Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Brown Lists Week One Standouts Following Tuesday Morning’s Practice
March 29, 2022 02:57 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Day four of spring football practice is in the books following this morning's fully padded workout inside the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility.
West Virginia coach Neal Brown met with media afterward and highlighted his three primary goals before work concludes with the annual Gold-Blue Game on Saturday, April 23.
No. 1, he wants to establish the standards for how his young football team practices and meets. His second objective is to show "real growth" in fundamentals, schemes and situational awareness. The third goal is to figure out, through competition, the players on the roster right now who are capable of winning Big 12 football games this fall.
"We have 15 spring practices for them to show they are ready, and anybody who is added to the roster is going to have another 14 practices, which is essentially the first two weeks of camp, to show that they are ready in the fall," Brown explained. "The guys on the roster right now - this is their opportunity to show that they are ready to go play against Pitt and the rest of our Big 12 schedule."
This morning's practice was really the first practice without anyone else there observing. Last Thursday's practice was Professor Day and Saturday was Parents Day.
"The first day everybody is excited. The second day we had a lot of faculty, staff and professors here so there was a big crowd. Then their families were here on Saturday to watch the practice so this was the first one (without that)," Brown explained.
"I thought we lacked a sense of urgency, overall, but still we got in some good work. I like the demeanor of this team. I like the youthfulness of this team, and I think we have a good mix between established guys and some youth," Brown added.
The coach mentioned several week-one standouts, starting with special teams long snapper Austin Brinkman, a 6-foot-4, 222-pound sophomore from Bel Air, Maryland.
"Brinkman has had a tremendous first three days, and I didn't see any signs of him falling off today. He's gotten stronger and his (snap) times are lower than any time during the fall," Brown noted.
Offensively, Brown listed several players, starting with sophomore Wyatt Milum's move from right to left tackle. He also noted that junior center Zach Frazier continues to perform at an extremely high level.
"Sometimes I forget to mention his name just because that's my expectation for him to be an elite player every single day, but he's done that," Brown said of his returning All-American. "I think he's played at a consistently high level as well as anybody on our football team."
Sophomore guard Jordan White is another offensive lineman who has earned praise for his play so far.
"He's still got to put on some weight, but his fundamentals have vastly improved, and he's a guy we really need to come on and be one of our top seven guys," Brown said.
The coach said junior wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton is coming off a Saturday practice that might have been his best-ever at WVU, while junior Tony Mathis Jr. continues to make strides at running back.
Mathis Jr. is one of four outstanding tailbacks West Virginia has this spring, including Clemson transfer Lyn-J Dixon, who practiced well this morning, according to Brown.
Brown said freshman wide receiver Jarel Williams from Saraland, Georgia, is probably a little ahead of schedule, and he likes what Colorado State transfer Brian Polendey is adding to the team as an attached blocker at tight end.
"He's as good an in-line blocker at tight end as we've had here during my tenure here, and I like what he's doing," Brown said. "He's growing as a pass catcher, and it's something he wasn't asked to do at his previous stops."
Defensively, the first name Brown mentioned this morning was junior defensive lineman Jalen Thornton, the son of former WVU standout John Thornton. Brown said Thornton is continuing to build off of his solid performance against Minnesota in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
Lance Dixon is starting to play more physically, according to Brown, while Charles Woods continues to make plays at corner. He said Woods has made multiple interceptions in each of the last two practices.
Junior cornerback Naim Muhammad has had practices with back-to-back picks while safeties Aubrey Burks and Davis Mallinger continue to make plays. Mallinger is getting most of his work at Spear near the line of scrimmage.
"(Mallinger is) different than the people we've been playing at that position because he's faster, and he also gives us the ability to play man coverage," Brown said.
Burks is coming off a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the last half of last season. Among the young defensive guys who stood out during the first week of practice were freshman cornerback Mumu Bin-Wahad, East Mississippi Community College transfer Lee Kpogba at Mike linebacker and Cincinnati defensive line transfer Zeigui Lawton, who is from South Charleston.
"I think (Lawton) is probably more advanced than maybe I anticipated when we signed him," Brown said.
Brown also singled out the play of Murray State transfer Marcus Floyd, who came here as a cornerback but has been getting most of his reps at safety right now.
Brown said the remainder of the week will consist of some more football periods on Thursday and Saturday. The team had one 15-minute period today that was just football with the coaches on the sidelines.
"We're going to do two 15-minute periods where we just play and move the ball around. We've got almost a full crew of Big 12 and Big Ten officials working," Brown said. Based on how that goes we'll determine what we're going to do on Saturday.
"We're going to have to be careful with tackling. We're going to tackle a little bit on Saturday, but it's not going to be the old days where we'd go out there for 100 plays because we just don't have the bodies," he concluded.
Later this afternoon, West Virginia will conduct its annual Pro Day scheduled with NFL scouts on campus to observe the Mountaineers' draft-eligible prospects Alonzo Addae, Leddie Brown, Sean Mahone, Evan Staley, Tyler Sumpter and Scottie Young. The Pro Day is organized and conducted by Mike Joseph and his strength and conditioning staff.
West Virginia coach Neal Brown met with media afterward and highlighted his three primary goals before work concludes with the annual Gold-Blue Game on Saturday, April 23.
No. 1, he wants to establish the standards for how his young football team practices and meets. His second objective is to show "real growth" in fundamentals, schemes and situational awareness. The third goal is to figure out, through competition, the players on the roster right now who are capable of winning Big 12 football games this fall.
"We have 15 spring practices for them to show they are ready, and anybody who is added to the roster is going to have another 14 practices, which is essentially the first two weeks of camp, to show that they are ready in the fall," Brown explained. "The guys on the roster right now - this is their opportunity to show that they are ready to go play against Pitt and the rest of our Big 12 schedule."
This morning's practice was really the first practice without anyone else there observing. Last Thursday's practice was Professor Day and Saturday was Parents Day.
"The first day everybody is excited. The second day we had a lot of faculty, staff and professors here so there was a big crowd. Then their families were here on Saturday to watch the practice so this was the first one (without that)," Brown explained.
"I thought we lacked a sense of urgency, overall, but still we got in some good work. I like the demeanor of this team. I like the youthfulness of this team, and I think we have a good mix between established guys and some youth," Brown added.
The coach mentioned several week-one standouts, starting with special teams long snapper Austin Brinkman, a 6-foot-4, 222-pound sophomore from Bel Air, Maryland.
"Brinkman has had a tremendous first three days, and I didn't see any signs of him falling off today. He's gotten stronger and his (snap) times are lower than any time during the fall," Brown noted.
Offensively, Brown listed several players, starting with sophomore Wyatt Milum's move from right to left tackle. He also noted that junior center Zach Frazier continues to perform at an extremely high level.
"Sometimes I forget to mention his name just because that's my expectation for him to be an elite player every single day, but he's done that," Brown said of his returning All-American. "I think he's played at a consistently high level as well as anybody on our football team."
Sophomore guard Jordan White is another offensive lineman who has earned praise for his play so far.
"He's still got to put on some weight, but his fundamentals have vastly improved, and he's a guy we really need to come on and be one of our top seven guys," Brown said.
The coach said junior wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton is coming off a Saturday practice that might have been his best-ever at WVU, while junior Tony Mathis Jr. continues to make strides at running back.
Mathis Jr. is one of four outstanding tailbacks West Virginia has this spring, including Clemson transfer Lyn-J Dixon, who practiced well this morning, according to Brown.
Brown said freshman wide receiver Jarel Williams from Saraland, Georgia, is probably a little ahead of schedule, and he likes what Colorado State transfer Brian Polendey is adding to the team as an attached blocker at tight end.
"He's as good an in-line blocker at tight end as we've had here during my tenure here, and I like what he's doing," Brown said. "He's growing as a pass catcher, and it's something he wasn't asked to do at his previous stops."
Defensively, the first name Brown mentioned this morning was junior defensive lineman Jalen Thornton, the son of former WVU standout John Thornton. Brown said Thornton is continuing to build off of his solid performance against Minnesota in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
Lance Dixon is starting to play more physically, according to Brown, while Charles Woods continues to make plays at corner. He said Woods has made multiple interceptions in each of the last two practices.
Junior cornerback Naim Muhammad has had practices with back-to-back picks while safeties Aubrey Burks and Davis Mallinger continue to make plays. Mallinger is getting most of his work at Spear near the line of scrimmage.
"(Mallinger is) different than the people we've been playing at that position because he's faster, and he also gives us the ability to play man coverage," Brown said.
Burks is coming off a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the last half of last season. Among the young defensive guys who stood out during the first week of practice were freshman cornerback Mumu Bin-Wahad, East Mississippi Community College transfer Lee Kpogba at Mike linebacker and Cincinnati defensive line transfer Zeigui Lawton, who is from South Charleston.
"I think (Lawton) is probably more advanced than maybe I anticipated when we signed him," Brown said.
Brown also singled out the play of Murray State transfer Marcus Floyd, who came here as a cornerback but has been getting most of his reps at safety right now.
Brown said the remainder of the week will consist of some more football periods on Thursday and Saturday. The team had one 15-minute period today that was just football with the coaches on the sidelines.
"We're going to do two 15-minute periods where we just play and move the ball around. We've got almost a full crew of Big 12 and Big Ten officials working," Brown said. Based on how that goes we'll determine what we're going to do on Saturday.
"We're going to have to be careful with tackling. We're going to tackle a little bit on Saturday, but it's not going to be the old days where we'd go out there for 100 plays because we just don't have the bodies," he concluded.
Later this afternoon, West Virginia will conduct its annual Pro Day scheduled with NFL scouts on campus to observe the Mountaineers' draft-eligible prospects Alonzo Addae, Leddie Brown, Sean Mahone, Evan Staley, Tyler Sumpter and Scottie Young. The Pro Day is organized and conducted by Mike Joseph and his strength and conditioning staff.
Players Mentioned
S
/ Football
DB
/ Football
LS
/ Football
RB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
OL
/ Football
LB
/ Football
S
/ Football
S
/ Football
RB
/ Football
OL
/ Football
CB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
K
/ Football
K/P
/ Football
DL
/ Football
OL
/ Football
WR
/ Football
CB
/ Football
S
/ FootballSteve Sabins | Feb. 16
Monday, February 16
Matthew Graveline | Feb. 16
Monday, February 16
TV Highlights: WVU 74, UCF 67
Sunday, February 15
Ross Hodge | UCF Postgame
Sunday, February 15
