West Virginia head coach Neal Brown didn’t beat around the bush when asked about whether he addressed all of his remaining roster needs through late additions.
“We probably wanted to add one defensive back but we never want to stretch and it’s easy to turn those scholarships over to the next class. I feel good about what we have but we’re just going to be relying on some freshmen,” he said.
Brown admitted that he understands most coaches would simply admit that they filled all of their needs, but he’s placing confidence in the freshmen in the defensive backfield moving forward.
That’s not to say he isn’t pleased with what the program was able to add after spring ball completed though as the Mountaineers were able to address many of their roster holes.
Outside of Doug Nester, who competed in the spring and is in line for a major role on the offensive line this fall, the Mountaineers added a total of five other transfers. Four of those came from the traditional transfer ranks and another was a late addition junior college player.
The list includes linebacker Lance Dixon (Penn State), linebacker DeShawn Stevens (Maine), cornerback Charles Woods (Illinois State), defensive lineman Darel Middleton (Tennessee) and JUCO safety Caleb Coleman. Each was a necessity to add to the program and the Mountaineers found a quality fit.
Dixon is being slotted at WILL linebacker and is currently competing with Exree Loe for that role. A big, athletic linebacker, Dixon has excellent length and can run sideline to sideline. What’s even more appetizing is that Dixon should have four seasons of eligibility remaining in Morgantown.
Stevens is a much more experienced option after playing over 20 games with the Black Bears. He is being targeted as a MIKE linebacker and has the skill set that the Mountaineers want there.
“We think he’s got a bevy of skills that fit what we want to do. At Maine, they used him very similar to how we’re going to use him. They blitzed him quite a bit and blitzed interior and exterior and he stood up and played in the box as a big physical guy,” he said.
Woods was an honorable-mention FCS all-American at Illinois State and has been a quick learner since he arrived in Morgantown and has simply gone to work every single day. He was one of the priority adds for the program due to the need at the cornerback spot.
The same can be said for Coleman, who has bounced back and forth between the spear and safety spots and displayed his ability to run as well as his length at the position.
"In our eyes having the year he’s got college experience that really has the same eligibility as a high school kid," coordinator Jordan Lesley said.
The final and most recent addition was Middleton who arrived only a few weeks ago and stands out from a physical perspective due to how he has changed his body and gotten leaner than when he played for the Volunteers a season ago. The expectation is that Middleton is going to be a big factor for the West Virginia defensive line as the season develops but that will take some time.
“The position we’re asking him to play he’s going to play on the edge, he’s going to play head up, he’s going to play three-technique and all the things we ask Dante to do we’re going to use him in the same way,” Brown said.
And because of how much the interior defensive line is asked to move around that simply takes some time to get down the timing and what they’re being asked to do.
But even missing out on one defensive back, Brown believes that he has improved his roster through the transfer portal with a nice mix of talent and experience.
And that’s exactly what he set out to do.
----------
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan
•Like us on Facebook
