West Virginia wants to get their best 11 on the field at all times. That means several players trying out different spots this spring in order to accomplish that.

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.

But the Mountaineers want to see more versatility out of him in year two.

“Honestly, we’re really trying to play with two defensive tackles, not a traditional nose guard which is no different than what we’ve been doing,” coordinator Jordan Lesley said. “That’s the way we played with Darius (Stills) too. Having different guys, multiple guys play those positions.”

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. While he doesn’t necessarily look all that much different, he has filled out more from his freshman campaign and is playing at both interior spots.

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.

“If you look at his body type and his attributes his future is definitely a defensive tackle,” he said.

With the loss of Stills to the NFL Draft, the Mountaineers are going to need Mesidor to play a bigger role at that position and because of his success 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.

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.

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