A few days ago, we looked at some of West Virginiaòòò½ÊÓƵ™s major needed areas of improvement on offense if the 2022 season is to be appreciably better than the results of the 2021 campaign.
Today, itòòò½ÊÓƵ™s the defenseòòò½ÊÓƵ™s turn in the spotlight, and although the jumps donòòò½ÊÓƵ™t need to be as big as those required on offense, there are still some areas that have to see upgrades.
Playmaking Bandits: At Troy, Neal Brown had defenses built around the bandit position.
Playing either on the line of scrimmage at one end of the defensive front, or as a second inside linebacker off the ball to give the defense an entirely different look, the bandit is a hybrid defender that does a bit of everything from rushing the passer to run fitting in the middle of the defense to dropping out into short zone pass defense.
At Troy, Hunter Reese became Brownòòò½ÊÓƵ™s quintessential bandit, following in the footsteps of Sam Lebbie. At West Virginia, such a player has yet to be identified.
VanDarius Cowan, brought in as a transfer, had the most natural athletic skill to fit the needs of the position but continued assignment busts made him a hit or miss proposition at the spot.
Jared Bartlett, backing up and sometimes starting in front of the erratic Cowan, has progressed respectably, recording 32 tackles this year, but with just one tackle for loss and no sacks this year, didnòòò½ÊÓƵ™t produce the number of impact plays the spot demands.
West Virginia has recruited multiple prospects for the position last year and this, but to date has not found the one player who can stay on the field, no matter the assignment, and be a difference-maker in all phases.
Whether Bartlett or one of the holdovers or new recruits can fill the bill remains to be seen, but for West Virginiaòòò½ÊÓƵ™s defense to function the way Troyòòò½ÊÓƵ™s did in wins over LSU and Nebraska, a dominant, multi-tasking bandit has to be found.
Safety Dance: Perhaps òòò½ÊÓƵœreplacementòòò½ÊÓƵ rather than òòò½ÊÓƵœimprovementòòò½ÊÓƵ is the key word here, but òòò½ÊÓƵU must replace Alonzo Addae, Sean Mahone and Scottie Young at its free, cat and spear safety positions.
Add in outgoing transfer Jackie Matthews, who sometimes slotted in at the spear, and the Mountaineers face a huge rebuild at the position.
Also needed is more consistent play from the group, especially in defending deep balls and reading and reacting.
Mahone was the best of the three overall, but at times there were concerning breakdowns in coverage and run support.
òòò½ÊÓƵU also didnòòò½ÊÓƵ™t get the best synergy it hoped for in using the cat and free interchangeably at times, or as the pair of high safeties in two-deep zone looks.
If nothing else, West Virginia must be flexible in its positioning and pass coverage options, with the same personnel able to execute at different spots, in order to be successful, and that wasnòòò½ÊÓƵ™t always the case.
Generating big plays and turnovers is the other area in which òòò½ÊÓƵUòòò½ÊÓƵ™s safeties must improve in 2022.
Sean Mahone had the groupòòò½ÊÓƵ™s only two picks in 2021, with Addae collecting its only fumble recovery, leaving òòò½ÊÓƵU 79th nationally in the former category and 87th in the latter.
Like the bandit spot, these are playmaking positions in the West Virginia defensive scheme, and it needs dynamic, game-changing plays from them in order to have success.
Depth at Cornerback: While versatility is clearly one of the cornerstones of West Virginiaòòò½ÊÓƵ™s defense, the flip side is that all of the shuffling between the secondary positions on defense might have contributed to some of the groupòòò½ÊÓƵ™s inconsistency in 2021.
Again, play was good overall, but with transfers and first-time starters manning the positions after Nicktroy Fortune was lost for the season, those players probably could have benefited from minimal switching.
Injuries contributed heavily to the need to shuffle players from week to week, and thatòòò½ÊÓƵ™s obviously something that canòòò½ÊÓƵ™t be controlled, but a key priority this spring òòò½ÊÓƵ” and in the search of the transfer portal òòò½ÊÓƵ” will be the identification of at least four players who can stick at the corner spots and be counted on no matter the assignment.
Itòòò½ÊÓƵ™s not an easy one, but itòòò½ÊÓƵ™s needed to help West Virginia limit big plays and get off the field earlier in drives.
