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!!!