West Virginia looks for growth from roster in all spots

Team chemistry isn’t built overnight. And in the world of today’s college football it’s built over stages.

Around 60-percent of the roster is in place in January, with that number growing to around 90-percent in the summer and then finally the team is pretty much in place by the time fall camp begins.

And with those changes comes adjustments to the identity and personality of a team that really won’t truly show its true colors until they hit their first real adversity once the season begins.

But early returns are that head coach Neal Brown likes the makeup of his team.

“I like that this team has a youthful energy about it. They're excited, they’re a confident group. They’re a group that is really hungry right now, has a chip on their shoulder, They’re fun to coach,” he said.

The hope is that this group, which was picked 14th in a 14-team league, can take on the same personality as some successful teams in the past that have overplayed preseason expectations.

“That's kind of the personality of our program; it's always been somebody that's overlooked a blue collar program,” Brown said.

Still, that adversity will truly challenge the group when the time comes and Brown will have a better handle on what he has with this team although he does believe there are improvements over last year. For one, the team speed is better and depth across the board is as well. That isn’t the case in every spot, especially at linebacker and while he’d like to be better in others the Mountaineers do have enough capable bodies to have two full-units to get in work during practice.

West Virginia, like most teams, relied on a mix of returning players, incoming transfers and freshmen to rebuild the roster this off-season. Time will tell if the efforts were successful but Brown does believe that the transfers that the program brought in this off-season should help given their experience.

“I think the guys that have played a lot of football it’s an easier transition,” he said.

There is going to be an expectation that all of those late window transfers that were added after spring ball are going to need to step in and play ranging from pass rusher Tyrin Bradley, safety Anthony Wilson, defensive end Tomi Durojaiye, defensive lineman Fatorma Mulbah and wide receivers EJ Horton and Noah Massey.

“We need them to play,” he said.

The one position that remains a question mark is at WILL linebacker where a pair of returning players in Tray Lathan and Jairo Faverus are listed on the depth chart while others could be in the mix as well given the similarity to the MIKE spot. Regardless, somebody is going to need to step up.

“Over the next two and half weeks, who's going to show they’re ready?” he asked.

Much of the talk this off-season has centered around the transfer additions but the biggest jumps on this team are going to come from those players that were already on the roster and either played minimally or were too young to see the field. That is true at linebacker and especially in the defensive backfield where the Mountaineers need those players to take steps forward.

“That’s going to make our football team the guys that made a jump from a year ago,” Brown said.

That’s especially true because while West Virginia still has two open scholarships Brown doesn’t expect those to be filled by outside transfers given the lack of impact options available in the transfer portal. Instead the plan is to reward walk-ons that earned the opportunity.

Which again, puts the current roster and its development center stage with the hopes that the team is ready to take the next step this fall.

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