West Virginia has combination of experience, upside on DL
The West Virginia defensive line returns a lot of key pieces heading into the 2024 season which should make the group a critical part of the unit.
The Mountaineers weren't hit too hard with departures with just nose guard Mike Lockhart and defensive end Tomiwa Durojaiye exiting through the transfer portal, while defensive lineman Jalen Thornton retired and defensive lineman Davoan Hawkins exhausted his eligibility.
Those players combined to record 9.5 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss and saw a total of 1,048 snaps and Lockhart was a starter for the Mountaineers prior to exiting. Of that group, Lockhart was the most productive with 9 tackles for loss while Durojaiye had plenty of potential to continue his upward trajectory.
Those are certainly some key losses, but as a group the defensive line returns a lot of critical pieces along with some impressive additions.
Overall, the Mountaineers return 7 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss from last year's team in starters defensive end Sean Martin and defensive lineman Edward Vesterinen.
Martin will be looking to take an even bigger step forward in 2024 after recording just 1 sack this past season. It's something the coaches are challenging out of him as well as Martin has the potential to be much better this coming season. With Vesterinen, the coaches have praised his consistency and he has gotten better each of his years on the field. This past year he recorded with 4.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks.
West Virginia also will return Fatorma Mulbah who filled in for Lockhart in the Duke's Mayo Bowl and graded out high across his snaps.
West Virginia also was active in the transfer portal bringing in Troy transfer defensive lineman TJ Jackson. Jackson spent three seasons with the Trojans where he was productive across his 36 games on the field. During that time, the Alabama native 94 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks.
This past season Jackson appeared in just 12 games but notched 27 tackles, 7 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks as a key piece up front for Troy grading out as one of the top transfers this off-season along the defensive line.
A versatile defensive lineman, Jackson has the size to play all three downs in the Big 12 and is an athletic pass rusher with plenty of experience under his belt.
And on top of that, West Virginia has several young players ready to make the leap with interior lineman Hammond Russell, defensive lineman Asani Redwood and Corey McIntyre among that list. That doesn't even include the other redshirt and true freshmen such as Oryend Fisher, Zachariah Keith, Nate Gabriel and Elijah Kinsler who are enrolled.
It starts up front and West Virginia believes that they'll have the unit to do just that.
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