West Virginia holding battle at WILL LB

Fall camp is the time to determine position battles across the roster and that is certainly what is unfolding at West Virginia at a number of spots.

But one that is intriguing for the purposes of the defense is what unfolds at WILL linebacker. In large part because it is such a question mark and the coaches haven’t denied that.

“If you’re going to ask me defensively what’s the position you’re most intrigued by, it's that WILL linebacker spot,” head coach Neal Brown said. “We’ve got some candidates but a lot of them haven’t played. Over the next two and half weeks, who's going to show they’re ready?”

The battle is currently between Tray Lathan and Jairo Faverus, although there are others that could come into play depending on what unfolds throughout the course of fall camp. The two combined for just 59 snaps on the defensive side last season which means either option hasn’t seen the field much.

Faverus brings a great element in coverage after previously playing defensive back while he also has shown leaps in the run game. He also has been able to add more weight to his frame in order to take on the physical element at the position.

Lathan also has added 11-pounds to his frame and is faster. You have been able to see his development since the spring and summer and offers some impressive upside.

"It's really an open job mixing and matching those groups," inside linebackers coach Jeff Koonz said.

Koonz job will be to rank them in order to determine who will get the job and the program is cross training with others such as Tirek Austin-Cave and freshman Ben Cutter among others to challenge for the job.

It’s a spot that West Virginia tried to address through the transfer portal but was unable to do so with a veteran in order to add experience into the mix. So, now the question becomes which emerges?

To put it simply the one that plays with the most effort at the point of attack and is the most physical over the course of fall camp.

Defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley acknowledges that the position is a question mark in his unit but is excited about the players competing there. The plan is to go through some tough evaluations over the course of fall camp in order to figure out not only who is the starter but the rotation.

“We’ll probably know sooner than then but we don’t know it now and that’s a really tough competition right now,” Lesley said.

Lathan is a player that Lesley mentioned by name when asked about defenders that have shown big improvements and it makes sense considering he was just a true freshman last year.

“A young player. You look at that WILL linebacker position and it’s probably where we need him to make an impact,” he said.

The hope is that all of the position battles will resolve themselves sooner rather than later but the Mountaineers aren’t looking to force the issue. But due to the situation there, this could end up being a situation where multiple players could end up filling that slot.

But it’s hard to know how it will shake out until the players get into a game.

“You can only put them in situations in practice to see if that’s the case,” he said.

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