West Virginia Football: Top 5 recruiting targets for 2019 National Signing Day

West Virginia football is transitioning into the Neal Brown era nicely. A strong showing on National Signing Day could cement a seamless changeover.

First-year West Virginia head coach Neal Brown is tasked with replacing Dana Holgorsen, who won the second-most games as a head coach in WVU football history (61). But Brown’s also forced to replace starting quarterback Will Grier, his two favorite targets in Gary Jennings and David Sills, and the 2018 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in David Long.

Instead of a rebuild, though, Brown looks to simply reload with a strong showing on National Signing Day 2019. He added Oklahoma graduate-transfer Austin Kendall in mid-January, and while Kendall spent the past few seasons backing up Heisman winners Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, he was a highly-touted 4-star recruit out of high school. Not a bad start.

During December’s early signing period, the Mountaineers added a handful of players, three of whom enrolled for the spring semester – cornerback Dreshun Miller, defensive lineman Taijh Alston, and safety Kerry Martin. Another 13 recruits signed their National Letter of Intent (NLI) to become Mountaineers, headlined by safety Osita Smith and wide receiver Winston Wright.

The five players on this list, however, could make or break Brown’s first few seasons in Morgantown. If he’s able to land three or four of these recruits, though, West Virginia will be on the right track moving forward.