West Virginia Football Top 10 Players | WVU Football 2024

welcome back to another episode of rock boys football top 10 players for this West Virginia program heading into 2024 and I think one of my biggest takeaways upon doing the research and prep on this West Virginia team is that this team has a very clear idea of how they want to play in 2024 and it's no secret right we are going to run the football a lot with two really good running backs a very good and experienced offensive line and extremely DN damic quarterback and when we are going to throw the football we're going to attack the deeper third and try to hit explosive plays and although the completion percentage might not be that high we are going to hit explosive plays in the passing attack and you look at how West Virginia has kind of built this roster out it is very suitable to how West Virginia wants to play and I think that's a massive storyline you look at programs across the country and I think arguably at times with Neil Brown at West Virginia there wasn't necessarily an identity to this football program and I think heading into 2024 you have a clear picture of how this West Virginia team wants to play in you look at the talent across this roster it kind of matches how they want to play in 2024 a fascinating team heading into 2024 before we get into it just want to say thank you to you guys and to the West Virginia fans many of you guys who've been rocking with the fellas the last couple of years you guys know we had a blast talking this program in 2023 it was a team that I don't know if every Saturday we could explain why they were winning football games but they just kept winning football games that were kind of one of those surprise teams in 2024 or 2023 excuse me it was a blast talk in this program can't thank you guys enough for rocking with it if y'all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel much more importantly I would love to hear some players that you guys might think I'm sleeping on a little bit heading into 2024 it was hard to narrow down this list to just 10 players so would love to hear some feedback from you guys and without further Ado let's get into this and we started with this West Virginia team is built to run the football a lot and it looks like they're going to be able to do that heading into 2024 and I want to start with the number one player on this West Virginia team and that is left tackle Wyatt Millan and you look at Wyatt and say this kid can be a top 100 NFL draft pick in the 2025 NFL draft he has played a ton of football he's going into his fourth year with this program I mean last year in 2023 338 pass Pro snaps gave up only zero zero sacks only nine quarterback curries he's played over 2200 snaps during his career I think you've seen him get better during his time with this West Virginia program and I think what's most exciting is what does this kid look like heading into year four of his college football career I really do think you might be looking at one of the best offensive tackles that we see in the country and it's not gonna get talked a lot about according to the National media because nobody wants to talk about West Virginia I think this kid is an absolute stud heading into 2024 season going to our number two player and let's go to running back Jahim white who was absolutely phenomenal in the 2023 year average 7.7 yards per carry I mean this is one of the more Juiced up shiftier running backs that you're going to see in the country and you kind of look at how Jem white and CJ Donaldson balance each other out that's exactly how you want a running back room to look like you look at CJ Donaldson and just say one of the most physically imposing running backs that's gonna get downhill and he's not necessarily gonna make a ton of people Miss he'll just run right over you and then you have a kind of I guess you'd say change of pace running back that I think's G to get a lot more opportunity heading into year two in his college football career I think this kid is an absolute stud and I love what he can do at the second level in this West Virginia offensive line it's going to be good and I know you lose some really good offensive lineman but it's still going to be a really good unit and if you can get jemo consistently to the second level he's gonna make second level Defenders Miss I mean 32 Miss tackles forced on only 109 attempts that's an incredible number I a massive fan of Jem W and as he continues to kind of physically develop and take on contact a little bit better I think his best football is still in front of him heading into the 2024 season going into number three and let's talk about quarterback Garett green where you'll have a lot of you know quote unquote casual college football fans that might not watch a ton of West Virginia football take a look at the stat line and say 53% completion percentage that's not very good and although that's not necessarily a high completion percentage it goes back to what we talked about about this West Virginia team that is we are going to packed the deeper third and you look at Garett green pushing the ball down the field a 46% completion percentage 20 plus yards down the field that is an incredible number for a quarterback one of the highest I've seen since I've been kind of diving into these quarterbacks Garrett green is really good at what they ask him to do in this West Virginia offense and he's not going to be a quarterback that has a 75% completion percentage because he's pushing the ball down the field very often he's good at what they ask him to do he has I mean he's not just a dual threat quarterback he's an extremely Dynamic Athlete when he's asked to carry the football and I think one other thing that really could lead Garett green to potentially break out in the 2024 years a wide receiver play potentially taking a step in the right direction I mean you bring in guys like jayen Bray who we're GNA talk about a little later this West Virginia wide receiver room last year for lack of better terms it was a problem like there were just so many drops guys just did not seem to make plays down the field for their quarterbacks very often and you have some guys who are just a year older you have some guys coming in through the portal if the wide receiver play just gets marginally better which it's hard to see it not getting just a little bit better I think Garrett green has a massive year in the 2024 year one of those quarterbacks that I could certainly see going for you know almost 3,000 yards passing maybe a thousand yards rushing if he stays healthy and this West Virginia team kind of maxes out what they can be in 2024 now I think you go to number four and say let's talk about the other running back CJ Donaldson and this again goes to how West Virginia has constructed this roster we got a veteran offensive line we got a very Dynamic quarterback and we got two running backs who are absolute hammers but absolute hammers in different ways you get look at CJ Donaldson he is I mean in my mind one of the most physically imposing running backs that you see in the country 493 yards after contact and I think what excites West Virginia fans is CJ Donaldson his freshman year was probably better than what he was during the sophomore year if you can kind of see him get back to form and kind of build on what he did his first two years again I think similar to Jem white these two running backs they're extremely young I think their best football is ahead of them and so if you start talking about Garrick green CJ Donaldson Jem white all getting better going into kind of I mean Garrett green going into kind of year two as being a starter I think this is a really really exciting offense that West Virginia has going to number five and let's talk about another offensive lineman that kind of going back in into the film I thought was just an extremely solid offensive lineman and again a lot of the conversation goes to wide or goes to Fraser Doug nestler who you saw last year Brandon Yates has played a lot of football and he's played at a high level only gave up one sack seven quarterback hurries last year has played over 2700 snaps during his career at West Virginia and I love that he's versatile I think that's a really good thing for this West Virginia offensive line is there are a lot of guys that can move all along and kind of play I mean all five positions on the offensive line you look at Brandon Yates has played center has played both the guard spots having a versatile offensive lineman that you can kind of plug and play all over the offensive line and just know that he's going to be an allconference caliber player that's a massive part of this West Virginia team it is going to start up front and I think they have a lot of good offensive linemen but I think more importantly a lot of these offensive linemen are going into their fourth and fifth years of college football and that in my mind is what excites me the most about this West Virginia team going into number six and let's talk about tight end Cole Taylor who I think has all the potential in the world this is a massive catch radius that can operate in the middle of the field out you look at Cole Taylor and say one thing that West Virginia might be able to do a little bit better in the 2024 season is kind of working those intermediate passing Concepts you look at Garett green it was we're gonna throw the Deep ball or we're not throwing it at all I think West Virginia might be looking to get some of that intermediate passing attack a little bit more present in 2024 make this passing attack just a little bit more well-rounded and you look at a guy who could not only facilitate that but benefit greatly from that is Cole Taylor couple things that I love didn't drop the football that much which was rare for this pass catching group for West Virginia led the team in first downs had four touchdowns you look at what you want your tight ends to do you want them to catch touchdowns in the Red Zone you want him to move the chains on third down Cole Taylor did both of those at a very high level for West Virginia in 20123 and hopefully he can just build on it going into 2024 going to our number seven player and let's talk about wide receiver jadden Bray who is a guy that was on my radar as a true freshman for Oklahoma State then got banged up year two played solid year three I think there's a good chance Jaden Bray is the wide receiver one in this West Virginia offense and again going back to Neil Brown just understanding what this West Virginia offense is going to be he goes out and gets a wide receiver that 62 200 pounds Works vertically down the field exceptionally well you look at how this West Virginia passing attack is going to go we want to attack the deeper third we go out and get a wide receiver who can attack the deeper third and again I you look at the wide receiver play last year and say it left a lot to be desired if Jayden Bray can come in and be that true wide receiver one that's dependable that makes plays down the field does not drop footballs this wide receiver room might be very much improved from what we saw in 2023 going to number eight and let's talk about Anthony Wilson Jr 80 tackles one reception five pass b cups last year he is extremely versatile he moves all along this West Virginia Defense he plays the nickel he plays the safety role he play a box safety role and he kind of does everything really well and quite frankly I might be sleeping on Anthony Wilson Jr a little bit because you look at how important these kind of players are that can give you the Run support that can give you the coverage ability in this modern era of college football where offenses are giving you so many different looks they're making you cover a lot of field a lot of ground I should say having these athletes that can come in the box and help you support the Run game I think's massive and Anthony Wilson Jr again a guy that did a lot of things for this West Virginia Defense coming in at number eight might be a little bit low on him going to our number nine player let's talk about Shawn Martin this is in my opinion a big storyline for West Virginia I think the pass rush can be a little bit better for West Virginia you're kind of looking at who is going to give us that pass rush juice I think Neil Brown made some really intriguing transfer portal additions Shan Martin was a lot more disruptive than it kind of reflected on the box the box score if you will right five tackles one sack that's not necessarily numbers that you're going to write home about but then you dive a little bit deeper into the numbers and say 21 quarterback cures that led the team this is a guy that can collapse pockets and I think what you're looking for from Shawn Martin going into 2024 is can we start creating or kind of turning in that Havoc into creating negative plays for this West Virginia Defense that's the big storyline for West Virginia on defense is can we get after the passer just a little bit better than what we did in the 2023 season Shawn Martin gonna play in my mind a big role in that and then going to number 10 Aubrey Burks he's got to tackle better I really like auy Brooks's game he plays a very important position that spear role where you're doing and being respons I for a lot of different things 57% completion percentage went targeted that's a very good number for kind of that spear roll in this West Virginia Defense he's versatile he does a lot of different things the one thing that needs to get improved is the Miss tackle rate and I don't know if I just watch some bad games back from West Virginia but then they look at the numbers and say 25% Miss tackle rate that is far too high for a guy that's asked to play in the box and support the Run game like he is Aubrey burs can be a top five player player on this team he's got to tackle better and I think that's why he comes in at number 10 for West Virginia but another kind of just chess piece for this West Virginia Defense I again really intriguing team heading into 2024 they have you look at the big 12 and say how many teams are you just saying West Virginia can't flat out beat there's not many like this West Virginia team can beat every team that they're going to be playing in the Big 12 this year I think it's finding that consistency every single Saturday building on the the winning culture that you might have built in 2023 that's what this team needed this team needed to learn how to win games and kind of see themsel as a winning football team I think that 2023 season allowed them to do that they make some really intriguing additions in the transfer portal you can kind of sign me up for being that West Virginia fan club again because this team's going to be fun to watch in 2024 we'll close it at that appreciate you guys rocking with the fellas again if you all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel appreciate you guys we'll talk to y'all later peace