MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — All five projected starters on the West Virginia offensive line played extensively last season. Four were regular starters themselves in 2023, including Brandon Yates, who has displayed no shortage of versatility throughout his college career.

Having played meaningful snaps at all five positions up front the last three seasons, Yates has assumed the role of full time center ahead of his sixth and final campaign with the Mountaineers.

In the process, the redshirt senior is attempting to replace one of the more accomplished offensive lineman in WVU football history as center Zach Frazier has moved on after being a second-round draft choice of the Pittsburgh Steelers in April.

Yates has known his new role was coming for some time, but admits there’s somewhat of a different feel to it with the regular season opener against Penn State a week away.

“It’s a little bit different than the spring, because then you’re preparing for a spring game, but this is preparing for the whole season,” Yates said. “I’m trying to take everything seriously, because in situations when it does get to Penn State and a fourth-and-1, I have to do the important things and make sure everyone is on the right people.”

Yates gained valuable experience as a center to end the 2023 season after replacing Frazier for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against North Carolina. That was out of necessity after the Fairmont native suffered a fractured fibula during the regular season finale at Baylor, but it provided Yates an opportunity to get a glimpse of what the upcoming season will be like.

“Playing guard last year and a little bit of center, I kind of already knew what I needed to do physically to compete better at this position,” Yates said. “Since then, I had the summer to develop even more and I’ve definitely improved in the physical aspect. The weight room numbers went up. Both mental and physical, I’ve definitely made huge improvements.”

Yates was primarily utilized at right guard in 2023, but also saw action at left guard when Tomas Rimac battled injury. The previous two seasons, he had mostly played right tackle and left tackle, respectively.

Now that he’s shifted to the middle of the offensive line, there is more responsibility. Along with identifying defensive looks prior to the snap, Yates is also tasked with making sure the offensive line understands the snap cadence and is working together as one.

“The offense is doing a really good job right now chemistry wise,” Yates said. “I had the guys at my house not too long ago. We had a barbecue, and I cooked for them —some burgers, stuff like that. We’re a very close group on the offensive side. You have to be that. Everybody has to be the same way. If one guy messes up the play, the play looks horrible. We all have to be in sync, intertwined and really together.”

During a play, Yates says much of what he is asked to do at center is similar to what he did as a guard. The major difference playing center or guard as opposed to tackle, where Yates was for 2021 and 2022 seasons, is a different body type in defenders he’s assigned to.

“Once the ball is snapped, it’s basically guard. Most guys are not going to play down the middle and if they do, it’s just going to be a fight at that point,” Yates said. “When I talk about the difference between [playing] inside and outside, I think about body types. In the Big 12, the guys outside are a little more nimble and skinnier and more like basketball guys. They like to get around guys and they want to be finesse. Those guys are mostly speed to power. 

“The guys inside are mostly power. Body types are very different when it goes from outside to inside. Coming from tackle to guard and center, I had to change my body as well. In my younger years, I was 290 and I was more worried about getting out there to those guys. Since I’ve moved in, my body has changed and I’ve gained 20 pounds, so I was able to go down there and hang with those guys. I took that as a challenge. [Head coach for football strength and conditioning Mike Joseph] gives me a number and a max to work off of and I would go 10 above that to get stronger. Every day I got stronger, I was able to move guys and be a lot more effective against guys with bigger bodies.”

With a full offseason to prepare himself as Frazier’s replacement, Yates is hoping to get the most out of his final go-around at the college level. He’s taking over for a player who started 46 games, including 37 straight at center, and twice earned All-American honors while garnering All-Big 12 Conference status on three occasions. Frazier went on to become the Mountaineers’ highest NFL Draft pick since 2016.

“We don’t talk about football that much. We kind of keep it light,” Yates said. “We both understand we’re very different how we do things and play football.” 

As a whole, Yates hopes his presence at center and the experience of other projected starters Wyatt Milum (left tackle), Rimac (left guard), Ja’Quay Hubbard (right guard) and Nick Malone (right tackle) aids the offensive line in its quest to again be a unit that generates one of the best sacks against rates and can pave the way for one of the top rushing attacks nationally, just as it did a year ago.

WVU’s 10 sacks surrendered in 2023 was the third lowest total of 133 FBS teams, while its 228.9 rushing yards per game was No. 4 nationally and tops among power conference programs.

“I do the best I can do and want to be a better leader. Since Zach left, I’ve felt like I had to step into that role and become a different kind of leader,” Yates said. “But everybody is a leader in that room. We have to be leaders on the whole team.

“We’re the oldest guys on this team, so we all have to lead very differently. Everybody looks at us. We’re the biggest people on the field and the giants on the field. If the giants on the field are not high energy, the whole team can be like, ‘if they’re not high energy, why do I need to be?’ We all have to be high energy and leaders in the room. Ja’Quay is high energy guy. Nick Malone, I love that guy. He’ll joke around and keep everything pretty light, but he does the right things and he’s also a vocal leader. We all do pretty well being leaders to the team and being leaders to each other.”