The Battle at Right Tackle is Heating Up

Brandon Yates is being pushed for the starting job.

If there is one area of the roster the West Virginia coaching staff feels pretty good about, it's the offensive line. They return all five members of the starting unit from a year ago and for the first time in the Neal Brown era, they finally have depth to work with as well.

Earlier this offseason, the staff flip flopped Wyatt Milum and Brandon Yates so that Milum, who is left-handed, could be on the left side. Yates, who has started 21 games over the past two years, will now line up at right tackle but his starting spot is not guaranteed. 

JaQuay Hubbard is really pushing him for the starting job after spending the last two years really transforming his body and getting into elite shape after transferring in from Virginia.

"We've got to get better," said head coach Neal Brown in regards to the right tackle position. "That's a competition. There's been some ups and downs. But here's the thing, [Brandon] Yates and [JaQuay] Hubbard are both more than capable. I have a lot of confidence in them. They have the ability. Their good will win us games. We just have to be consistent in that. Our expectations for our offensive line are extremely high this year."

With today marking the team's first practice in full pads, this is where the evaluation truly begins. By this time next week, we could see one of these two start to pull ahead for the starting job.

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