MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Over the next few weeks, West Virginia’s coaching staff will evaluate the Mountaineers’ roster throughout fall camp in an effort to best decide on starters, rotational players and who works best where.
Perhaps the most intriguing position battle is at will linebacker, where the Mountaineers are expected to begin the season with an inexperienced starter at that position, regardless of who wins the job.
“That’s the question mark. I don’t think that’s something we shy away from,” WVU head coach Neal Brown said. “If you were going to ask me, defensively, what’s the position that you’re most intrigued by and who’s going to step up, it’s that that will linebacker spot.”
On its preseason depth chart released in mid-July, the Mountaineers had Jairo Faverus listed as the top will linebacker, followed by Trey Lathan and true freshman Ben Cutter.
Together, the trio is responsible for two solo tackles and seven assisted stops in college.
“We have some candidates but a lot of them haven’t played,” Brown said. “Over the next two and-a-half weeks, who’s going to show that they’re ready. This first two and-a-half weeks of fall camp, I want to see the transfers and how they mesh and take to our systems, but I feel pretty good about those guys and getting them to a point where they’re ready. What I’m really wanting to see is those guys that played for us last year, but were maybe in lesser roles or really young, I want to see how big of a jump those guys are going to make.”
Faverus is entering his fourth season in the program, though it appears he will be in a more featured role for the 2023 campaign than in any of the three previous years.
Hailing from Amsterdam, the capital city of The Netherlands, Faverus’ first season at West Virginia was the COVID-shortened one of 2020. He played in four games and never more than 14 plays, while providing depth at safety.
Faverus then redshirted in 2021 after he was hampered by a knee injury suffered that spring. A year ago, Faverus played in all 12 contests, though he was primarily used on special teams and recorded his only solo tackle against Towson.
Lathan appeared in four games as a true freshman in what was a redshirt season for. A teammate of WVU running back CJ Donaldson’s in high school at Gulliver Prep in Florida, Lathan’s most productive outing came in a loss at Texas Tech when he recorded four assisted tackles.
Now, without a full season playing college football under his belt, Lathan finds himself in the mix for a starting spot and has a prime opportunity to at the very least crack the two-deep depth chart.
“Coach has been open about it and I’ve been open — it’s the question mark,” WVU defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said. “We have some pieces there and we’re putting them under a pretty tough evaluation over the next 20, 22 days or whatever it is to figure out who our guy is there and what our rotation is going to be there. We’ll know that probably sooner than that, but we don’t know it now. It’s a really tough competition right now, but we have some guys that we like.”
WVU does have a player with an abundance of experience at will linebacker in redshirt junior Lance Dixon.
However, Dixon has transitioned to spear safety and Lesley doesn’t foresee him playing weak side linebacker in what will be his third season with the Mountaineers after transferring from Penn State.
“There’s always that possibility because he’s played the position,” Lesley said, “but for Lance’s skill set and what we’re doing with it, it’s an advantage for him and an advantage for us.”