Versatility is a key to depth on WVU's defensive line
West Virginia is banking on a mix of both experience and versatility on the defensive line.
A season ago the Mountaineers were able to go eight to nine deep at times and returns a bulk of that production. Seniors Eddie Vesterinen and Sean Martin both return after playing nearly 500 snaps last season, while incoming transfer TJ Jackson has plenty of experience under his belt at Troy prior to arriving in Morgantown.
Others that seemed primed to make the leap and have seen action include Fatorma Mulbah, Hammond Russell and Asani Redwood after all seeing action up front last year. That's even with promising redshirt freshman Corey McIntyre sidelined with an injury.
“We actually got a lot more depth than we had last year, a lot more people that can play roles,” Martin said.
Martin has worked especially on being able to move around where he can utilize his combination of power and speed with his frame to cause issues for opposing offensive linemen. That has meant spending more time embracing his power and learning techniques to make an impact there.
“Trying to work more power moves instead of trying to run past somebody,” Martin said.
That versatility will be key as many of the pieces on the defensive line are able to move around to fill various roles after cross training there.
For example, Martin can fill in at field or boundary, while Jackson and Redwood are in the same boat. Then you have others such as Vesterinen and Russell that could play nose or boundary giving the defensive line multiple pieces that can move around to maximize snaps.
And that’s exactly what head coach Neal Brown wants.
“I think that if we can stay healthy I like the group. We have some versatility up front,” Brown said.
That doesn’t even include some of the young players on the roster that are making their way this fall camp such as Zach Keith, Elijah Kinsler, Makai Byerson and Nate Gabriel that are currently sticking at one position in order to maximize their reps and accelerate their progress.
It will be critical for one of the first three to especially take that step in order to round out the group. But the coaching staff and players understand that they are still young and have time to grow in their roles.
“One of those three guys have to emerge, and I think they will I just don’t know who,” Brown said.
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