Rich Rod Admits WVU’s Defensive Line is Still a Concern Despite Portal Upgrades

Everything keeps West Virginia head football coach Rich Rodriguez up at night. Okay, maybe I'm just putting words in Rich Rod's mouth, but I bet that would be the answer to the question of what truly concerns him heading into the 2025 season.

The defensive line group is one of the few areas on the roster that has several returning pieces from last year's team. Edward Vesterinen, Hammond Russell IV, Nate Gabriel, Corey McIntyre Jr., and Asani Redwood are all back. They've also added some talented pieces via the transfer portal in Jimmori Robinson (UTSA), Eddie Kelly Jr. (Missouri), and Devin Grant (Incarnate Word), while making a couple of additions from the junior college level in Adam Tomczyk and Elijah Simmons.

It's a group that has some promise, but it's not a polished product at this point in time. Rodriguez was asked about the overall depth of the group on Thursday.

“Still a little concerned with that. I’ve liked the way they work, and I think we got a couple pass rushers out of the portal that we needed. You can’t have too many pass rushers, so we intentionally targeted guys that we thought were guys that you’d want to have on 3rd and long or 2nd and long and doing pass rush stuff. Our pass rush group got a lot better in the last five months.”

The big key here, of course, is getting Jimmori Robinson cleared and caught up to speed. He took his eligibility battle to court and has a hearing set for Tuesday, August 19th, alongside three of his teammates — running back Tye Edwards, wide receiver Jeffrey Weimer, and safety Justin Harrington.

If Robinson is cleared, things look a lot better up front all of a sudden. Now, it may take a few weeks for him to get into game shape, but it beats the alternative of not having his pass rushing production at all.

Should be deemed ineligible, defensive coordinator Zac Alley will have to get even more creative than he already planned on being to try and make up for his pass rushing abilities. Assuming Eddie Kelly Jr. would slide into his starting spot, the trio of Kelly, Vesterinen, and Russell has combined for 10.5 sacks in their career, and they're each entering their final year of eligibility.

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