WVU Football: Roster adjustments for the Mountaineers
By Phil Poling
The WVU football team is still experiencing player turnover as some continue searching for a landing spot. Here are some recent adjustments to the roster.
According to Allan Taylor of MetroNews, wide receiver Steven Smothers has left the football program. The 4-star (247sports) recruit from Maryland was absent from the annual Gold-Blue spring game in April, but quarterback-turned-wide receiver David Sills V stood out among the players suited up.
Sills V, if you recall, played wide receiver two years ago for the ‘Eers, but opted to transfer and pursue his quarterback dream before returning this spring.
William Crest, another player who had planned on transferring from the WVU football program this offseason – announcing in February his intentions to leave – is staying put.
Crest will be searching for a positional home after catching only a handful of passes last year and testing his luck on the defensive side of the ball; he was a 3-star (247sports) dual-threat quarterback after playing high school football at Maryland’s Dunbar High.
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Coming out of high school, Smothers was heavily recruited and received scholarship offers from Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, among others, before choosing WVU.
Crest on the other hand, wasn’t as highly-touted but still received offers from Maryland, Purdue, Virginia and Virginia Tech.
Another addition to the program is Penn State transfer Brenon Thrift. The ‘Eers tapped into their Lackawanna (Pa.) College pipeline once again, after Thrift left JuCo last summer to enroll at Penn State.
The 6’3″, 290 lbs. defensive tackle generated interest from a few Power 5 programs like Minnesota and Pitt, but ultimately chose Penn State after departing from Lackawanna.
Defensive back Corey Winfield, the graduate-transfer from Syracuse, is expected to arrive in Morgantown some time this month. With Winfield’s addition to the secondary, WVU’s in solid position to replace Rasul Douglas, among other other positions.