West Virginia looking for pieces to emerge at WR
West Virginia has options at wide receiver – but they have to prove they’re up to the task.
The Mountaineers lost all four of their top pass catchers from last season with Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Sam James electing to enter the 2023 NFL Draft then Kaden Prather and Reese Smith entering the transfer portal with eligibility remaining in their careers.
Theoretically each of those options could have returned but in the end none of them will for the 2023 season. And out of the 403 total targets, that group reeled in a total of 295 of those.
In terms of actual production, the wide receiver room lost 179 catches, 2,126 yards and 17 touchdowns which is 85-percent of the total catches, 87-percent of the yards and 89-percent of the scores at the position last year leaving some massive opportunities behind for those on the roster.
And when it comes to experience at the power five level, only North Carolina State wide receiver transfer Devin Carter checks the box. That’s because Carter started over 40 games for the Wolfpack and hauled in 118 catches for 1,906 yards and 10 touchdowns while playing a total of 2,264 snaps over his four seasons in Raleigh at the wide receiver spot.
That’s by far the most production of any of the options on the roster in terms of making an impact at a power five program as the rest of the room is relatively inexperienced or young.
“We’ve got to go out and do it but I’m comfortable with where the room is at,” head coach Neal Brown said. “We’ve big and physical outside, we’ve got some changeup guys that can really run, and our slot receivers have caught the ball well and we’ve blocked well on the perimeter.”
The Mountaineers have options outside of Carter like Cortez Braham, EJ Horton, Jeremiah Aaron, Noah Massey, Jarel Williams, Ja’Shaun Poke, Preston Fox along with several others and a pair of impressive true freshmen in inside wide receiver Rodney Gallagher and outside option Traylon Ray.
Brown has already made it clear that the two freshmen will play in the season opener although he has yet to determine just how much that will be. That could depend on their overall development and if they prove that they can handle the load of playing wide receiver at this level.
The majority of the receivers are able to play inside, or outside which provides flexibility, but the coaches are trying to keep players that are either new to the program or a certain body type at one spot.
West Virginia has definitely caught the ball better in the leadup to the season while showing discipline in the process which is a testament to the work position coach Bilal Marshall has done.
The focus is making sure the two-deep is in place for the opener and this week was critical to that.
“The two deep at receiver is going to continue through this week,” he said.
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