With the 2024 season right around the corner, WVU is now in their second week of fall camp and is looking to continue to evaluate their roster, determining playing time.
The Mountaineers have had success with true freshmen in the past, including offensive weapons Jahiem White and Traylon Ray just last season. This upcoming season West Virginia will have 24 true freshmen, some will most likely be redshirted and be used for depth, but others have the potential to make a difference while getting playing team.
“There will be some freshmen that are going to play. ‘Who?’, we’ll wait and see. It usually kind of clears itself out after the first scrimmage and if they can handle the load once you start installing in the second week, then you know you’re on to something. But we’re going to have some freshmen that play, will it be as many in the past, to be determined. I like these guys,” head coach Neal Brown said after the team’s first fall camp practice last week.
In the same press conference, Brown mentioned that freshman offensive lineman Kyle Altuner will be ‘out’ until midseason with a lower-body injury. Brown and staff believed that Altuner had the ability to compete for playing time and still may be able to upon returning to football activities.
In his weekly press conference on Wednesday, Brown mentioned another freshman who he has been impressed by so far, wide receiver Ric’Darious ‘DayDay’ Farmer. The four-star recruit from Melbourne, Florida was originally committed to UCF, but flipped to West Virginia on national signing day.
“DayDay farmer has been, he’s elite with the ball in his hands. So, we got to figure out ways how to how to use him,” Brown said. “He’s got twitch and he’s got some explosiveness. And he’s a lot stronger than maybe his body type looks, which is going to give him the ability to play and not just be a guy that goes in there when we’re going to get him the ball or be a decoy. He can block on the perimeter and those type of things he’s made several competitive plays. He was good yesterday in our 11on11 work. And so yeah excited about him we liked him in recruiting you know we beat a lot of people for him. And so he he’s earning, he’s going to earn some playing time if he continues this.”
Out of the 24 freshman, 13 are defensive players and the other 11 offensive. As fall camp continues and WVU gets into scrimmages, more freshman that can make an impact may be revealed. The Mountaineers have had success with true freshman in the past and it wouldn’t be a surprise if that continues in 2024
