Freshmen Faces: S Davis Mallinger

Height: 6'1" Weight: 176

Hometown: Cocoa, Florida

High school: Cocoa

Power Five Offers: Illinois, Mississippi State, Rutgers, South Carolina, Tennessee.

Group of Five Offers: Central Florida, Florida International, Toledo.

Evaluation: Mallinger's best asset is his speed. There's a reason he was also recruited as a receiver by several other schools. He knows how to make plays with the ball in his hands and is very reliable with the football. Although he will be playing on the defensive side of the ball in Morgantown, I'd be willing to bet that Neal Brown will give him an opportunity to return kicks and punts - an area where Brown wants more explosive plays from. With the speed he has, it enables him to cover a lot of ground in the back end, making pass coverage no issue. The biggest question will be whether or not he can fill out his frame and be a downhill safety that can lay the lumber on a receiver coming over the top and if he can stop the run if he's asked to play near the box any.

Playing time projection: According to head coach Neal Brown, the talent is there but the weight is not. At least not yet for Mallinger who is still growing into his body. Comments like that from the head coach lead me to believe that we are likely to see Mallinger redshirt. He could get some special teams opportunities and a few snaps here in there in non-conference action but won't see any meaningful snaps in 2021.

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