Four Takeaways from WVU's Preseason Depth Chart

A lot can change between now and September 1st, but they are a few interesting notes on the WVU depth chart.

WVU released its preseason depth chart this past week at Big 12 media days, giving fans an idea of where things stand at each position. Starting jobs will remain up for grabs until the week of the season opener against Pitt, but there were a few interesting things that I took away from the initial depth chart.

Quarterback 

Neal Brown kept to his word by allowing this to be an "open competition" instead of just handing over the keys to Georgia transfer JT Daniels. Everyone expects Daniels to come out with the job, but it would be ludicrous for Brown to name Daniels QB1 having not taken a single rep in the offense. Plus, it does fuel competition and guys such as Garrett Greene and Will Crowder will be afforded an opportunity to go win the job too or at the very least, win the QB2 spot which is a valuable job given Daniels' long injury history.

Running Back

Tony Mathis and Justin Johnson Jr. were listed one, two as we all expected. However, Jaylen Anderson was nowhere to be found. Well, at least not under running back. He was listed as the No. 2 kick returner behind Sam James, for what it's worth. Now, this doesn't mean Anderson won't be featured in the backfield in 2022 but it does show that they want him to work his way into that RB3 role. He arrived late last year and spent much of the past year getting back into peak shape. He'll get some touches later in the year but early on it will be a healthy dose of Mathis/Johnson toting the rock.

Tight End

Mike O'Laughlin has been the team's No. 1 tight end for each of the past two seasons but has dealt with numerous injuries during that time. This offseason, Neal Brown wanted to strengthen the tight end room and did so by adding Colorado State transfer Brian Polendey. 

Polendey backed up Mackey Award winner and Arizona Cardinals 2nd round pick Trey McBride over the past two seasons. Polendey has always been a blocking tight end but with O'Laughlin's injury history, they need him to grow as a receiver. Brown thought he took steps in the right direction during the spring but still had a long way to go. 

Polendey will likely remain the No. 1 TE until O'Laughlin is at full speed. 

Cornerback

The Mountaineers had to do some patch work in the secondary this offseason following the departures of starters Daryl Porter Jr. and Nicktroy Fortune. I figured one of the three transfers; Rashad Ajayi (Colorado State), Wesley McCormick (James Madison), or Jaylon Shelton (Tyler JC) would be listed as the other starter, opposite of Charles Woods. Instead, it was redshirt freshman Andrew Wilson-Lamp. Now, I wouldn't put as much weight into this as the tight end order considering Ajayi and McCormick transferred into the program after spring ball. Once they get to fall camp, I would expect one of those two to step up into the starting role considering they each have over 30 starts under their belt.

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