West Virginia needed to find more experience along the offensive line in the transfer portal and the coaching staff has done that with a commitment from Princeton offensive tackle Will Reed.
Reed, 6-foot-6, 305-pounds, started 19 games for the Tigers over the past two seasons and appeared in a total of 25 bringing some valuable experience with him.
Reed has played a total of 1,010 snaps at the college level including 604 this past season where he graded out at 66.1 according to Pro Football Focus.
The Washington native collected a long list of scholarship offers including Arizona State, Arizona, Stanford, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Memphis, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and UNLV, among others. His recruitment came down to West Virginia and Georgia Tech.
Reed took an official visit to West Virginia Jan. 11 and that was his final scheduled trip. He also made stops at Georgia Tech, Virginia and Arizona.
Reed becomes the sixth offensive line commitment for West Virginia out of the transfer portal joining Tulsa offensive guard Walter Young Bear, LSU offensive guard Kimo Makane’ole, North Carolina State offensive lineman Robby Martin, Arkansas offensive tackle Ty’kieast Crawford and Youngstown State offensive lineman Wyatt Minor.
He is the second that is slated to play the offensive tackle position.
The experienced offensive lineman has one season of eligibility remaining.
WVSports.com breaks down the transfer of Reed and what it means to the West Virginia Mountaineers football program both now and in the future.
The data:
Reed has a lot of experience on the offensive line with 604 snaps this past season and 400 the year before that. He started every single game this past season.
The talented offensive lineman graded out at 66.1 across those offensive snaps and was at 69.7 in the run blocking department. He is an offensive tackle that should be able to provide immediate help for West Virginia up front at a position where there aren’t a lot of current options.
Fitting the program:
West Virginia lost both of their starting offensive tackles to graduation and while there are some options on the roster this is a major addition at a spot where the Mountaineers needed help. Reed became a priority for the coaching staff, and he is a transfer option that has a lot of experience under his belt and drew interest from a long list of power four schools.
The Mountaineers currently only have 13 other scholarship offensive linemen on the roster and several of those aren’t even options at offensive tackle meaning the potential to see the field and make an impact is certainly there for him. West Virginia needed to find immediate options in the transfer portal to help round out the roster and this is a big addition for a lot of reasons joining Crawford in the mix as new tackle additions.
Reed was able to tour the campus and meet with the coaching staff where he clicked with offensive line coach Jack Bicknell and there should be no problems with adjusting to his new surroundings.
Recruiting the position:
Even with six transfer offensive linemen in the fold, West Virginia is still in the process of trying to completely re-make the position group after departures due to graduation and the transfer portal. That means that the Mountaineers are going to make the offensive line a priority moving forward and you can expect that the coaching staff will add several more linemen to the mix but Reed is a critical addition.
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