The West Virginia offensive line is being counted on to take a significant step forward in 2022.

The unit returns all five starters from a season ago for a combined 4,101 snaps between them. It is the first time since head coach Neal Brown took over the program that all five starters return.

It was an uneven campaign last season, with the offensive line playing well against certain teams but struggling against some of the better defenses in the league. If the group is going to take that leap forward this coming season there has to be consistency in that department.

“I think in terms of spring ball, yeah, we improved a lot from last year but I don’t think we’ll ever be to the point where we’re satisfied with our performance,” redshirt junior James Gmiter said.

Offensive coordinator Graham Harrell understands that there is plenty of experience up front and relied on that during the spring. In fact, while some changes were made to the offense that wasn’t the case for the offensive line in terms of the terminology being used.

“Inside zone is inside zone regardless of what you want to call it. If they already know it, why change it for the sake of changing? And protection the same sort of deal,” he said. “At every level but we lot a on the center so if he already has a good grasp of what he’s doing then why change it?”

The offensive line has played a lot of snaps next to each other and this past spring was a showcase of how much that experience brings to the table. Having that type of experience across the board makes everything else easier, especially when they’re playing at a high level.

That was certainly the case this past spring with the unit being one of the most consistent across the roster. Quite a change from last season where the unit struggled and dealt with challenges.

“It’s nice but you have to remember the things people said. You have to keep your receipts,” Gmiter said.

Harrell believes that the offensive line will be the unit that the offense can build around for the future and it started in winter workouts and poured over into the spring.

Now, the goal will be to maintain that level of play throughout the summer and into the fall. And if that occurs this offense could be making some significant steps forward.

“Having an experienced offensive line that’s played a lot of games together and seen a lot of things has been really fun. That group is really, really far along. They’re the most consistent,” Harrell said. “They work well together; they work extremely hard and they were great this off-season.”

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