Sunday Morning Thoughts: CJ Donaldson is Going to be Special at WVU

Running backs coach Chad Scott has a star in the making.

He may be a running back now, but CJ Donaldson identifies himself as just a football player. Prior to his arrival in Morgantown, Donaldson switched positions seemingly all the time at Gulliver Prep in Miami, Florida. Regardless of where he lined up, he balled out and it led to getting noticed by the WVU coaching staff when recruiting his teammate and current Mountaineer linebacker, Trey Lathan.

Even during the recruiting process, the coaching staff didn't have an exact idea of where he would play but what they did know is that he would be an impactful player.

"I knew this in recruiting. Like, he's a really good football player," said West Virginia head coach Neal Brown. "We didn't recruit him to play running back. We recruited him to be a hybrid H-back, inside receiver, maybe grow into a tight end. But I knew he was a really good football player and I felt really confident he would play as a freshman.

"We did some OTAs in the summer and we had a running back we were transitioning out of the program and so we only had three scholarship guys. I was watching him do some special teams technique work and his movements were really fluid. I told [running backs coach] Chad [Scott], let's put him in all running back individual for the next couple weeks and let's see because if he can't do it then let's go get us a transfer, there's a couple out there. But if he can, let's do it. I want to play the kid anyway, I think he's going to be a matchup problem. And then we got into fall camp and CJ started running against our first-team defense and those guys do not want to tackle him. He's got a natural feel for it. We've got him in shape so he can play more plays."

Donaldson is not your typical running back standing in at 6'2", 240 pounds. Okay, well maybe 234ish, but according to the true freshman, he'll be at that mark by the end of the day. Eating right or in Donaldson's case, eating enough in addition to getting treatment is vital for his growth as a player. Although he's been phenomenal through the first three weeks of the season, there's a whole other gear that Donaldson can throw it into which will naturally happen once he's in peak shape.

What's most impressive about Donaldson other than his monumental potential is how he carries himself as a young 18-year-old who is getting a whole lot thrown at him in his first year of college football. He's well beyond his years as far as maturity goes. It shows on the field and at the podium when fielding questions from the media. There doesn't appear to be a stage or spotlight that's too big for him and for a team that's desperately looking for a glimmer of hope for the future - he provides it.

Through his first three games, Donaldson has totaled 274 yards and six touchdowns on 29 carries (9.4 yards per carry). It's a small sample size but if Donaldson were to continue at his current pace, he would finish with the third-most rushing yards by a true freshman in program history, behind only Avon Cobourne (1,138) and Steve Slaton (1,128). Pretty elite company if you ask me.

In Saturday's win over Towson, Donaldson produced in a big way earning his first career hat trick with three rushing scores on nine carries, one of which went for 82 yards.

CJ DONALDSON 82 YARDS TO THE HOUSE‼️#Big12FB x @WVUfootball

📺 Big 12 Now on @ESPN+ | https://t.co/PCsNMKavaX pic.twitter.com/p8WAw8fcoV

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) September 17, 2022

"I'm still kind of getting used to it - playing running back," said Donaldson. "It was my third game ever playing running back, so today I kind of surprised myself with that long run. But I've got to give credit to the o-line and receivers. The o-line made it very easy and Kaden Prather had a great block down the field."

It's getting to the point where you expect something big to happen every time Donaldson touches the ball and it shows in his 8.6 yards per carry average which ranks him third in the nation through Week 3. It's either a big explosive run, a touchdown, or being a near-automatic chain mover on short-yardage situations. It's been a quite few years since WVU has had a dynamic offensive weapon that could singlehandedly take over a game. Donaldson will certainly have an opportunity to grow into that type of player - one that opposing defenses fear. 

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