The 2025 version of the defensive side of the WVU football team might be thought of as a good news/bad news situation. The bad news is that most of last year’s players (and all of the coaches) are gone. The good news is that most of last year’s players (and all of the coaches) are gone.
That isn’t completely fair, to be honest, but last year’s defense was abysmal. When you look at statistics, it was one of the worst pass defenses in the nation. Related to that, it was also one of the worst at third down conversions, and TD% red zone defense. They were not good at sacks or tackles for loss, forcing turnovers, and scoring defense. The rushing defense was middling, which made it the strength of the defense.
So it didn’t look good on paper, but it also didn’t really pass the eye test. One of the enduring memories I will have of the 2024 defense is against Arizona, when WVU ended up having a linebacker matched up with a future first round draft pick wide receiver, multiple times. Ugh.
WVU spent a lot of money to help lure Zac Alley from Oklahoma to coordinate the WVU defense. I really like this hire. He is considered to be a rising star on defense, and he has promised to bring an aggressive scheme to Morgantown. It is possible to get too aggressive, and leave yourself open for big plays too often, but I don’t think that will be the case. Hopefully, the talent he has will be a good fit for what he wants to do.
The area with the most returning players is the defensive line. The was also the strongest unit last year, so this is a good thing. You can expect players like Asani Redwood and Hammond Russell to have key roles, as well as Edward Versterinen, who is back after an early season injury last year. They have brought in some transfers Devin Grant and Elijah Simmons, but the big name transfer is Jimmori Robinson, who was the American Athletic Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year last year. He has the potential to be a force in the pass rush (but more on him in a little bit).
Linebackers welcome back Reid Carrico and Ben Cutter, as well as some returning youngsters. There are at least three transfers who have potential to play key roles as well: Ben Bogle, John Lewis, and Oluwaweyi Omotosho, who is a late addition from Oregon State. This group will need to play well, and it is one of my concerns for this season.
The entire secondary has moved on, either through graduation or transfer. A couple of players who saw a bit of action are back, but the vast majority of snaps will be to newcomers. A pair of well-regarded cornerbacks, Michael Coats and Jordan Scruggs, are expected to be starters, and safeties could include Darrian Lewis, Nick Taylor, Kaleb Gray and others.
Rich Rodriguez is not revealing any kind of depth chart, and the lineup in the season opener against Robert Morris is likely to change during the season as the coaches figure out the best combination of players. This is something I said about the offense, and it is also very true about the defense.
One potential monkey wrench is the eligibility of some of the transfers. As per usual, the NCAA has been slow to determine the eligibility of some of the players, and this has resulted in a lawsuit filed by four of them, basically to force the NCAA to make a decision, or have it made for them (obviously, they strongly believe they should be eligible). The players have all requested waivers to allow them to play this year, but those haven’t been granted yet, which is the problem. Those players are Jimmori Robinson (the defensive lineman I mentioned earlier), running back Tye Edwards, receiver Jeffrey Weimer, and safety Justin Harrington. If their suit is successful, or the waivers are granted, they will be eligible, although they have not been able to practice so far. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Notes: Season ticket sales have gone well, topping 32,000…The volleyball team was picked last in the preseason Big 12 poll, so they should have some motivation…The women’s soccer team was picked fourth in their preseason poll…The men’s team was #16 in the national preseason poll. The Sun Belt hasn’t released its preseason poll, but WVU was the second team in the Sun Belt behind Marshall in that national poll.
