West Virginia Mountaineers: Commitment 101: Evan Powell
The West Virginia football program has added a commitment at a position of need with a pledge from Huntingtown (Md.) 2025 defensive lineman Evan Powell.
Powell, 6-foot-4, 245-pounds, picked the Mountaineers over offers from Memphis, Marshall, Toledo, James Madison, Kent State, Buffalo and a number of others.
The versatile defensive lineman took his official visit to Morgantown over the June 21-23 weekend and that was enough to push the Big 12 Conference program over the top in his recruitment.
The Maryland native had been on the West Virginia radar since the coaching staff jumped into the mix with a scholarship offer for the Gold-Blue game in April and had been recruiting him long before that.
Defensive line coach AJ Jackson and defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley served as the lead recruiters for Powell and he will fill a role for the program at various spots up front ranging from end to tackle.
Powell is the third defensive lineman to commit to West Virginia in the 2025 class behind Nashville (Tn.) Lipscomb Academy 2025 defensive lineman Amir Leonard-Jean Charles and Upper Marlboro (Md.) Wise 2025 defensive end Taylor Brown. He is the 20th commitment overall in the 2025 cycle.
WVSports.com breaks down the commitment of Powell and what it means to the West Virginia Mountaineers football program both now and in the future.
Skill set:
Powell has excellent size on the defensive line and understands how to use his hands at the position. He is a versatile piece up front that can bounce around to fill various roles which makes him an appealing addition.
He is effective against the run and has the quickness to get in the backfield and cause disruption. He is athletic enough to create issues for offensive tackles off the edge but strong enough that he will be able to move around to provide flexibility for the coaching staff moving forward.
West Virginia continues to target prospects that bring a variation of skills to the table and Powell does just that as an player that could end up playing across the board up front.
Fitting the program:
West Virginia has made it a priority to find versatility up front and Powell certainly brings that to the table with the ability to slide around to various positions on the defensive line. That is going to allow him to potentially make a dent on the depth chart as the program will only return nine scholarship defensive linemen next year.
The Mountaineers have gotten into the state of Maryland in recent years and Powell is just the latest example of those efforts. It’s been a key recruiting ground for the coaching staff and his addition is only going to further reinforce that the program is serious in their pursuit of talented players from the region.
Powell has already been to campus on multiple occasions and has a strong connection with the coaching staff so that should help with any transition that comes jumping to the college level.
Recruiting the position:
West Virginia is still actively targeting a number of other options across the various spots on the defensive line with some of those being Cleveland Heights (Oh.) defensive lineman Brandon Caesar and Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh defensive end Elijah Crawford among others.
Expect the Mountaineers to take at least one more and perhaps another depending on numbers available in the class.
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