By Mark Pszonak
With spring practices ongoing or about to start at most schools, this will be an opportunity for coaches to answer some questions before summer camp. For West Virginia, where practice started on Tuesday, here are three:
1. Will someone emerge as the leader at quarterback?
Everyone knows that Rich Rodriguez is back in town, and with that comes an entirely new offense. This new offense will be led by a new quarterback since Garrett Greene is out of eligibility, so will anyone rise up and grab the opportunity? The most likely candidate is Nicco Marchiol, who did see action in eight games last season. But that isn’t very relevant now due to the new coach/new offense. Pushing Marchiol will be transfer Jaylen Henderson, who arrives from Texas A&M. While Henderson is a redshirt senior, he has only attempted 78 passes while with the Aggies and prior to that, Fresno State. Both have the skillset to shine in Coach Rodriguez’ system, but will either begin to pull away during the spring?
2. How quickly can a completely new offensive line become a cohesive unit?
Most notably, Wyatt Milum and Tomas Rimac are gone, but overall, the Mountaineers lost most of their experience on the offensive line through either graduation or the portal. As a result, there was a deep dive into the transfer portal to add replacements. The additions that will be depended on include Ty’Kieast Crawford (Arkansas), Wyatt Minor (Youngstown State), Robby Martin (NC State) and Will Reed (Princeton). But how quickly will they adapt, get familiar with the offense and possibly lock down specific positions? West Virginia will monitor the situation throughout the spring and likely go back into the spring portal to try and resolve whatever issues still remain, but the better the spring goes the less issues will need resolution.
More Sports News
3. Who still step up at free safety?
The Mountaineers did add two candidates through the transfer portal, but both will be making a big jump in competition. Jordan Walker transferred in from FCS Tennessee-Chattanooga, where he totaled 147 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, four interceptions and nine pass breakups during his time with the Mocs. William Davis is making an even bigger leap, as he arrived from DII Virginia Union. Davis is coming off a 2024 season when he finished with 56 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and two interceptions. Not only are both making a big jump in competition, but they will also be learning a defense led by coordinator Zac Alley, which is considered complicated. There are other options, most notably Jacob Boyce, but Walker and Davis were brought in for the purpose of playing and competing for the starting job. Which of the two will adjust to P4 football quicker?
