Brown Stresses the Importance of Transfers Playing Big Roles

It's no secret that West Virginia has to replace a lot of production at key spots on both sides of the ball. In some areas, they'll be asking guys who have been sitting and developing in the program to slide into an increased role. However, that's not the case for every spot.

WVU head coach Neal Brown addressed the importance of the pieces they landed in the transfer portal playing at a high level in 2023.

"Really to be honest, all those guys that we took in that May transfer window, we need them to play. Tyrin Bradley, he needs to push Jared Bartlett. We need to be able to play both of those guys at the same time. Beanie Bishop, we need experience and he's got versatility. He can play inside and outside, like, we need to get him ready to play. Anthony Wilson, we need a safety with experience. He's played a ton of football and he's a good tackler. Tomi [Durojaiye], we needed somebody that could play and had length. We need him to be a factor. Fatorma [Mulbah], an older guy who was kind of a role guy at Penn State, we need him to increase his role here and really push Hammond [Russell] and Mike [Lockhart] at that position. Noah Massey, last year guy. We wanted a guy that is a big, physical presence at slot receiver. EJ Horton, he was just coming on at Marshall. He's played. He's got a unique skillset and he can really run, so he's going to get plenty of opportunities to go do it."

Last year, the secondary was a colossal mess. They didn't have the depth to overcome injuries and it showed. Miscommunication led to busted coverages all over the place, resulting in several explosive plays in the passing game. I don't get the sense secondary depth is as much of a concern this season. They added multiple pieces through the portal, some that Neal didn't mention, and have some highly skilled guys returning such as Jacolby Spells and Andrew Wilson-Lamp.

To me, it's about what happens up front in the trenches. West Virginia lost three starters off last year's d-line - Dante Stills, Taijh Alston, and Jordan Jefferson. Can Fatorma Mulbah and DayDay Hawkins be a force in the middle? Can Tyrin Bradley be a force off the edge? Is Tomiwa Durojaiye able to contribute this year? Defensively, that's where the biggest concern(s) lies. The Mountaineers have bodies there, it's just a matter of what kind of play they are going to get from these newcomers.

On the other side of the ball, Brown has talked at length about LSU tight end transfer Kole Taylor and NC State wide receiver transfer Devin Carter. But this was the first time he had mentioned Noah Massey (Angelo State transfer) and EJ Horton (Marshall transfer).

Now, I don't believe the expectation is for either of those guys to be heavily targeted but they do need them to produce when there number is called. Massey has terrific size (6'4", 230 lbs) that will play well over the middle, providing some mismatches in the slot. Horton can take the top off the defense or at the very least pose that threat when he's in the game. What they can't have is a major drop off from the starters to the second unit. Again, there's a ton of options in that receiver room, but they need these transfers to contribute even if it's in a specialized role.

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