Trickett 'Not Completely Satisfied' With WVU's O-Line, But 'On Schedule'

The Mountaineers didn't get good enough play from the quarterback or skill positions last season, but a big reason for the offense's shortcomings can be attributed to the lack of production up front.

Pass protection wasn't as bad as you'd think, but consistency was certainly an issue. Running the football, which of course is Rich Rodriguez's bread and butter, was essentially pointless. WVU averaged just 3.7 yards per carry on the season, and their leading rusher, Diore Hubbard, only had 335 yards.

The improvement from the offensive line will be noticeable from the jump this fall. It helps to have guys who have seen a lot of football and played in high-stress situations. Between Nick Krahe, Wes King, Amare Grayson, and Carsten Casady, four of WVU's five projected starters, they've accumulated 5,079 career snaps. The fifth piece of that chain is likely to be true freshman Kevin Brown.

So, how are things going for this group so far?

“Right now, the first group, I’m not completely satisfied, but I think we’re on schedule," offensive line coach Rick Trickett said. "Got some guys in the second group that got to keep improving, keep coming along, and stuff. But I think there’s 12 or 13 guys that we can maybe find ten really top guys to get after somebody. Would like to be able to play two groups. With that first group, we’ve got a young one (Kevin Brown) there that’s got a lot to learn, but I think we’re on schedule.”

Rich Rod echoed those thoughts, believing there is a deep pool of players that they will be able to pick from to work into the rotation.

“Certainly, we had an issue last year. Just had no experience. We wanted to get guys out of the portal who had started. So we went from linemen that didn’t have any guys that started college before to having seven or eight guys that have actually started in college football and a couple of guys returning. Trick has done a great job. I think he’s one of the best at what he does, and I like where we’re at. We still got a lot of work to do, but we expect a lot of improvement. We have to be better. I like our group. You always hope that you can have eight. Five starters and a backup guard, backup center, and a backup tackle. I’m hoping we can have ten. I think there’s 10 or 11 that we feel we can get good enough to win with.”

It may not be exactly where Trickett wants it, but it's a night-and-day situation from a year ago. They were trying to figure out who would start deep into camp, while this year it seems they already have a good chunk of that first unit locked in.

Having them build that chemistry over the next three weeks and then get two lighter opponents (Coastal Carolina and UT Martin) to begin the season should allow them to be firing on all cylinders, or close to it, by the time they head to Charlotte for the Virginia game.

How I see it

West Virginia University offensive lineman Nick Krahe | Christopher Hall – West Virginia on SI

Locked in as starters: LG Nick Krahe, C Wes King, RG Amare Grayson, RT Carsten Casady

Likely starts: LT Kevin Brown

Top interior options: Josh Aisosa, Cam Griffin, Landen Livingston

Top tackle options: Malik Agbo, Devin Vass

Work to do: OT Deshawn Woods, IOL Trevor Bigelow, OT Andreas Hunter, G Raymond Kovalesky

Develop year: OT Jonas Muya, OG Rhett Morris, OG Camden Goforth, IOL Lamarcus Dillard

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