1. Why fear the Mountaineers? Watch Neal Brown just haul off and win 8 or 9 games and surprise everyone. Brown’s first year at Morgantown was good, but things have gone downhill since and I think that’s because of quarterback hasn’t quite worked out like he would have liked. Quarterback play can elevate a team and the good news is that CJ Donaldson returns and he’s pretty good as well as Devin Carter at receiver, a transfer from NC State. The problem is that I don’t know that Greene is good enough to elevate WVU and the same goes for Marchiol, if he gets the nod to start. Brown also added some players from big programs via transfer and maybe that talent infusion will help.
2. The Best Jimmy’s and Joe’s. This is a list of players on preseason All-Big 12 teams and I’ll be honest that I didn’t know about Marchiol before this project. Having three offensive linemen mentioned is also a good place to start and players at all 3 levels of the defense will help.
- QB Garrett Greene
- QB Nicco Marchiol
- RB CJ Donaldson
- C Zach Frazier
- OL Wyatt Milum
- OL Doug Nester
- DL Sean Martin
- LB Lee Kpogba
- S Aubrey Burks
3. Transfer Report. Ja’Shaun Poke from Kent State along with Devin Carter from NC State are quality receiver additions while Kole Taylor, a tight end from LSU, were the big offensive additions. Defensive linemen Fatorma Mulbah from Penn State and Davoan Hawkins from Tennessee State and safety Keyshawn Cobb from Buffalo and cornerback Montre Miller from Kent State round out the defensive additions.
4. Tough to Replace. I think Dante Stills was picked in the 6th round and he was so good for WVU for so long. Receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton was also a huge cog in the offense and a physical freak, but don’t think he was actually drafted. I think these were the two biggest players that were part of NFL Draft conversations.
Previous 4 Things Preseason Previews: Baylor; BYU; UCF; Cincinnati; Houston; Iowa State; Kansas; Kansas State; Oklahoma; Oklahoma State; TCU; Texas; Texas Tech; West Virginia
Ed Note. This is what I worked on while on flights. I tried not to get too deep because that would be incredibly difficult to do this for 14 teams and I think most of us want a cursory idea of what opposing teams are. I also found the idea of who is transferring in as more important than the freshmen arriving. That’s definitely changed over the course of years. I also thought that knowing who is being replaced is relevant more than most things.