While the Neal Brown era at West Virginia may not have resulted in a ton of on-field success for the program as a whole, his tenure certainly produced some talented players in the trenches.
For the second year in a row, a Mountaineer offensive lineman has been selected on Day 2 of the NFL Draft -- Kenova, W.Va-native Wyatt Milum was selected Friday night as the the 25th pick in Round Three (89th overall pick) of the 2025 NFL Draft. He will begin his professional career with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"Extremely excited for Wyatt and his entire family," Brown told Mike Asti of WV Sports Now. Love the guy and what he’s about. Tremendous character and work ethic. He’s a great teammate. I really believe he’s a 1st round player and his college tape backs that up. Jaguars got a great one. He’s going to be a starter in the NFL for a long time."
I reached out to Neal Brown for his thoughts on Wyatt Milum being drafted in the third round by the Jaguars.
— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) April 26, 2025
"Extremely excited for Wyatt and his entire family. Love the guy and what he’s about. Tremendous character and work ethic. He’s a great teammate. I really believe he’s a…
Once Milum signs an NFL contract, he will become the third West Virginia native offensive lineman from WVU to make the NFL over the past two seasons -- last year, Mountaineer center Zach Frazier was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2024 Draft, and was joined on the roster in Pittsburgh by former teammate Doug Nester. Nester and Milum not only played together at WVU, but starred together at Spring Valley High School in their youth.
Milum was a Consensus All-American for West Virginia this past season, the fourth WVU lineman ever to earn the honor and the first since Dan Mozes managed the achievement in 2006.
Milum anchored a Mountaineer offensive line that was Top 10 in rushing yards per game amongst all power conference programs over the past two seasons, and allowed zero quarterback hurries and just seven quarterback pressures in 2024. He was ranked by Pro Football Focus and the third-best offensive tackle in college football.
Milum was listed as a guard on the draft boards and is expected to transition from tackle to guard at the NFL level due to concerns with arm length and other physical attributes.