We continue our Fall camp coverage of the West Virginia Mountaineers that started with quarterback by moving to the secondary. We see the Mountaineers trying to answer questions at cornerback heading into the season opener against Penn State.
Mountaineers Trying To Answer Questions at Cornerback
Last season, the West Virginia Mountaineers relied heavily on two bodies, Beanie Bishop and Malachi Ruffin, at cornerback. The two accounted for 88% of the snaps taken at those positions in 2023. WVU lost both to graduation. After his consensus All-American nod, however, Bishop impacted the Mountaineers’ transfer portal moves.
Once Northwestern graduate Garnett Hollis entered the portal, Head Coach Neal Brown focused on trying to bring Hollis over to Morgantown. In Bishop, Hollis saw another former Big Ten standout successfully showcase his talent in Morgantown. In his August 16 interview, Hollis credited the success Bishop had in the program as a big reason for his decision to come to Morgantown.
On why he transferred, Hollis offered, “I was just ready for a change.” He added, “I just wanted to get everything I could out of college football.” Bishop’s year again influenced Hollis here. Compared to the volume of targets Hollis saw last season (fewer than 40), Bishop accumulated more than 20 pass break ups. Hollis sees the increased volume as a chance to spotlight his skills in coverage for the next level.
So far, Hollis has impressed the coaching staff, and Hollis tells the media, “It’s been a smooth transition” to the Mountaineer defense.
Hollis Offers a Taller Cornerback
As Mountaineer fans know, West Virginia historically has a hard time finding the complete packages that blue-chip talent offers. A player might be fast and instinctive, but the player may lack height. At cornerback, a prototypical West Virginia recruit stands below six feet. Indeed, when asked about the cornerback room in his August 7 open interview, Brown focused on the fact that Hollis offers the Mountaineers a big body that they haven’t typically recruited. That height, of course, allows West Virginia to rely less on angles and more on size to defend at least one side of the field.
Hollis’ addition should also help the Mountaineers’ defensive line and linebackers to take a few more chances in pass rush. The knowledge that the veteran Hollis can go toe to toe with an opposing team’s biggest receiver minimizes the risk of sending an extra body into the backfield.
What About the Other Side?
We were surprised to hear Brown frame the cornerbacks room the way he did in his earlier remarks this Fall. Indeed, Brown shared, “We have more able bodies and we’re more athletic” in the cornerback room than the last few seasons. Secondary coach ShaDon Brown echoed these remarks in his August 5 interview. “We’ve got a lot of talent. Right now, we’re trying to find the best five,” ShaDon said. He added, “I see length, I see speed. We’re bigger. We have depth.” To take a page out of Brown’s own book, though, we echo his remarks, “Nothing’s true until you put it on the field and prove it.”
The staff likes what they see out of Hollis, whose biggest weakness has been going after 50-50 balls. Hollis emphasized the jump ball drills over the Summer, and the staff points to this as his biggest improvement heading into Fall camp. Beyond Hollis, West Virginia seems to like Duquesne transfer Ayden Garnes. ShaDon Brown told the media, “I don’t know if they’ve caught a ball off Garnes through five practices.” We expect that impressive stat has not held through for the ten or so practices since. That said, we certainly hear the staff rave about his performance.
Junior Jacolby Spells had some good moments in 2023 as a depth piece. The staff expected him to take that next step forward through Spring and Fall. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury that kept him out most of Spring, all of Summer, and the first part of camp. It appears, however, that the staff has removed the “limited” designation from Spells, who is now full speed. We anticipate he will challenge Garnes for snaps alongside Hollis as camp and the season progress.
Beyond those three, Dontez Fagan, TJ Crandall, Jordan Jackson, and true freshman Keyon Washington should get some attention back here. Despite their comments about depth and talent, however, we still see the Mountaineers trying to answer questions at cornerback through the season opener and perhaps beyond.
