MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — As good as West Virginia’s defense was last season — and statistically it ranked near the top, especially in pass defense — it was hardly perfect.
The pass rush, in terms of sacks, ranked 64th in the nation, right in the middle of 127 teams.
It was neither feared nor fearsome … although in all honesty it was probably better than that, considering that one of the school’s 10 games was the Liberty Bowl against an Army team that threw only six passes.
However, it is what it is and Neal Brown wants it to be better than that, which was one reason he brought Andrew Jackson in as D-line coach under defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley.
“Jordan will say the same thing. Coach Jackson will really help here. We have made some improvements,” Brown said.
While WVU does employ all kinds of blitzes via linebackers and safeties, the emphasis this spring was to try not to be dependent on that, especially since WVU is minus one of its starting cornerbacks — Dreshun Miller — who unexpectedly transferred to Auburn and is also admittedly short at the linebacking position.
“From a defensive viewpoint, going into the spring we wanted to be able to say after the spring game we made strides pass rushing out of our basic three- and four-man fronts without having to blitz. We wanted to get better at one-on-one pass situations … and I think we are getting better. We still have some work to do but I think we are making progress,” Brown evaluated.
The pass rush this year starts with senior Dante Stills, who wrestled with leaving after three years for the NFL draft but realized he had to make improvements in this area. Stills is probably the key to the pass rush, although Akheem Mesidor showed flashes of greatness last year and will be asked to fill the big void left by Stills’ brother, Darius, who is NFL bound this year.
“I think that’s the biggest step Dante can make,” Brown said. “He has to be a more consistent pass rusher. It’s more fundamental than anything.”
Brown helped advise Stills on his decision during the off-season and would have been supportive had he gone to the NFL, even filling out the necessary papers for him.
But he believes Stills did what was best for him and the team.
“He made the right decision,” Brown said. He made a lot of fundamental strides last season but it was beneficial for both him and our team to come back this season. He’s in a different mindset. He’s maturing. I fully expect him to have a big-time senior year and put himself in a draft position that will be significantly superior to what it would have been if he were in this draft class.”
There isn’t a lot of proven depth on the defensive line but Brown has high hopes that Lanell Carr will step forward.
“I think Lanell Carr is a natural pass rusher,” he said.
Lanell Carr is not a name you’ve heard often. He’s one of those rare kids from St. Louis who found his way to Morgantown, following behind Chase Behrndt, a center/guard over the past couple of seasons for the Mountaineers.
Carr is a 6-1, 260-pound sophomore out of De Smet Jesuit High, where he helped lead them to the state 6A title with an undefeated 14-0 record as a high school senior. That senior year he had 45 tackles, more than half of them solo stops, with seven sacks and 11 tackles for a loss.
He wasn’t used very much a year ago but has inserted himself into the picture on a talented defensive line this year that includes Stills, Mesidor and Jeffrey Pooler Jr.
Jackson, the new defensive line coach from Old Dominion, has created pass rushers wherever he has been and Brown expects him to work his magic at WVU, too.
However, pass rushing isn’t just a matter for the defensive line and, as noted, by the time they begin playing game they will have integrated a lot of blitzing into the package, especially from the Bandit position, which is part defensive lineman, part linebacker but all tackler.
Right now the ill-fated VanDarius Cowan, a transfer from Alabama whose career has been plagued by injury, and junior Jared Bartlett hold down that key spot.
“We have kind of evolved to who the personnel is there,” Brown said. “When Vic (Koenning) first had the bandit position at Troy before I even I got there, he had DeMarcus Ware.”
Koenning sort of create the position and how he wanted it played to fit DeMarcus Ware. That’s understandable, considering that the 6-4 linebacker was drafted with the 11th pick of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys and has gone on to become a four-time All-NFL player.
“DeMarcus came out of Auburn High at around 190 and continued to improve. When Vic got him late in his college career, he kind of moved him around and had him standing up. Doing that he was able to get him into some better matchups,” Brown explained.
When Brown got to Troy, that was a part of the defensive package Koenning had waiting for him.
“We were productive at Troy. We had a kid named Rashard Dillard who was the Defensive Player of the Year in the Sun Belt Conference, and he was an edge rusher. He was a pass rush first guy. Then we had a guy named Hunter Reese, who was all-conference for a couple of years.
“Dillard came off the box on the outside. Reese we used in the box and we blitzed him inside more than we did outside.”
So now what’s facing the Mountaineer defensive staff is figuring out the strengths of Cowan and Bartlett.
“They are both different players,” Brown said. “They play the box a little bit better, so we’re working on them outside and as edge rushers. A lot of it is we can form the scheme and what we’re asking the Bandit to do based on their individual skills.”
A native of Miami, Bartlett played at Collins Hill High School, just outside of Atlanta. He played in four games as a true freshman at WVU in 2019, keeping his redshirt year. Last year, when he played in 10 games with two starts, he didn’t use up a year of eligibility because of the Covid-19 rules adjustment that gave everyone an additional year if they want it, so he could play six seasons in college if he wanted.
WVU is also looking to add to the stockpile.
“We signed someone in Ja’Corey Hammett, who we think is an edge rusher, and we have Eddie Watkins, who is learning how to play the game at this level,” Brown said.
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