West Virginia is trying to maximize the talent that they have on the football field which has meant some moving and shaking at positions.

One of those is sophomore Akheem Mesidor who impressed across his 243 snaps as a true freshman last season. A total of 55 of those were at the defensive tackle spots, but the majority of his time was spent on the edge where he piled up 40 tackles and 5 sacks in his first collegiate game-action.

Still, it’s not an entirely foreign concept to the Canadian import seeing how a total of 22-percent of his snaps a season ago were spent inside on the defensive line.

The Mountaineers want Mesidor to line up more inside this season and he has already added weight to his frame in order to do it. As part of that transformation, he has filled out more from his freshman campaign and is playing at both interior spots.

And compares favorably to what Darius Stills brought to the table according to coordinator Jordan Lesley who has coached both players.

“Probably a step faster, not as powerful but strength is pretty comparable,” Lesley said.

It’s a move that makes sense for a lot of reasons as Lesley sees Mesidor on the inside as he continues to develop his body at this level. And while size is important, the coordinator places a priority on power and explosion at the spots along the defensive line which Mesidor has plenty of each.

"Coach told me that he thinks I'm the best fit for nose at this moment so he asked if I wanted to play inside and I accepted the challenge," he said. "I'm ready for the challenge and he can put me wherever he wants I'll execute."

With the loss of Stills to the NFL Draft, the Mountaineers need Mesidor to play a bigger role at that position and because of his success he will undoubtedly get more attention.

“Either by protection or where they’re running the ball then the other guys around him have to step up,” Lesley said.

Now, with the adjustment comes needing to learn the nuances of playing inside and he has been focusing on the fundamentals in order to do just that. But the one positive is that Mesidor approaches the game with a love for learning and simply just wants to continue to get better.

“It's a little more challenging due to the fact on the inside I have a lot less space to work with but I'm getting used to it," Mesidor said.

That is evident on a day-to-day deal in practice as Mesidor doesn’t count his reps and just wants to improve regardless of where he is slotted on the defensive line. He simply wants to do what it takes to improve and that includes adjusting to the interior line spots.

“One thing about Akheem is Akheem loves football,” Lesley said.

----------

• 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