Could WVU Go Beyond a Three-Man Rotation at Tight End?

Rich Rodriguez talks about the progression of his tight ends.

WVU Athletics Communications

So far, the depth of West Virginia's tight end room is turning out to be as good as I thought it could be. Rich Rodriguez has liked what he has seen from that group, top to bottom, including the young guys, one of whom has strung together some solid days of practice.

“Ryan Ward is a solid guy. He was having a great summer. He’s a little limited, but he’ll be back here hopefully in a few days. Cam Ball got nicked up a little bit, but he’s a transfer that we really like. Josh Sapp is a transfer we brought in, and Josh, the last couple of days have been his best practices. He’s gotten better and better every day, and he’s played a lot of football. We have some young guys in Kade Bush, Xavier Anderson, Carter Zuliani, Sam Hamilton — they’re all going to be really good players. Kade Bush is probably, of all the young guys has taken the biggest leap in the last week or so.”

How deep will West Virginia go at tight end?

WVU Athletics Communications

Three guys will be heavily rotated into the game — Ryan Ward, Josh Sapp, and Cam Ball- in that order.

Ball may end up being a more situational guy, though, being used mostly in the red zone and in spots where they may want to challenge a defense vertically. His 6'7" frame is challenging for defenses to defend, although he has yet to become a legit threat in the passing game throughout his career. At WVU, though, he's shown flashes of being able to come up with some big catches during the spring and in fall camp.

Ideally, those three stay healthy and play up to expectations, but they really need to have one or two others to come along and be ready to go in a game. As Rodriguez has stated several times, the Mountaineers will play eight games to open the season before getting an open week. They are going to need depth at every position.

True freshman Sam Hamilton looks the part physically, but Kade Bush offers more in the passing game at this stage of their careers. I do think there's a possibility that both see the field early in the year to get their feet wet (before the Virginia game) and then resurface later in the season when they are more comfortable in the system.