Like many positions on the West Virginia football roster, tight end has been no different when it comes to using the transfer portal to transform its overall makeup.
The Mountaineers returned redshirt senior Gregory Genross, redshirt junior Colin McBee and redshirt sophomore Noah Braham from last season’s roster. But between them the trio has only played a total of 10 offensive snaps with McBee seeing all of that action.
That meant finding not only experience to supplement but upside and versatility at the position.
During the winter, West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez was able to bring Jacksonville State transfer redshirt senior Jacob Barrick with him from his time with the Gamecocks. Barrick played a total of 614 snaps while appearing across 30 games.
Barrick hauled in 9 passes for 102 yards as a pass catcher, but spent 427 snaps as a run blocker, which will likely be his primary responsibility in Morgantown. He also has experience in the scheme that Rodriguez wants to run, making him a good fit for his final year at the college level.
In terms of a pass-catching option, the Mountaineers added Northern Illinois tight end Grayson Barnes. The 6-foot-5, 225-pounder, spent two seasons with the Huskies, where he hauled in 54 passes for 760 yards and 9 touchdowns as one of the primary pass catchers on the team.
Prior to that Barnes was at American River College for two years and hauled in 61 passes for 907 yards and 5 touchdowns over two years.
Over his two seasons at Northern Illinois, Barnes played a total of 773 snaps and the majority of those were spent as a pass catcher with 510 of those coming in that area. A total of 489 of those were spent as snaps where he was utilized on a receiving route.
Barnes was targeted a total of 94 times over his two seasons with the program. Barnes lined up in the slot 264 times and 215 snaps as an in-line option. The tight end was also used even out wide on 43 snaps during that time, showcasing his overall versatility in his usage.
Like Barrick, he has one year of eligibility remaining and is a different type of player, giving the coaching staff options in the position room.
The most recent addition came in the form of North Carolina transfer Ryan Ward. The 6-foot-3, 245-pounder, only spent one season with the Tar Heels where he appeared across eight snaps as a tight end but has the skill set to be a complete option at the position.
Ward garnered a lot of attention once he entered the transfer portal but boiled down his options to West Virginia and Virginia prior to selecting the Mountaineers. He has three years remaining in his career after primarily appearing on special teams as a true freshman but there’s a lot of room for growth here as there is a lot of potential given more opportunities.
The former three-star prospect was a highly productive tight end at Rutherford High School where he posted 85 receptions for 1,823 yards and 27 touchdowns on offense and will step into a room where he should be able to compete immediately for time.
That’s quite the transformation in a short period of time when it comes to the tight end room and it’s fair to wonder if the movement is entirely over.
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