The WVU Defender Who Is Suddenly Impossible to Ignore

The West Virginia coaching staff has been thrilled with the progress that redshirt freshman linebacker Cam Torbor has made over the past year, but particularly since the spring. He went from someone who played 16 snaps a year ago to a guy who could trot out onto the field as a starter in the season opener against Coastal Carolina. It's almost every day I hear something positive about his development.

The biggest thing for him has been the learning curve of big-time football in a complex defense. The transition from high school to college is not easy, especially for a guy who didn't pick up playing until his junior year of high school. Sure, his father, Reggie, played in the NFL, so he had a nice setup to learn and study the game, but going out and applying it is completely different.

Defensive coordinator Zac Alley is going to throw a ton at you, and for a young player, it can be a little overwhelming at times, causing guys to think too much and not play fast and free. Once you get the hang of it, he will find ways to weaponize you.

Things are starting to slow down for him, and if he is able to meet his potential, the Mountaineers could have a special player on their hands. In the immediate future, he can be a playmaker.

"Cam Torbor was a great find for us, but we knew about him from our time in Alabama," WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez said. "I knew it then, and we were going to try and get him at Jax State, and I was like, I hope nobody else finds out about this guy, but if you're coming from the state of Alabama, people are going to know who you are. He's done an outstanding job. He's going to play as a freshman. He'll play on defense; he's going to play on special teams. I'm really excited for Cam Torbor. He's a great young man, too. He's got a great future here. He's big, and he can run. He might be one of the fastest backers we have. He's just a good football player. I could take a bunch of Cam Torbors; I can tell you that."

Torbor can be an immediate impact, long-term star

When he first started playing, Torbor was an edge rusher and was eventually moved to linebacker, so even the position is still fairly new to him. This will be just his third year playing the position, having only seen time there as a senior in high school and last year, when he saw extremely limited snaps. Still, the speed, athleticism, and size he has will help make up for the lack of experience. Torbor will turn some heads and make some plays this fall, but it still may be another year or so before he really turns the corner and becomes the All-Big 12 caliber player the staff sees him ultimately becoming.

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