The West Virginia Mountaineers are looking to right the ship in Rich Rodriguez's second year back at the helm of the program following a 4-8 finish last season. And if they want to be able to pull that off, they need to have an improved effort in many facets of the game – one of those being defense.
There was a ton of roster turnover due to both graduation as well as the transfer portal this offseason, and there are not many familiar faces on the roster on the defensive side of the ball in particular. And it can be hard to get too optimistic about a unit without knowing who – if anyone – is going to be able to step up become a serious playmaker.
But Rich Rodriguez sat down for an interview with ESPN's Pete Thamel which was released on Tuesday, and he did drop at least one name he expects to be a standout on the defensive side of the ball.
Rich Rodriguez highlights Andrew Powdrell as a star on the defensive side of the ball
When asked by Thamel who fans might see "flash" in the fall, he landed on Andrew Powdrell, who is listed as a nickel/safety on the roster, meaning he'll likely have the versatility to play in multiple safety spots.
"He started off at Montana State, played there two years, played every game," Rodriguez said. "He goes to UNLV, plays every game for a good program, all that, but he wants to prove himself. Now he's here and he's going to be a starter on Day 1."
"And every practice, he plays like he was an uninvited walk-on that was just trying to get a meal. And that type of competitiveness, and he flashed from the first practice to last."
Powdrell came out of nowhere, as we had him listed as a back-up at one of the safety positions before spring practices began, but he would end up being one of the players made available for the press during spring practices and was among the starters for his team during the intra-squad scrimmage at the Gold-Blue Spring Festival. Now, it's safe to place him among the first-team defense.
Add us as a preferred source on Google