West Virginia football freshmen thrown into the fire on the defensive line

Make no mistake about it both true freshmen on the defensive line are going to play this fall.

If you don’t want to take my word for it, perhaps you’ll listen the man who coaches them on a day-to-day basis.

“It’s a total disservice to any freshman in your program if you don’t play them four games,” position coach Jordan Lesley said. “Why would you not?”

See unlike in the past, Lesley has the benefit of the new redshirt rule in his pocket when it comes to getting those young linemen into games. The rule provides a window of up to four games that a freshman can appear without losing a season of eligibility so it isn’t essentially a roll of the dice.

The prime reason for doing it even at a position as physically demanding as the defensive front even if a player isn’t necessarily ready for it?

“There’s nothing more valuable than experience,” Lesley said.

It does help matters that both Jordan Jefferson and Jalen Thornton are both further along than even Lesley expected them to be. Both are playing the nose guard position because it is the simplest of the positions to learn when it comes to understanding responsibilities.

Down the road that could shift for Thornton as he is equipped with the proper size and athleticism to play defensive end but Jefferson isn’t expected to play anywhere else but nose.

Jefferson’s strength comes in his power and he is equipped to hold up the center with 81-inch arm length, while Thornton has been well-coached and has a sense of understanding about him.

“They’re willing to learn and they’ve accepted it. I told them the first day that they didn’t have the luxury to be a freshman. It’s grow up now or don’t but either way the fire is coming and I’m about to throw you in it,” Lesley said.

Those words have certainly held true throughout fall camp as Lesley has routinely thrown both freshmen into the mix to get them work against the first team offense. It might not be something that either is fully prepared for but the experience is the best lesson.

The encouraging thing is that even in those situations, regardless of the result neither freshman has buckled under the pressure.

“They don’t blink,” he said.

The focus for now is for each to focus on what they do well, master that and then go onto the next step.

The goal for West Virginia is to have at least nine players in the mix on the defensive line for rotational purposes and while there are some ways to go, it seems both are going to have a legitimate shot to make the most of their four-game audition this fall and possibly see even more.

Still, Lesley is encouraged by the growth of both in a short period of time and that has allowed for him to feel a little better overall about the quality of depth he has at his disposal.

“I’m extremely happy with both of them right now,” he said.

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