate himself into one of, if not the, leader up front.

It’s a challenge that he’s welcomed with open arms.

“It’s different but I like it. I like the pressure. I like being in charge,” he said. “I like being the one the coaches come to and say what’s going on here or what’s going on there. They’re telling me to fix it.”

First he had to fix some aspects of himself, however, adding over 10-pounds of muscle to his frame to hold up better on the edge as well as increase his understanding of the defense.

One of the biggest adjustments for Rose, an admitted people person, when he first arrived was ironically taking to the coaching that defensive line coach Bruce Tall and Gibson laid out for him. But slowly and surely that happened and it started translating on the field.

“I got used to it,” Rose said.

In Rose, Gibson sees a lot of similarities to one former West Virginia defensive lineman.

“It’s hard to block him one-on-one, he has great size and he’s got pop. He’s got a lot of Noble (Nwachukwu) in him. He can get that arm on them and run. We like where he’s at,” he said.

Now it’s about taking that next step, one that has been made much easier by the fact that Rose now understands what is being asked of him and what he needs to do. Especially considering that the Mountaineers had only five scholarship defensive linemen this past spring.

“It helps in the meeting room and on the field. It helps with practices and when something goes wrong on the defensive line you have to make plays,” Rose said.

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