Saturday Blitz
Fansided

West Virginia Football: 5 post-spring bold predictions for 2019 season

By Phil Poling

ORLANDO, FL - DECEMBER 28: Jack Allison #11 of the West Virginia Mountaineers throws a pass in the first quarter of the Camping World Bowl against the Syracuse Orange at Camping World Stadium on December 28, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - DECEMBER 28: Jack Allison #11 of the West Virginia Mountaineers throws a pass in the first quarter of the Camping World Bowl against the Syracuse Orange at Camping World Stadium on December 28, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 6
Next
MORGANTOWN, WV – OCTOBER 25: Kenny Robinson Jr. #2 of the West Virginia Mountaineers celebrates after a tackle against the Baylor Bears at Mountaineer Field on October 25, 2018 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
MORGANTOWN, WV – OCTOBER 25: Kenny Robinson Jr. #2 of the West Virginia Mountaineers celebrates after a tackle against the Baylor Bears at Mountaineer Field on October 25, 2018 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

5. Secure in the secondary

The West Virginia secondary has been suspect the past few seasons, even ranking 106th out of 129th in pass defense in 2018, but the current crop of ‘Eers has the talent to turn the tide. Both Toyous Avery and Dravon Askew-Henry have moved on to the NFL, creating plenty of opportunities for the remaining young players in Morgantown. This position group will be the second-strongest unit on the 2019 West Virginia football team.

MORE WVU: 5 players trending up after the Gold-Blue Spring Game

Headlining the secondary will be junior Kenny Robinson, Jr. He finished second to only David Long in 2018 with 77 tackles, and he also hauled in a team-high four interceptions as a sophomore. This followed up a freshman campaign where Robinson started eight games; he’s arrived, and the nation will be put on notice in 2019.

Surrounding Robinson is a talented group featuring a mix of both youth and experience. Hakeem Bailey, Josh Norwood, Derrek Pitts, Jovanni Stewart and Keith Washington, Jr. have all started for West Virginia in the past, while Jordan Adams, Dreshun Miller, and Kwantel Raines could find their first starts this fall.

Seniors with starts include Bailey (9), Norwood (10), Stewart (12), and Washington, but Adams got plenty of work with the new regime in the spring game, as well. Both Pitts and JUCO-transfer Miller are juniors, while Raines is a redshirt freshman. This is a heavily-populated secondary room with tons of potential and star-power. They’ll need to hold things down on the back-end and create turnovers for the Mountaineers this upcoming season.

Home/West Virginia Mountaineers