Sizing 'Em Up
August 18, 2003 02:50 PM | General
August 19, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. –West Virginia University football coach Rich Rodriguez gave his position-by-position analysis of the team after the conclusion of two-a-day practices Saturday afternoon. Here are some of Coach Rod’s thoughts about his team:
Offense
Quarterback
“I think the quarterback position has gotten better. I think we’re able to do more things with our quarterbacks. The more years they are in the system the more you can do with them. Rasheed Marshall is clearly our number one. He’s had a good camp and a great summer. Charles Hales is clearly our number two -- he’s gotten better. And Adam Bednarik is clearly our number three. He’s progressed well but I’d prefer to redshirt him.”
Wide Receivers
“Wide receiver has been an area of concern. We’ve gotten better and we’ve got some good, young talent but talent and potential will get you beat if they don’t produce. I think we will get some production out of that position, though. They’re bigger guys which is one thing we’ve wanted. We put some bigger guys out there and we’ve got some decent speed and I think we have the ability to make some plays one-on-one, but we haven’t produced yet, and we haven’t produced in scrimmages. Hopefully in the next two weeks we can get to the point where some of them are ready to do it against Wisconsin.”
Offensive Line
“The o-line has progressed nicely. We have a concern about depth there. The top six have done a pretty good job. Size-wise we’re probably where we were last year – not small but not overly big either. I think they’re in pretty good shape.”
Running Back
“Running back is our deepest position talent-wise. We’re also solid at fullback. I think Moe Fofana can certainly be one of the better ones in the league. Obviously with Quincy Wilson we’ve got a solid player there and we’ll be able to find two, three running backs that can do a good job of running the football and I think understand our schemes.”
Tight End
“The tight end position has come on really well. Tory Johnson has had a good camp. Josh Bailey has been banged up a little bit but he’ll be a solid player. We’ve been concerned because other than Tory, Josh and Ryan Thomas have not practiced much. We moved Scott Beresford over there and tried to bulk him up to play some. Tory has clearly had his best camp, though, and all of those guys understand their roles and hopefully they’ll be able to have a good year.”
Defense
Defensive Line
“The defensive line has learned a lot. They have the most youth on our team. Coach Kirlav spends half his time changing diapers. All of those guys over there have progressed. We need Fred Blueford to get healthy. He’s a guy who hasn’t practiced much and hopefully we’ll get him back mid-week. Ben Lynch and Ernest Hunter have been solid. Pat Liebig, Craig Wilson, Warren Young and Jason Hardee have never played for us. They’re not ready right now but I think Kirlav will get them to the point where at least they’ll be ready for 15-20 snaps and in two weeks we’ll be okay.”
Linebackers
“Adam Lehnortt, who had a great spring and summer, has missed a lot of camp with some nagging injuries. He needs the next two weeks to get himself ready. That will help us. Grant Wiley has had a real good camp and he’s in good shape. Scott Gyorko had a good enough camp to where we felt comfortable moving Leandre Washington out to spur. On the outside, Leandre is a bigger guy who can do some things against a tight end or rush from the outside or guard a slot receiver, so that gives us a lot of flexibility with Scotty really coming on. Alex Lake, Jay Henry and Boo McLee are all young guys that haven’t played a whole lot that are going to have an opportunity to do so in a backup role this year.
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| Senior Lance Frazier returns as one of the most experienced players on West Virginia's defense. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Safeties
“Leandre Washington has had a really good camp. He gives us some flexibility out there. Mike Henshaw has done a good job. Those guys are competing for that job. Mike Lorello has had an outstanding preseason camp at the other safety position. He was a guy we thought could play pretty well. He played a lot last year, he’s in great shape and we’re real excited about what Mike can do. Jahmile Addae is clearly our top free safety but he’s not tackled yet. There is a point hopefully this week the green shirt will come off and he’ll be able to hit a little bit because he needs to get used to tackling. He’s really comfortable back there and I think he’s physically in good shape because he’s been out there running around.”
Cornerbacks
“With Lance Frazier and Brian King we have two solid, experienced cornerbacks. Frazier has missed a little bit but he’ll be okay. Anthony Mims has had a pretty good camp along with Pac-Man Jones. Thandi Smith and some of those freshmen who haven’t played a whole lot have done a pretty good job of learning our system. We’re doing a lot more in our secondary than we did before but I’m not sure we can do that much in a game. You’re afraid of making a big mistake against a team like Wisconsin.
Kicking Game
“That’s probably the area of concern we had coming in that has been solved, at least from a practice standpoint. Brad Cooper has kicked the ball as well in preseason camp as we could ever imagine. Both his kickoffs and field goals … he’s just booming the ball and has done an outstanding job. He worked great over the summer. Todd James has done the same thing with punting. Todd has really been consistent and he’s concentrating just on punting. With those two guys we’ve got two big-time legs and I think two big-time talents at both kicker and punter. Hopefully they can do that in a ballgame.”
