Who Will Replace The Top Seniors?
There is talk and concern about who will replace WVU’s top seniors. Let us begin by looking at the top seniors by position;
Defense: Offense:
CB Terrell Chestnut OL Russell Haughton-James
CB Ricky Rumph OL Marquis Lucas
S K.J. Dillon TE/FB Cody Clay
S Karl Joseph
LB Nick KwaitKoski
LB Jared Barber
LB Isaiah Bruce
LB Shaq Petteway
LB Edward Muldrow III
DL Kyle Rose
LS John DePalma
P Nick O’Toole
Now let us look at the non-seniors with playing time, and potential players;
Defense: Offense:
CB Nana Kyeremeh – rJr OL Grant Lingafelter – rSo
CB Daryl Worley – Jr OL Tyler Orosky – rJr
S Jarrod Harper – rJr OL Adam Pankey – rJr
S Jeremy Tyler – Jr OL Yodny Cajuste – rFr
S Shane Commodore – rSo OL Kyle Bosch – Jr
S Dravon Askew-Henry – So TE/FB Elijah Wellman – rSo
LB Justin Arndt – rJr
LB Sean Walters – rJr
LB Xavier Preston – So
LB Al-Rasheed Benton – rSo
DT Larry Jefferson – Jr
DT Christian Brown – rJr
DT Darrien Howard – Jr
DT Nobel Nwachukwu – rJr
K/P Josh Lambert – rSo
K Mike Molina – rSo
The offense has few seniors. There are no seniors at the receiver, running back, and quarterback positions.
As you look at these list you’ll notice that there are a lot of back-up players with game experience and some new players who will get game experience this season. There are other players who will work their way into the rotation, before the season ends.
What this means is that WVU has lots of depth at every position. There will be four players greatly missed come next season and all are on defense: S Karl Joseph, S K.J. Dillon, LB Jared Barber and LB Nick Kwaitkoski. Thus, out of the 22 seniors these 4 players will be the hardest to replace.
However, at Safety, Dravon Askew-Henry appears to up to the task, for he is one of the hardest hitters this season along with Joseph, Dillon, and Kwaitkoski. These 4 players hit as hard, if not harder, than just about anyone playing college football.
Knowing this I don’t see much of a decrease in the performance of WVU’s defense in 2016 or 2017. The offense is young and has a couple of years to play together. The 2015 season will allow this group to grow and mature as a unit, making them a much better offense in 2016 and 2017.
When Holgorsen came to WVU in 2011, it was his first job as a college head coach, and being human he made some bad choices which set boyh him and WVU back. If we learned anything from 2014, we should have learned that Holgorsen has this team going in the right direction.
The 2015 offense being young and lacking experience will hurt them, and most likely they will lose some close games, but come 2016 this offense will be more skilled and experienced veteran players, especially across the offensive front.
The depth of the WVU football team as a whole is building, and this team is on the move not only in ratings, but in 2016 and 2017 this team will be a force to be reckoned with in the Big 12 and could be a contender for a national title. If you read that Holgorsen doesn’t appear to be worried, why should he be? He is building a team with depth and talent at all positions, and now has the coaching staff to get the job done.
I am excited about seeing this team play this season, and watching it get better throughout the season. However, I’m even more excited at watching this team in 2016 and 2017, that is when this team will rise to the top.
GO EERs!!!