{"id":22893,"date":"2019-08-19T13:00:07","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T17:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordoncollegefootball.com\/?p=22893"},"modified":"2019-08-19T13:02:44","modified_gmt":"2019-08-19T17:02:44","slug":"2019-mountaineers-five-defensive-surprises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2019\/08\/19\/2019-mountaineers-five-defensive-surprises\/","title":{"rendered":"2019 Mountaineers’ Five Defensive Surprises"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year, we started our coverage of the Mountaineers’ 2019 season by predicting five players in each position group who would favorably surprise fans. \u00a0You can view those predictions here.<\/a>\u00a0 Absent an injury to Charlie Benton<\/a><\/strong> in the season opener, we predicted correctly on all of those players. \u00a0This season, the list has been harder to build. \u00a0See, the Mountaineers are transitioning to a new defensive set under Vic Koenning<\/strong><\/a>. \u00a0The 4-2-5 replaces Tony Gibson’s<\/strong> 3-3 stack. And Koenning strongly favors splitting snaps between multiple players at each position. \u00a0Nonetheless, we predict the 2019 Mountaineers’ five defensive surprises.<\/p>\n

2019 Mountaineers’ Five Defensive Surprises<\/h2>\n

Tykee Smith<\/h3>\n

To many, Osita Smith<\/a><\/strong> represented the “gem” of the Mountaineers’ 2019 recruiting class<\/a>. Unfortunately, he seems to be taking the junior college route, and he did not enroll with his classmates. \u00a0That said, the “other” Smith, Tykee<\/strong>, flashed just as much, if not more, potential in his senior season. \u00a0Smith finished his season strong and earned a 4-star rating from Rivals. \u00a0Fortunately for Smith, who was recruited to play safety, the position emerged as one of immediate need after off-season attrition<\/a> in the group. \u00a0Enter Tykee Smith. \u00a0In recent press conferences, Head Coach Neal Brown<\/strong><\/a> told media that Smith is a “player.” \u00a0Expect Smith to make early contributions at either the free or cat safety positions.<\/p>\n

Reuben Jones<\/h3>\n

After assessing the roster upon the conclusion of Spring practices, the coaching staff saw defensive line depth as an area of need. \u00a0They addressed this immediately by adding Reuben Jones<\/strong><\/a>, a graduate transfer from Michigan. \u00a0Since then, the staff has raved about Jones. \u00a0In one of his press conferences, Koenning compared adding Jones to “getting an IV when you’re dehydrated.” \u00a0Koenning offered big words for someone who projects to be a big player this season. \u00a0Expect to see Jones offer depth and stability to the defensive line early this season.<\/p>\n

Darius Stills<\/h3>\n

Since Darius Stills’<\/strong><\/a> arrival on campus, fans have given more attention to his younger brother, Dante. \u00a0In recent interviews with both of the Stills brothers, they admit as much. \u00a0Dante Stills<\/strong> even added that Darius has been overlooked much of his life. \u00a0The younger Stills brother confessed that he has no idea why Darius has been doubted so often. \u00a0That said, it doesn’t appear that the current staff is overlooking Darius.<\/p>\n

Defensive line coach Jordan Lesley<\/strong> said, “I don’t think [Darius has] tapped half of what the player he can be, but he’s getting there. \u00a0He’s getting there quick.” \u00a0Getting there quick is an idea that fans ought to recall throughout the season, because the older Stills offers explosiveness at nose guard. \u00a0If the pass rushing specialists have even half of the success they should, Darius’ strength in handling the center of the line will be a larger part of the reason why. \u00a0Expect the older Stills brother to handle his share this season.<\/p>\n

Josh Chandler<\/h3>\n

The relatively restrained Koenning told media in a recent press conference that one player in particular is “going to be a guy [opposing teams] probably need to find.” \u00a0He added, “I would say by the middle of the year they’re going to try to find out where he’s at.” \u00a0That’s how highly Koenning and his staff revere the play of linebacker Josh Chandler<\/strong><\/a>. \u00a0Fans should expect him to provide dynamic and disruptive contributions from the will linebacker spot.<\/p>\n

Quondarius Qualls<\/h3>\n

Last, but certainly not least, we offer fans a name they will hear a bunch during the 2019 season: \u00a0Quondarius Qualls<\/strong><\/a>. \u00a0Qualls has been limited since coming to Morgantown by injuries, and he has been previously buried on the depth chart as a result. \u00a0But Koenning and his staff fought over which position group would get the most use out of Qualls in the off-season. \u00a0After assessing his skill set, they decided Qualls worked best at bandit.<\/p>\n

Bandit represents an unfamiliar position to Mountaineer fans. \u00a0But It’s an extremely important spot in the 4-2-5, however. \u00a0Bandit requires versatility and speed, as the defense often asks the bandit to pressure the quarterback or contain the run on his side of the field. \u00a0Qualls impressed the staff so much, that he supplanted Vandarius Cowan<\/strong><\/a> as the presumptive starter at the position. \u00a0Based on his skill set and anticipated usage, fans should expect Qualls to lead the team in sacks this season. \u00a0That makes him the biggest name on our list of the Mountaineers’ five defensive surprises.<\/p>\n

Honorable Mentions<\/h3>\n

Cowan’s name is hard to include as a “surprise” defensive player, as media and fans ask about him routinely. After Spring, when Koenning challenged Cowan by name, fans worried that Cowan would somehow be a “bust” at the position. But Cowan has responded well, and, as much as Qualls has impressed, the staff assures us that they intend to distribute snaps at bandit pretty evenly. \u00a0The two are essentially neck-and-neck for what many consider to be the most important position in the 4-2-5. \u00a0Thus, even though Qualls is now the presumptive starter at bandit, this designation means very little, as both will rotate often, keeping both players explosive.<\/p>\n

The staff also offers the name of Taijh Alston<\/strong><\/a> when asked about potential big-time defensive contributors this season. \u00a0Also falls just outside out of our five defensive surprises. \u00a0And we mean\u00a0just<\/em> outside. \u00a0If Qualls does not lead the team in sacks this season, Alston likely will.<\/p>\n

2019 Mountaineers’ Five Defense Surprises<\/h3>\n

Reviewing our list of the 2019 Mountaineers’ five defensive surprises, we can’t help but notice that two of those players (and one of our honorable mentions) play on the offensive line. \u00a0And that list does\u00a0not<\/em> include Reese Donahue<\/strong><\/a> or Dante Stills. \u00a0There’s no doubt that West Virginia has had trouble finding consistently explosive play from its defensive line in recent years. \u00a0But fans should consider this unit one of the team’s biggest strengths going into 2019. \u00a0That fact will surprise many as the season begins. \u00a0But as it wears on, the depth of that group will shine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year, we started our coverage of the Mountaineers’ 2019 season by predicting five players in each position group who would favorably surprise fans. \u00a0You can view those predictions here.\u00a0 Absent an injury to Charlie Benton in the season opener, we predicted correctly on all of those players. \u00a0This season, the list has been harder […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2744,"featured_media":22900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[4864,3394,3393,5055,5053,5056,1712,3655,5057,3465,5054,5058,3654,237],"class_list":["post-22893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-big12","tag-2019-college-football-season","tag-charlie-benton","tag-dante-stills","tag-darius-stills","tag-jordan-lesley","tag-josh-chandler","tag-neal-brown","tag-osita-smith","tag-quondarius-qualls","tag-reese-donahue","tag-reuben-jones","tag-taijh-alston","tag-tykee-smith","tag-west-virginia-mountaineers"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2744"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}