West Virginia Head Coach Neal Brown laments the lack of respect his team receives this offseason. As one potential reason, he offers that several of the best players are undervalued. Reading some of the pre-season predictions, many appear to be focused on the losses the Mountaineers suffered to the transfer portal. The defensive line contributed a pair of starter quality players to leave the program. Despite those losses, the Mountaineers defensive line leans on depth heading into the 2024 season.
Mountaineers Defensive Line Leans on Depth
This offseason, the West Virginia Mountaineers lost Mike Lockhart to SMU and Tomiwa Durojaiye to Florida State. Both players contributed to the Mountaineers’ 2023 defensive line play. Lockhart started 12 games, and Durojaiye played in 12. Despite those losses, the Mountaineers defensive line returns plenty of experience and depth. Indeed, two of their three 2023 starters return: Sean Martin and Edward Vesterinen. Indeed, the Mountaineers lost just a third of their 2023 snaps from the unit and about 40% of their production. The lost production, however, can be gained back with depth across the line.
Defensive line coach Andrew Jackson told the media on August 9 that he has an older group led by four seniors. For those seniors, he’s “doing a lot of fine-tuning” to get them to be great at the areas in which they can excel. He uses the word “versatility” frequently when talking about his group, especially with the veterans. With the freshmen, he focuses them on understanding a single position. For the rest, Jackson observes, “We have a bunch of Swiss army knives out there.”
In total, West Virginia has 13 players on scholarship to man the three spots on the defensive line. One, Corey McIntyre, is injured for the season. That makes the unit four deep at each position. Given that the defensive line has just three true freshmen, the three-deep can be filled by experienced players. That certainly affords Jackson a luxury.
Consistency and Versatility the Keys
While Jackson may not come out and say it directly, the starting three seem a foregone conclusion. Fatorma Mulbah returns to man the nose tackle spot, and Vesterinen will start at defensive tackle. Vesterinen provides the unit with a stable and consistent body, as he started all 12 games in that spot last season. Jackson relied on Mulbah as a critical piece of the unit last season, even if he did not start. Lockhart, of course, started at defensive tackle, but Mulbah gained plenty of experience. He accumulated over 215 snaps last season, in fact, more than half the snaps that Lockhart took.
According to Jackson, Mulbah has “been doing a great job” and seeing “him push to be a starter” has been a great thing. Jackson started recruiting Mulbah when Jackson was still at James Madison, and he has pushed Mulbah to focus on what he is best at. “I thought he was more of a straight-line guy,” Jackson offered in his August 9 media availability.
Finally, Martin, who has been a consistent staple of the unit for several years, returns to anchor the line as a defensive end. Martin knows his best traits. “I’m more of a power guy with long arms,” he said in an August 1 interview with media. About the unit as a whole, Martin told the media that they have “a lot more depth than last year” with plenty of “versatility”. For that versatility, according to Jackson, fans need to look no further than TJ Jackson, who joined the Mountaineers from Troy. Jackson can play in any of the three spots if needed, according to Jackson, and the unit will undoubtedly rely on that versatility to keep the line fresh.
Who Brings the Depth?
As the Mountaineers defensive line leans on depth, fans may wonder where the depth comes from. Senior Taurus Simmons certainly adds to the room. While he has been limited in Fall camp so far, sophomore Asani Redwood also provides depth. Fans saw plenty of him last season, particularly in the Mayo Bowl win over North Carolina. Redwood’s progression would offer little surprise to his high school staff. He didn’t play football until the Summer before his junior season, and they were impressed most about how coachable he was. Redwood offers the room another versatile body, with the ability to line up at any of the three spots.
At defensive end, Jackson praised Zachariah Keith, “[Keith] is more confident in himself. He’s done a good job pushing Sean [Martin].” Junior Hammond Russell also brings depth to the unit.
As for the three freshmen, Jackson told the media that Nate Gabriel, Makai Byerson, and Elijah Kinsler are all “really hungry” for playing time. While they may not accumulate a ton of snaps this year, their mindset provides a useful backstop and additional depth should the unit need to rely on it.
