West Virginia looks to build quality depth in the secondary
West Virginia is looking to improve the available depth in the secondary.
The Mountaineers have been aggressive in that department adding seven different players between the cornerback and safety spots with both high school and transfer options.
In the transfer market, the coaching staff was able to add a pair in Ayden Garnes and TJ Crandall.
Garnes, 6-foot, 170-pounds, is coming off a season where he recorded 51 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions and a sack during his sophomore campaign.
The Philadelphia native played a total of 688 snaps and graded out as one of the highest players on the Dukes' roster. His efforts earned him first-team All-NEC honors at the cornerback and nickel spot at the FCS level. He also has the bonus of two years left in his career.
Crandall, 6-foot-1, 185-pounds, received offers from a long list of schools including West Virginia, UCLA, Michigan State, Louisville, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Indiana, California, Purdue, Cincinnati, Wake Forest, Arizona State and Oregon State after entering the transfer portal Dec. 4.
Crandall played 10 games for the Rams as a true freshman last season where he recorded 19 tackles and an interception while earning high coverage grades. A big cornerback, Crandall possesses impressive ball skills and given the fact he had three years remaining in his career made him even more of a priority.
That doesn’t even include the high school options that inked with the program in December such as Cincinnati (Oh.) Colerain 2024 athlete Zae Jennings, Douglasville (Ga.) Douglas County 2024 safety Israel Boyce, Pittsburgh (Pa.) Bishop Canevin 2024 safety Jason Cross, Dunnellon (Fla.) 2024 athlete Chris Henry and Waldorf (Md.) St. Charles 2024 defensive back Keyon Washington.
Out of that list both Jennings and Boyce enrolled in January to start their careers with the Mountaineers.
The effort has been intentional by the coaching staff in order to improve the rooms in the secondary and the work isn’t done as the coaching staff is expected to add several other transfer pieces.
“We’ve got to get more quality depth and players there. We did it in high school, we’re in the process of doing that in the portal,” head coach Neal Brown said.
The focus has been on speed and length instead of simply trying to recruit players to certain spots. That way the coaches can move those pieces around in the spring, summer and fall camp to find their best fit instead of pigeonholing them into one or two positions to provide more flexibility in the back end.
West Virginia also simply needs more quality depth that can play and if you take safety for example last year between Anthony Wilson (787 snaps), Aubrey Burks (703 snaps) and Marcis Floyd (492 snaps) they were asked to fill major roles with little depth behind them.
“We have to get some more guys that can play. Whether that’s freshmen or transfers,” Brown said.
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