Two Fifth-Year Players 'Participating in Team Activities' for WVU Football

On Thursday evening, the West Virginia football team announced that tight end Jacob Barrick and cornerback Jason Chambers "are participating in team activities as the program assesses developments regarding their return."

Rich Rodriguez told reporters earlier this week that, “We have a couple of guys that we’ve talked to and communicated with. If the five-year class action thing goes through, then we may have a couple added. But as far as guys out of the (transfer) portal or suing to get in the portal, whatever that is, we don’t have anybody right there just yet.”

The ruling from Colorado district court Judge Charlotte Sweeney gives those in the 2022 class a fifth year of eligibility. She recently denied the NCAA's appeal, but it's far from settled. This will now head to the Tenth Circuit, which will make the call to either uphold Judge Sweeney's ruling, which will give Chambers and Barrick the green light, or reverse it.

WVU has two open roster spots remaining, so if those go to Barrick and Chambers, that essentially means that freshman running back SirPaul Cheeks, who has not arrived on campus yet, won't have a spot. Rodriguez already stated that no players will be cut to make room for a fifth-year player or someone out of the transfer portal.

Chambers started twelve games for the Mountaineers last season at corner, recording 34 tackles, four passes defended, three tackles for loss, and an interception. He gave up 20 catches for 298 yards and three scores on the year, two of which came in the season finale against Texas Tech. Chambers was one of the most consistent secondary pieces for WVU and did a great job of making tackles, finishing the year with a missed tackle rate of just 10%.

The cornerback room is one of the biggest concerns, at least in my eyes. They have a ton of options there, but outside of Chams Diagne and Nick Taylor, there are a bunch of question marks.

Barrick appeared in nine games for West Virginia last season, being primarily used as a blocker. He logged just nine receptions for 69 yards. Prior to playing at WVU, the Martinsburg, WV native spent a couple of years with Rich Rod at Jacksonville State.

Tight ends coach Michael Nysewander currently has Ryan Ward, Josh Sapp, Cam Ball, Sam Hamilton, Kade Bush, Carter Zuliani, and Xavier Anderson in his room. The first three are all expected to see snaps, so it will be interesting to see where Barrick fits in.

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