Read through all of the position previews, and overall they appear to have a significant amount of homer for a returning 7-5 team. The writer even admits his homerism in the QB article.
My thoughts and breakdown of what I read.
QB - Will Grier has been discussed ad nauseum.
WVU has the advantage here by a drastic margin.
RB - Actual quotes "Don't look now, but West Virginia's backfield could low-key be kind of loaded. It might feel weird to think that we could lose a back-to-back 1000-yard rusher and former Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year and be in a better place, but that might be exactly what we see happen this year." In reality they have no proven RB, and their listed 3 deep are all mid to low tier three stars.
TN has the advantage here off of pure talent and depth.
WR/TE - Sills and Jennings are proven commodities at WR, but they are relying upon unproven depth behind them. They list 3 starting WR and a TE which are rounded out by two transfers TJ Simmons (Alabama - 3 Star) and Trevon Wesco (CC - Low 3 Star).
WVU wins at WR easily but I think
TN has a better situation at TE based off of pure talent.
OL - "The
West Virginia Mountaineers are currently boasting what should be one of the best offensive lines in the Big 12 Conference this season, and what certainly is one of the largest in school history." Another bold homeristic statement, however they do return 4 of their 5 linemen from 2017. Their lineman are big, but all were mid to low rated 3 star prospects. I expect Pruitt to blitz with speed. I think our linebackers could have a field day with their big/slow OL. TN should have the better OL from a talent aspect, as our lowest rated player in our two deep would be their highest rated lineman. However, with their returning experience and how bad our OL was last year, I have to give the advantage to
WVU here.
DL - It has been discussed that WVU brought in two transfers for the DL, however, the positional preview puts those guys on their second string. They only return one starter and this is how they feel about him "While Donahue has proven to be reliable, he will need to make more of his time and up his production for the Mountaineer front to be successful." They were atrocious on the line last year, and it appears they lack optimism for this year as well. I fear our lack of depth on the DL but I still feel like
TN has a distinctive advantage on the DL.
LB - This appears to be WVU weakest unit. They return one proven starter in David Long, however they lack depth and are relying upon a low rated 3 star CC transfer to be a starter week 1. On top of the aforementioned issues, they are small. The largest starting line backer weighs in at 222. DWA should be able to dominate and be a complete mismatch for us to utilize.
TN has a distinct advantage over WVU at the linebacker position.
CB - They have no returning starters at CB however they are confident in their potential, despite the fact their two deep consist of another CC transfer and only has mid to low rated 3 star prospects. Despite CB being a huge question mark for
TN, I still feel like we have the advantage here.
S - Safety is the defensive position both teams have the most confidence in. WVU returns all three starting safeties, however they have dealt with injuries in years past. This is the position I feel is the closest to a wash, however through the orange shaded glasses I feel like Warrior is the trump card here giving
TN the advantage again.
Once again this is just my opinion, but I feel like we have the positional advantage over WVU at every position except QB, WR, and OL. We will soon find out if Grier and co. are enough to overcome the discrepancies elsewhere.
13 DAYS BABY!!!!