Who's the Next Man Up Following Tykee Smith's Departure?
On Wednesday, Mountaineer Nation was shaken after All-American West Virginia SPEAR safety Tykee Smith announced that he is entering the NCAA Transfer Portal via social media. It is unclear the motivation behind the decision, especially following the first day of spring practice, but nonetheless, the Mountaineers will have to move forward.
Naturally, there is no replacing a talent like Smith. In the two spring press conferences held by head coach Neal Brown, he specifically said that he wanted all his starting safeties to be more versatile. As a result, they were going to take reps at all the secondary positions. Brown also stated that, defensively, he wanted his best 11 players on the field and even went on to say they were looking into packages that had six defensive backs on the field to make it possible.
But now, West Virginia must fill the void left behind by Smith. The first option seems to be a no-brainer with Arizona transfer Scottie Young, who filled in for Smith in the Mountaineers win in the Liberty Bowl, finishing the afternoon with four tackles against the option heavy Amy Black Knights.
Joe Rondone - The Commercial Appeal
I still suspect Brown, safeties coach Dontae Wright, and co-defensive coordinators ShaDon Brown and Jordan Lesley will still want versatility among the secondary because it has been the plan for all three levels of the defense heading into the spring practice period but there is not a lot of depth.
There is, however, plenty of talent along that top line of the depth chart.
Kerry Martin Jr, who stepped in nicely at free safety for an injured Josh Norwood for three games of the 2019 season as a freshman, also making a start at CAT safety. He opted out of the 2020 season because of the pandemic. Alonzo Addae earned Second Team All-Big 12 this past season after finishing second on the team in tackles with 66 and pass breakups with five and, along with Tykee Smith, led the team in interceptions with two.
Sean Mahone has started the last two years at CAT safety. He led the Mountaineers in tackles in 2019 with 80, including two sacks, five tackles for loss, and one forced fumble, also a pass breakup and an interception. Last season, he tallied 54 tackles, two TFL’s, four pass deflections, and an interception.
On the surface, the three front runners for starting safeties are Scottie Young at Spear, Addae resuming the starting role at free safety, and the same for Sean Mahone at the CAT while Kerry Martin Jr. will see a lot of snaps filling in wherever and when needed.
Depth was and is now a bigger issue, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the coaching staff looks to the transfer portal as well to bring in immediate depth and pull a corner to help fill in. The versatility the coaching staff is looking to implement this offseason is compelling, but we will have to wait to see the effect the latest departure has on their plans.
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