West Virginia football: 5 surprise contributors who’ll boost Mountaineers in 2018

MORGANTOWN, WV - SEPTEMBER 03: West Virginia Mountaineers players celebrate after the game against the Missouri Tigers at Milan Puskar Stadium on September 3, 2016 in Morgantown, West Virginia. West Virginia defeated Missouri 26-11. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
MORGANTOWN, WV - SEPTEMBER 03: West Virginia Mountaineers players celebrate after the game against the Missouri Tigers at Milan Puskar Stadium on September 3, 2016 in Morgantown, West Virginia. West Virginia defeated Missouri 26-11. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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AMES, IA â NOVEMBER 26: Defensive lineman Demond Tucker #97 of the Iowa State Cyclones tackles tight end Elijah Wellman #28 of the West Virginia Mountaineers as he rushed for yards in the first half of play at Jack Trice Stadium on November 26, 2016 in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA â NOVEMBER 26: Defensive lineman Demond Tucker #97 of the Iowa State Cyclones tackles tight end Elijah Wellman #28 of the West Virginia Mountaineers as he rushed for yards in the first half of play at Jack Trice Stadium on November 26, 2016 in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /

2. Jovani Haskins, Tight End | Redshirt Sophomore

Jovani Haskins might be the biggest unknown on WVU’s roster heading into 2018, but that’s because we haven’t seen him in game-action since high school. He was redshirted at Miami his freshman season and sat out the 2017 campaign for WVU while fulfilling transfer requirements. At Big 12 Media Days in Frisco, Texas, on Tuesday, head coach Dana Holgorsen discussed some of his transfers with the media.

“We’ve got three more guys becoming eligible this year, that all transferred from specific Power Five schools. T.J. Simmons and Jovani Haskins and Jack Allison — they had reasons why they wanted to transfer. They came in. They sat a year. They paid the price. And now they’re going to play for us.”

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound tight end could be a match-up nightmare for opposing defenses. With studs like Sills and Jennings working other areas of the field, Haskins will almost always have some sort of advantage.

He’s too tall for corners. Too physical for safeties. Too fast for linebackers. The question with Haskins is this: Will there be enough touches to go around on the Mountaineer offense to keep him happy? Haskins will be fighting Trevon Wesco for the bulk of the snaps at tight end, but neither have any starts under their belt; Wesco’s played in 20 career games.

Haskins’ skillfulness was on full-display in high school, playing quarterback, tight end, defensive line and linebacker (along with some kicking duties sprinkled in). This isn’t typical with every football player nowadays, but the name of today’s game is versatility, and we should expect Haskins to contribute.