College Football Rankings: Top 25 after spring practice
West Virginia Mountaineers
2016: 10-3,
One year ago, the West Virginia Mountaineers started out the season red-hot but then were somewhat exposed as they started facing higher levels of competition. For a team coming out of that situation, it might then be curious to see them lose the amount of talent and playmakers that they have from the 2016 squad and still have them firmly in the top 20. Yet, Dana Holgorsen had his team looking like a threat in the Big 12 once again during the spring.
At the heart of the promise that West Virginia showed in the 2017 spring game was Florida transfer, Will Grier. The quarterback looked like a stud at the helm of the Mountaineers offense and looked comfortable slinging it around to a group of largely inexperienced wide receivers. Grier has had his share of troubles in his college career. With that being said, if he can keep his nose clean (and off the juice), then Grier is going to be fully capable of keeping this offense producing at a high level.
The big issue for West Virginia is going to be figuring out how to improve the defense. Linebacker David Long will be pivotal to that, especially with playmakers having left for the NFL draft. He looked good this spring, but there’s still more that needs to be seen from the unit overall. Either way, Holgorsen has re-tooled well considering the immensity of his losses from a year ago.