The 2024 West Virginia football team returns plenty of proven production in key spots across the roster, but head coach Neal Brown has several newcomers and young players that have his attention.
The Mountaineers return three starters on the offensive line in left tackle Wyatt Milum, left guard Tomas Rimac and right guard Ja’Quay Hubbard while others such as center Brandon Yates and right tackle Nick Malone have played a lot of snaps.
Still, the head coach is intrigued by the development of two redshirt freshmen offensive linemen: left tackle Johnny Williams and right tackle Nick Krahe
In terms of a newcomer to the program, the one that Brown highlights is true freshman wide receiver DayDay Farmer who enrolled at West Virginia in June to start his career.
“Runs really well, have been impressed with his work ethic. He has great ball skills. He has to get stronger but fully anticipate on him contributing early,” he said.
Farmer is an explosive athlete who is set to begin his career in the slot. He has impressive stop-and-start ability as well as advanced route running for a high school prospect. He also can handle kickoff returns and was a late addition to the class largely due to the efforts of wide receivers coach Bilal Marshall who was able to flip his commitment from another Big 12 school in UCF.
On the defensive side, Brown is excited to see the progression of a pair of defensive back transfers in former Colorado State cornerback TJ Crandall and safety Kekoura Tarnue.
Crandall enrolled at West Virginia in the spring but was only able to practice twice due to a nagging hamstring injury but is an athletic cornerback who could challenge for a role at that position. He spent only one season with the Rams where he recorded 19 tackles and an interception after appearing in 10 games.
Tarnue didn’t enroll until after spring ball but has caught the attention of Brown for several reasons.
“I’ve been really impressed with his maturity. He’s a really good athlete,” he said.
The Liberia native spent only one season with the Gamecocks where he recorded 53 tackles and 3 interceptions to go along with 7 passes defended. He entered the transfer portal in April 16.
During his lone year at Jacksonville State, Tarnue played 628 snaps and graded out strong in coverage permitting just 26 of 45 passes to be completed for 263 yards and zero touchdowns. He is slated to play cat safety for West Virginia when fall camp opens.
The final newcomer that has the attention of Brown doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise in true freshman defensive back Zae Jennings after a strong performance in the Gold-Blue spring game. Jennings has proven capable that he will have a role on this team this coming season.
“He’s going to help us on defense and special teams,” he said.
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