If the West Virginia offense will be anything in 2017, it will be multiple.
Versatility will be the name of the game for the Mountaineers this fall as the skill position spots are filled with players that can handle multiple roles.
Wide receivers set to flip between outside and inside spots, running backs playing in the slot and tight ends and fullbacks moving across the formation – the Mountaineers could look quite different this fall. That means both with the personnel and the usage of formations.
“You’re going to start seeing guys all over the field,” offensive coordinator Jake Spavital said.
That is a different tendency than West Virginia has had in the past and one that will look to take advantage of the skill sets of the personnel on the field.
At wide receiver, both juniors David Sills and Gary Jennings will see time all across the formation at both inside and the outside spots and both have experience doing both.
It’s technically nothing new for Sills, who spent his entire first year outside, but he has now focused on technique and working on his press release on the outside, something you don’t encounter in the slot.
“Coach Spavital does a great job of getting the guys in good position to get the ball and he knows what we’re good at,” Sills said.
While the Mountaineers will be without sophomore Marcus Simms for at least the opening game and Jovon Durante elected to transfer to Florida Atlantic, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the offense won’t be able to stretch the field vertically by throwing the football.
Spavital still admits that he likes to take shots down the field and it helps matters that redshirt junior quarterback Will Grier can make the necessary throws at all levels. Grier has also shown the football intelligence to know where to go with the football and how to effectively get it there.
“You have to let it open up,” Spavital said.
Sophomore Kennedy McKoy has generated buzz throughout fall camp largely based off what he can do both in the backfield as well as catching the football out of the slot. With Simms suspension, head coach Dana Holgorsen said that McKoy has been the best H inside wide receiver on the roster since last spring and given the numbers at that spot he could see time in a multitude of ways.
That means not only carrying the football, but catching it as well. Because since he was recruited out of high school, McKoy has received praise for his natural pass-catching abilities and now will have the chance to showcase that.
“He's one of our top four guys right now,” Holgorsen said.
And the icing on the cake is what the Mountaineers can do with the fullbacks and tight ends on the roster, using them at multiple spots to create advantages in blocking with an extra gap as well as serving as possible pass-catching options.
That means attached, detached, split out in the slot and everything in between for the position both this year and especially into the future.
Expect redshirt senior Elijah Wellman and redshirt junior Trevon Wesco to be the primary options.
“You’re going to move those guys all over the field, in and out of different sets to keep the defense a little off-guard,” Spavital said.
Versatility is the key.
