WVSports – West Virginia looks for growth from young OL

West Virginia has experience up front but what’s down the road for the group?

There is a strong nucleus of from left to right Wyatt Milum, Tomas Rimac, Zach Frazier, Ja’Quay Hubbard and Doug Nester as potential starters up front with both Brandon Yates and Nick Malone serving as support with the ability to play several different positions on the offensive line.

It’s a good situation to have considering the overall experience there with almost the entire offensive line returning in-tact from last season and pieces that have played a lot of football behind them.

But that’s only half of the scholarship players up front which leaves a lot of situations unexplained.

Sullivan Weidman, a redshirt freshman, has been working primarily at right guard in practice with the second or third teams and he has the size at 6-foot-4, 320-pounds. But now offensive line coach Matt Moore wants to see him come along and play with a good body position as well as earn more reps.

Maurice Hamilton, who is another guard option on the right side, is twitchy for his size but the redshirt freshman is a little further behind on knowing what to do and how Moore wants it done.

The other two redshirt freshmen on the roster are Charlie Katarincic and Landen Livingston. The latter is slotted more as a true center and has come a long way over the last year, while Katarincic has more positional flexibility due to his understanding. He has the ability to play all five positions up front and has been moved around through practice to showcase that.

It’s unclear if any of the redshirt freshmen will prove ready for a larger role but the focus is on developing them to have at least one waiting in the wings.

“That’s what you’ve got to do here. You’ve got to develop them, you’ve got to get them reps and teach them,” Moore said.

While even more unlikely given the physical demands of the position, the Mountaineers also have three true freshmen competing for time as well.

Johnny Williams, a 6-foot-7, 310-pound, offensive tackle spent the spring with the football program and has continued to develop his body during that time. After some strong play in the spring, Williams has only continued to carry that over into the fall and admittedly has a chance to be a special player.

Nick Krahe played his senior season in high school at 245-pounds but is now up to almost 300 as he’s had to add size to his frame. He is an athletic option on the offensive line and brings some natural abilities that has Moore excited for what he can do down the road.

The final piece of the puzzle is Cooper Young who displays good body control and is athletic. The future is bright for him as well and if he can continue to make steps forward.

Overall, there is a lot of excitement about this group and what it could be but for now the focus is on finding those that can help in the near future.

“I feel good about the future but of course I’ve only got two seniors. If we can keep everybody here and continue to build this thing, I think we’re moving in the right direction,” Moore said.