The secondary is not just the difference maker of the season because of the unknowns on its’ end though. Floyd comes from Murray State and had 40 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions last season. Other than that, Floyd obviously stands out as an impactful new addition given that he is already slated to start. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him as the starter by season’s end, and that’s not intended as an insult to current starter Mallinger. He’s been moved to SPEAR, which is a perfect fit for him considering the type of linebacker he thrived as at NDSU.
He’s coming off the best season of his career with a career-highs in interceptions (three), pass deflections (five – tied), tackles (58), sacks (1.5), tackles for loss (three) and forced fumbles (one – tied).
Speaking of the external additions, Cox highlights the group of transfers coming in after he played 47 games across four seasons, starting the last two, as a linebacker for FCS powerhouse North Dakota State University. It helps to be able to replace players who left your program with internal players, at least in the early part of the season. I said thankfully not to discourage the transfers or incoming freshman, but to highlight that players with a year on the team, regardless of playing time experience, are already more familiar with the defensive schemes and system. With Wilson-Lamp and Mallinger being redshirted last season, only Burks joins Woods with significant experience as the sophomore appeared in six games last year before an injury ended his season. He was just named along with 85 other players to the Bronko Nagurski watch list which is awarded to the best defensive player in college football.īesides Woods, thankfully three of their other current listed starters are returning members of the program. Woods is the only returning starter for the team, albeit a very good one. Neither is CAT which in it’s simplest terms is another safety. It is essentially a combination of an slot cornerback and in-the-box safety, as described by former SPEAR Tykee Smith.
The listed backups are Rashad Ajayi and Wesley McCormick at cornerback, Jasir Cox or Naim Muhammad at SPEAR, Hershey McLaurin at free safety and Malachi Rufin.įor those of you wondering, SPEAR is not a position that is used by every college program and is unique to West Virginia. Right now, the starting secondary is Charles Woods and Andrew Wilson-Lamp at cornerback, Davis Mallinger at SPEAR, Aubrey Burks at free safety and Marcis Floyd at CAT. To put it bluntly, you’d rather have an unknown unit than a known liability. While it would be pretty incredible for a unit seemingly thrown together this off-season to be a strength on the team, it’s certainly not impossible. It’s the unit most often cited as the reason for not trusting West Virginia this year and easily the unit with the biggest question marks on their team.īut there is a positive to be taken with question marks. If there is one unit that could single-handedly make or break the 2022 season for West Virginia football, it’s the secondary.