Five Corners Battling for a Starting Spot on WVU's Defense

WVU Co-Defensive Coordinator/secondary coach ShaDon Brown feels really good about the back end of the Mountaineer defense and it's the first time since he's been on the job that the team has actual depth at corner.

In year's past they could really only count on two guys and maybe a third to make plays on the ball and prevent explosive plays from happening. This year, Brown believes he's got five corners that will see the field, all of which are battling for a starting job.

"We've got depth. We're going to play all five. If guys have shown the ability to play at this level, in this league, we're going to play all five. I feel like they've earned that. And I feel like you can't create depth if you don't play them, especially early. Last year, we had the injuries really early, 12 plays into the year, to our best player back there which caused a panic. I think now we have enough depth we can put any of those five out there at corner and feel good about those guys."

The Mountaineers have a healthy mix of young, high ceiling players in that room to go along with some savvy veterans.

One of the highest-rated recruits Neal Brown and his staff have landed since arriving in 2019 resides in that corner room, Jacolby Spells. He made a name for himself early on last season by picking off Virginia Tech QB Grant Wells and returning it for a touchdown. He made a few other plays throughout the season, but struggled with consistency, which was expected.

"The guy that's probably made the biggest jump in the room is Jacolby Spells," ShaDon Brown said. "Jacolby, last year, was a little bit trial by fire. He was 177 pounds. He was probably out there before he should have been but because of injuries...you know if you put a freshman out there in the Big 12, it's difficult. He's really changed his body. He's up to 187 pounds now. He's one of the strongest. He's over a 330 bench press guy, for a freshman that was benching probably 225 last year."

Like Spells, speedy redshirt sophomore Andrew Wilson-Lamp has also made a ton of progress thanks to spending a great deal of time with strength coach Mike Joseph and is ready to compete for a significant role.

"He's made an unbelievable jump just as far as physicality and gained some weight to help him play a lot stronger at this level and he came on a little bit down the stretch for us," said Brown. "Andrew, when he first came in, he was probably 158 pounds. He was a beanpole. And now, he's in the 177-178 range. For him it doesn't look like a whole lot. For you and I, it'd be a whole lot, right? Gain 20 pounds? But he's done a really good job. He's gotten stronger and more confident because he is stronger. And he can really run. He always could run. He could run for days. He's one of those guys that does not get tired. I think playing him a little bit down the stretch last year gave him some confidence going into this offseason to come in with some confidence that I can play at this level. He's playing at a high level."

Those two are the future of the West Virginia secondary and perhaps the present. But for insurance, WVU went out and added two veterans via the transfer portal in Montre Miller (Kent State) and Beanie Bishop (Minnesota).

"He was here early on in the spring and is someone who is starting to get a good grasp of what we're doing," Brown stated when asked about Miller. "He's a guy that I feel very comfortable having out there at any point."

As for Bishop, he's wasted very little time anointing himself as the leader among the group.

"A guy that just came in this summer who's done an unbelievable job just from a leadership standpoint. He's the alpha in the room. He's already taken on the leadership role in the room. For only being here two months, you wouldn't think that would be the case. But his personality is a leadership alpha personality. He's done a great job.

"It was imperative that we found a guy that could lead and had an alpha male mentality. I didn't know that Beanie would be that this quick. I knew he had those traits about him. He's a guy that holds people accountable, but he's going to be accountable as well."

Bishop began his career at Western Kentucky where he was an all-conference performer before moving on to Minnesota for the opportunity to play major college football. He had a minimized role with the Gophers, but that won't be the case here in Morgantown. He could end up locking down one of the two starting spots.

And then finally, you have the man who ShaDon calls steady Eddy, Malachi Ruffin.

"He's been here for six years. He knows every position and he's doing a great job in a leadership role. I feel very comfortable putting him out there. Now coming back as a sixth-year player, he's really confident. He knows his job. He plays really hard. He can play multiple positions even without practice. He can play on all four special teams. He's probably one of those guys you don't write a lot of articles about and you're probably not going to get a lot of clicks with his name, but as a coach, you're always looking for him.

You can follow us for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on Twitter:

Facebook - @MountaineersNow

Twitter - @MountaineersNow and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_.