West Virginia has two open spots to fill when it comes to the 2023 football roster. So where do they go?
The program currently sits at 83 scholarships for next season meaning that there is room to add at least two more to the fold to round out the roster.
Of course that's not the only path as the coaches could provide those scholarships to a current walk-on but for the purpose of this we will examine where those could go to players in the portal.
The Mountaineers have added 14 transfers to date this off-season with wide receiver Devin Carter (North Carolina State), tight end Kole Taylor (LSU), cornerback Montre Miller (Kent State), safety Keyshawn Cobb (Buffalo), defensive lineman Davoan Hawkins (Tennessee State), kicker Michael Hayes (Georgia State) and wide receiver Ja’Shaun Poke (Kent State) all participating in spring ball.
That group of transfers was joined by defensive lineman Fatorma Mulbah (Penn State), defensive back Beanie Bishop (Minnesota), defensive end Tyrin Bradley (Abilene Christian), safety Anthony Wilson (Georgia Southern), defensive end Tomiwa Durojaiye (Kentucky), wide receiver EJ Horton (Marshall) and wide receiver Noah Massey (Angelo State) in the summer.
As for remaining needs, those have remained rather static according to head coach Neal Brown.
“I think from linebacker, defensive line, corner – if somebody enters the portal that can immediately help, we will be in the market as well,” he said.
Linebacker remains a priority concern especially at the WILL with limited experience between the two projected starters having only a handful of snaps between them in Tray Lathan and Jairo Faverus. Those two combined to appear in just 49 snaps spread across four different games.
Meaning that finding another experienced option there could go a long way toward taking the pressure off of those two and allowing them to develop instead of being thrown into the fire.
The second biggest need, at least on the surface, is in the defensive backfield primarily at corner. The Mountaineers addressed the position by adding Kent State defensive Montre Miller. The senior played over 800 snaps across 12 games last season with the Golden Flashes and had some of the best coverage numbers on his team with 2 interceptions and a pair of pass breakups.
Football Scholarship Distribution Chart
The Mountaineers also added two more additional defensive backs in Wilson, an experienced safety with over 2,500 snaps and positional flexibility and Bishop, a graduate transfer that has played 49 games at the college level between his stops at Minnesota and Western Kentucky, after the spring.
Between the two Bishop has the ability to slide in and play corner if necessary.
Finding one of those positions, along with the possibility of defensive line, are the primary concerns but filling those could depend entirely on who enters the portal as a graduate in the coming weeks.
West Virginia will start fall camp at the turn of August and while that date isn’t a cutoff it does help players acclimate to what their roles will be quicker than if they do miss those practices. Still it isn't impossible
“We are still actively pursuing,” Brown said.
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