StrictlyEducational
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Hey, guys. As a WVU fan, I am not entirely familiar with Tennessee's roster, and I imagine you're not entirely familiar with ours. So I'm here to give you a realistic, position group by position group run down of our team. Along with some general expectations I have for the team. I'll try and be as un-homerish as i can be.
QB - Grier (7) is a great college QB. There are several tiers of college QB's. There are flat out bad QB's. There are the 5th year Seniors that know the playbook like the back of their hands, and play simply for that reason. There are the solid, not gonna win you a game but might lose you a game QB's. There are the legitimately good ones. Then there are those great college QB's, that mix flair with skill level and mastery of a college playbook. That's where Grier is at. He's got the experience, he's a leader and he's mature. He can extend plays, he's got a + college arm and he's got a great passing mind as his OC. He's not perfect, but he's in the elite level of college QB's. If he goes down, we have a (4 star RedShirt Sophomore) transfer from Miami Jack Allison (11). He's an unknown, but should be a major upgrade to our backup from last year, who was so bad we had to become a wildcat offense for the final 3 games last year.
RB - Starter will likely be JR Kennedy McKoy (6), who's a lanky, all-around solid but unspectacular college RB. Though, we may be looking at a true RB by committee with this team. JR Martell Pettaway (32) is a stout, one cut and go power runner. He wasn't good last year in occasional spot duty, but he's more of an old school "get's better as he wears the defense down" runner. We may see RS Freshman Alec Sinkfield (20), who by all accounts has a little juice to his game with some cutability. I'm rather excited about him. Small chance we see true Freshman Leddie Brown (4), he's a McKoy clone. All around, a solid and capable group, but nothing you should be too worried about.
OL - Should be a veteran, above average college offensive line. Senior LT Yodney Cajuste (55) is NFL all the way. He's not truly dominant, but he's very good and most importantly for his NFL value, very athletic. Our RT Colton McKivitz is also a very good college lineman.
WR - There's a chance we have the best STARTING WR core in the country. Not only are the 4 starters all good in their own right, but they all fill a specific role. And they are very good in those roles. This may come as a surprise, but I don't think our best receiver is our All American. Senior Gary Jennings (12) is our right slot receiver, and he's as reliable of a receiver as there is in the country. Absolutely tough as nails with great hands. He's smart enough to find the hole in your zone and crafty and athletic enough to beat college corners. Senior David Sills (13) is the big name of this group, and rightfully so, as he's a great story and a very good college wide receiver. He's very tall (6'4) with extremely long arms and giants hands. He brings above average athleticism with those measurables. A guy with that combination of size and speed is just too much for 95% of college DB's, who have enough trouble sticking with any receiver, let alone a big and fast one playing in a WR friendly offense. Sills and Jennings are both slot guys, our outside guys are JR Marcus Sims (8) and Sophomore TJ Simmons (1). Simmons is somewhat unknown, as he's a transfer from Bama. But he's had Holgo and the Grier giddy about him since last August. Sims is flat out burner. Legitimate 4.3 speed. He has a hands problem, but christ is he explosive. He has an insanely high ceiling. Don't know if he'll ever reach it, but right now, he's still a very explosive deep threat and return man. You may also see #82 Maiden and #14 Bush. Polar opposites as players. Maiden is an unproven 6'5 juco transfer and Bush is maaaaybe 5'7. Possible you see some true freshman playing, but that would be a massive surprise.
TE - Dana has been trying to add a legitimate TE component to the offense for years. This might be the first time we actually have the weapons to utilize the position. Trevon Wesco (88) will likely start, though, he's more of an in-line blocking TE. I wouldn't be too worried about his receiving prowess. Sophomore Jovanni Haskins (84) is a big, athletic transfer from Miami. Unproven, but could be an asset this year. He's more of your 2018 pseudo WR/TE.
Overall, we're going to have a good offense this year, how good is the question. We were a major boom or bust offense last year. Either 3 and out or a 4 play 75 yard touchdown drive. And the unfortunate thing is, I don't know if that will change. In large part because of OC Jake Spavital. He knows how to coach a passing game, but I'm not sure he's well rounded playcaller. He's either too pass happy or too run happy. And we aren't consistent enough at either to call a game that way. If he improves as a playcaller, we may very well have the best offense in the country. But more than likely, we will be somewhere in the top 10 in scoring and yards, but nowhere close to that in efficiency.
The D
DL - We lost 2 starters to transfer, but they were 2 not very good starters. We replaced them with 2 graduate transfers. Jabrill Robinson (50) was the 4th man in the vaunted Clemson DL. By all accounts, he's a starter at 98% of the schools in the country, just not at the one with the 3 All Americans. At worst, he should be an upgrade over last years starter. Kenny Bigelow (40) is a 6th year nose tackle from Southern Cal. He was a former consensus 5 star recruit, but he's been riddled with injuries and wasn't anything but average in the games he has played. If anything, he's at least a big body that should be able to hold his own. Our best pass rusher is Senior Zeke Rose (5). He's not an NFL talent, but he's a solid college football pass rusher. JR Reese Donahue (46) will also see time. He's started every game of his career, but he hasn't been good. Robinson will likely take his spot as a starter. We have a True Freshman 4 star thats actually from West Virginia Dante Stills (55) that has the coaching staff going nuts, but it remains to be seen if he plays. His older brother Darius Stills (56) is likely to see more time. This unit was terrible last year and a giant reason for the horrid rush D. They should be better, but how much better is to be determined.
LB - JR David Long (11) is one of the best LB's in the nation. Unfortunately, he stands at around 5'10 220. Limiting his NFL potential. But he's a baaaad dude. Had 17 TFL's last year in only 9 games. He's not the most athletic, but he's super smart and is great at avoiding blockers and or shedding them. Sophomore Dylan Tonkery (10) should be a solid player. He started as a freshman last year and was fine if not unspectacular last year. He's athletic, and athletic young guys who play well usually get better year by year. The other LB spot is up for grabs, but will likely be newcomer JUCO LB Charlie Benton (18). He has very good tape, but he's an unknown at this point. You may also see Junior Adam Hensley (45) and Junior Shea Campbell (34). As a whole, this group is unproven, but I would say close to solid. Long is a great player and Tonkery has a high ceiling. Have to wait and see on Benton.
CB - We lost 80% of our starting CB's from last year. Fortunately, they were all terrible. Still, that means the new starters are either unproven or complete unknowns. Junior Hakeem Bailey (24) came into last season with tons of hype and failed miserably. Was apparently great in spring and fall camp, but he was dreadful when the season started. For our sake, let's hope it was a nerves issue and not a talent issue. Reportedly, he's been really good again in camp, but we know now that means little. He certainly looks the part, though. Junior Keith Washington (28) is a Michigan to JUCO transfer. He has good tape, but is a complete unknown. Sophomore Derrek Pitts (1) was a highly recruited local kid. But he got very little run last year and wasn't good when he got run. You may also see Jordan Adams (23) and Sean Mahone (29). Overall, this group could be just as terrible as last year or an average group. We have no way of knowing till the season starts.
S - WVU plays a 3-3-5 stack, meaning we play with 5 DB's. That means we start 3 Safeties. We've been very lucky at WVU to have great safety play for the past 15 years, but this year we have some question marks. Sophomore Kenny Robinson (2) is our FS. He started as a true freshman last year and proved to be a playmaker. He made mistakes, but he was better than he was bad. Should make another step. He's one to watch. At SS, we have Toy Avery (3). He was solid last year when he played, but he was riddled with injuries. He's a question mark. At Spur ( a hybrid Safety, Slot, and LB) we have Senior Dravon Askew-Henry (6). If you were to read a scouting report written on the WVU defense by some outsider publication (Athlon, ESPN, SI, etc) they would tell you that he's one of our best defensive players. They are wrong, to a point. Dravon was a freshman all american. He was good as a Sophomore and was expected to become an all conference player as a Junior. But in the 2016 offseason, he shredded his knee up, badly. He missed all of 2016 and when he returned last year..he was absolutely dreadful. Arguably the worst starter on the team, maybe even in the country. He repeatedly took poor angles, couldn't tackle when he got there, and couldn't cover to save his life. He was responsible for what felt like half the points scored against us last year. Now he's moved from SS to Spur, and they hope moving him closer to the line of scrimmage and having him 2 years removed from the injury will reinvigorate his play. I'm highly doubtful. As the spur position is even more difficult in my opinion. You will also likely see Junior Josh Norwood (4) a transfer from Ohio State who the coaches love and you may see Freshman Kwantell Raines (8) a 6'3 highly touted recruit. Overall, the safety group will likely be average, but they have a true boom or bust feel. Could be great or could be a dumpster fire.
I think the defense takes a step up this year. Not saying they're going to be great or even good. But I could very much see a top 70-ish D. Which clearly isn't good. But with a top 10 offense, is good enough to win. Our DC Tony Gibson is a great coach who regularly gets more out of the defense than we probably should get.
ST
Kicker is average. Punter is bad. Kick Returner is great. Punt Returner is great but Punt Return is non existent. Will likely squib kick as our kick coverage is notoriously awful.
Well, that was long winded, but hopefully informative. I think a true scouting report is valuable, because those big publications don't know nothing.
I would greatly appreciate a scouting report on your team. Obviously, it doesn't need to be as overdrawn as mine, but a realistic look at your guys would be great and very helpful.
QB - Grier (7) is a great college QB. There are several tiers of college QB's. There are flat out bad QB's. There are the 5th year Seniors that know the playbook like the back of their hands, and play simply for that reason. There are the solid, not gonna win you a game but might lose you a game QB's. There are the legitimately good ones. Then there are those great college QB's, that mix flair with skill level and mastery of a college playbook. That's where Grier is at. He's got the experience, he's a leader and he's mature. He can extend plays, he's got a + college arm and he's got a great passing mind as his OC. He's not perfect, but he's in the elite level of college QB's. If he goes down, we have a (4 star RedShirt Sophomore) transfer from Miami Jack Allison (11). He's an unknown, but should be a major upgrade to our backup from last year, who was so bad we had to become a wildcat offense for the final 3 games last year.
RB - Starter will likely be JR Kennedy McKoy (6), who's a lanky, all-around solid but unspectacular college RB. Though, we may be looking at a true RB by committee with this team. JR Martell Pettaway (32) is a stout, one cut and go power runner. He wasn't good last year in occasional spot duty, but he's more of an old school "get's better as he wears the defense down" runner. We may see RS Freshman Alec Sinkfield (20), who by all accounts has a little juice to his game with some cutability. I'm rather excited about him. Small chance we see true Freshman Leddie Brown (4), he's a McKoy clone. All around, a solid and capable group, but nothing you should be too worried about.
OL - Should be a veteran, above average college offensive line. Senior LT Yodney Cajuste (55) is NFL all the way. He's not truly dominant, but he's very good and most importantly for his NFL value, very athletic. Our RT Colton McKivitz is also a very good college lineman.
WR - There's a chance we have the best STARTING WR core in the country. Not only are the 4 starters all good in their own right, but they all fill a specific role. And they are very good in those roles. This may come as a surprise, but I don't think our best receiver is our All American. Senior Gary Jennings (12) is our right slot receiver, and he's as reliable of a receiver as there is in the country. Absolutely tough as nails with great hands. He's smart enough to find the hole in your zone and crafty and athletic enough to beat college corners. Senior David Sills (13) is the big name of this group, and rightfully so, as he's a great story and a very good college wide receiver. He's very tall (6'4) with extremely long arms and giants hands. He brings above average athleticism with those measurables. A guy with that combination of size and speed is just too much for 95% of college DB's, who have enough trouble sticking with any receiver, let alone a big and fast one playing in a WR friendly offense. Sills and Jennings are both slot guys, our outside guys are JR Marcus Sims (8) and Sophomore TJ Simmons (1). Simmons is somewhat unknown, as he's a transfer from Bama. But he's had Holgo and the Grier giddy about him since last August. Sims is flat out burner. Legitimate 4.3 speed. He has a hands problem, but christ is he explosive. He has an insanely high ceiling. Don't know if he'll ever reach it, but right now, he's still a very explosive deep threat and return man. You may also see #82 Maiden and #14 Bush. Polar opposites as players. Maiden is an unproven 6'5 juco transfer and Bush is maaaaybe 5'7. Possible you see some true freshman playing, but that would be a massive surprise.
TE - Dana has been trying to add a legitimate TE component to the offense for years. This might be the first time we actually have the weapons to utilize the position. Trevon Wesco (88) will likely start, though, he's more of an in-line blocking TE. I wouldn't be too worried about his receiving prowess. Sophomore Jovanni Haskins (84) is a big, athletic transfer from Miami. Unproven, but could be an asset this year. He's more of your 2018 pseudo WR/TE.
Overall, we're going to have a good offense this year, how good is the question. We were a major boom or bust offense last year. Either 3 and out or a 4 play 75 yard touchdown drive. And the unfortunate thing is, I don't know if that will change. In large part because of OC Jake Spavital. He knows how to coach a passing game, but I'm not sure he's well rounded playcaller. He's either too pass happy or too run happy. And we aren't consistent enough at either to call a game that way. If he improves as a playcaller, we may very well have the best offense in the country. But more than likely, we will be somewhere in the top 10 in scoring and yards, but nowhere close to that in efficiency.
The D
DL - We lost 2 starters to transfer, but they were 2 not very good starters. We replaced them with 2 graduate transfers. Jabrill Robinson (50) was the 4th man in the vaunted Clemson DL. By all accounts, he's a starter at 98% of the schools in the country, just not at the one with the 3 All Americans. At worst, he should be an upgrade over last years starter. Kenny Bigelow (40) is a 6th year nose tackle from Southern Cal. He was a former consensus 5 star recruit, but he's been riddled with injuries and wasn't anything but average in the games he has played. If anything, he's at least a big body that should be able to hold his own. Our best pass rusher is Senior Zeke Rose (5). He's not an NFL talent, but he's a solid college football pass rusher. JR Reese Donahue (46) will also see time. He's started every game of his career, but he hasn't been good. Robinson will likely take his spot as a starter. We have a True Freshman 4 star thats actually from West Virginia Dante Stills (55) that has the coaching staff going nuts, but it remains to be seen if he plays. His older brother Darius Stills (56) is likely to see more time. This unit was terrible last year and a giant reason for the horrid rush D. They should be better, but how much better is to be determined.
LB - JR David Long (11) is one of the best LB's in the nation. Unfortunately, he stands at around 5'10 220. Limiting his NFL potential. But he's a baaaad dude. Had 17 TFL's last year in only 9 games. He's not the most athletic, but he's super smart and is great at avoiding blockers and or shedding them. Sophomore Dylan Tonkery (10) should be a solid player. He started as a freshman last year and was fine if not unspectacular last year. He's athletic, and athletic young guys who play well usually get better year by year. The other LB spot is up for grabs, but will likely be newcomer JUCO LB Charlie Benton (18). He has very good tape, but he's an unknown at this point. You may also see Junior Adam Hensley (45) and Junior Shea Campbell (34). As a whole, this group is unproven, but I would say close to solid. Long is a great player and Tonkery has a high ceiling. Have to wait and see on Benton.
CB - We lost 80% of our starting CB's from last year. Fortunately, they were all terrible. Still, that means the new starters are either unproven or complete unknowns. Junior Hakeem Bailey (24) came into last season with tons of hype and failed miserably. Was apparently great in spring and fall camp, but he was dreadful when the season started. For our sake, let's hope it was a nerves issue and not a talent issue. Reportedly, he's been really good again in camp, but we know now that means little. He certainly looks the part, though. Junior Keith Washington (28) is a Michigan to JUCO transfer. He has good tape, but is a complete unknown. Sophomore Derrek Pitts (1) was a highly recruited local kid. But he got very little run last year and wasn't good when he got run. You may also see Jordan Adams (23) and Sean Mahone (29). Overall, this group could be just as terrible as last year or an average group. We have no way of knowing till the season starts.
S - WVU plays a 3-3-5 stack, meaning we play with 5 DB's. That means we start 3 Safeties. We've been very lucky at WVU to have great safety play for the past 15 years, but this year we have some question marks. Sophomore Kenny Robinson (2) is our FS. He started as a true freshman last year and proved to be a playmaker. He made mistakes, but he was better than he was bad. Should make another step. He's one to watch. At SS, we have Toy Avery (3). He was solid last year when he played, but he was riddled with injuries. He's a question mark. At Spur ( a hybrid Safety, Slot, and LB) we have Senior Dravon Askew-Henry (6). If you were to read a scouting report written on the WVU defense by some outsider publication (Athlon, ESPN, SI, etc) they would tell you that he's one of our best defensive players. They are wrong, to a point. Dravon was a freshman all american. He was good as a Sophomore and was expected to become an all conference player as a Junior. But in the 2016 offseason, he shredded his knee up, badly. He missed all of 2016 and when he returned last year..he was absolutely dreadful. Arguably the worst starter on the team, maybe even in the country. He repeatedly took poor angles, couldn't tackle when he got there, and couldn't cover to save his life. He was responsible for what felt like half the points scored against us last year. Now he's moved from SS to Spur, and they hope moving him closer to the line of scrimmage and having him 2 years removed from the injury will reinvigorate his play. I'm highly doubtful. As the spur position is even more difficult in my opinion. You will also likely see Junior Josh Norwood (4) a transfer from Ohio State who the coaches love and you may see Freshman Kwantell Raines (8) a 6'3 highly touted recruit. Overall, the safety group will likely be average, but they have a true boom or bust feel. Could be great or could be a dumpster fire.
I think the defense takes a step up this year. Not saying they're going to be great or even good. But I could very much see a top 70-ish D. Which clearly isn't good. But with a top 10 offense, is good enough to win. Our DC Tony Gibson is a great coach who regularly gets more out of the defense than we probably should get.
ST
Kicker is average. Punter is bad. Kick Returner is great. Punt Returner is great but Punt Return is non existent. Will likely squib kick as our kick coverage is notoriously awful.
Well, that was long winded, but hopefully informative. I think a true scouting report is valuable, because those big publications don't know nothing.
I would greatly appreciate a scouting report on your team. Obviously, it doesn't need to be as overdrawn as mine, but a realistic look at your guys would be great and very helpful.
