-Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson was a little frustrated with the way practice went today, as the offense gained the upper hand. Gibson said it was a bad day for the defense, but says overall the defense has had a great spring. He said this past Thursday was the best day the defense probably had all spring.
-Gibson said in addition to Kyle Rose being out on the defensive line, he's had to deal with injuries to Christian Brown and Noble Nwachukwu. Nwachukwu left practice today with an injury. In place, he's had to rep Darrien Howard with the ones with also some younger guys.
-Gibson is proud of Howard and says Howard is becoming really good player. Gibson praised Howard for his efforts last season when the coaches had to pull his redshirt midway through the season. Gibson said the defensive staff likes where Howard is at right now.
-Another defensive lineman starting to improve is JUCO transfer Larry Jefferson. Gibson said bringing Jefferson in isn't too similar to when the team brought in Shaq Riddick a year ago, because Gibson has the whole spring to work with Jefferson, whereas he had to rush to get Riddick game ready last year with him only coming in for the fall. Gibson sees Jefferson having a little more explosiveness than Riddick. He likes where Jefferson is at right now and the ultimate goal is to get him matched up one-on-one with offensive tackles in the fall.
-Defensive line coach Damon Cogdell echoed what Gibson said about Darrien Howard, but also said that Noble Nwachukwu is having an outstanding spring. Cogdell says Nwachukwu could be an excellent player and will have plenty of sacks this season.
-Wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway says Daikiel Shorts should have a pretty easy move to outside receiver because Shorts played outside receiver when he first got to Morgantown as a true freshman. Galloway says Shorts knows the offense and is going to be on the field pretty much every play.
-Quarterback Skyler Howard likes that Shorts is on the outside too. He's started to gain some chemistry with Shorts and says that Shorts' body type fits the mold of an outside receiver a little better than an inside receiver. Howard connected twice on goal line fade touchdown passes to Shorts during practice.
-Howard also talked about how he watches film. He explained that he'll skim over today's practice film tonight and then watch it tomorrow very closely.
-Running back Rushel Shell is trying to figure out some of what to do at receiver. He's trying to get better at where he has to be on routes so that he doesn't have to come off the field and can play some inside receiver if he has to.
-While the running the ball, Shell feels extremely comfortable running behind left tackle Yodny Cajuste and Adam Pankey. Shell says the guys on the team call Cajuste, "The Created Player" because he's the offensive linemen everyone would create when they'd play Madden or NCAA video games.
-Right tackle Marquis Lucas has also taken Cajuste under his wing. While teaching Cajuste about the offense, Lucas has nothing but high praise for his fellow tackle and said that Cajuste is a freak of nature athletically and is a special talent.
-SPUR KJ Dillon says the confidence for the defense is extremely high with the group able to play in the same system for a second straight season. Dillon said that he and Karl Joseph along with Nick Kwiatkoski and Jared Barber have emerged as the leaders of the group. Dillon takes credit for being the most vocal.
-Dillon also added that there is no reason why the defense can't be the best unit in the Big 12 with as many as players it returns.
-Karl Jospeh opened up about his decision to return to school a little bit and explained that while it was a very tough final decision, he made the right one. Joseph wanted to get his degree and he will get it this summer. Additionally, instead of going to the NFL he wanted to take on some "unfinished business" he felt like he had.
-Joseph says he's really working on the coverage part of his game and it should be improved this fall.
Greg Madia
Radio Host/Writer
WVSports.com
Follow on Twitter @GregMadia
-Gibson said in addition to Kyle Rose being out on the defensive line, he's had to deal with injuries to Christian Brown and Noble Nwachukwu. Nwachukwu left practice today with an injury. In place, he's had to rep Darrien Howard with the ones with also some younger guys.
-Gibson is proud of Howard and says Howard is becoming really good player. Gibson praised Howard for his efforts last season when the coaches had to pull his redshirt midway through the season. Gibson said the defensive staff likes where Howard is at right now.
-Another defensive lineman starting to improve is JUCO transfer Larry Jefferson. Gibson said bringing Jefferson in isn't too similar to when the team brought in Shaq Riddick a year ago, because Gibson has the whole spring to work with Jefferson, whereas he had to rush to get Riddick game ready last year with him only coming in for the fall. Gibson sees Jefferson having a little more explosiveness than Riddick. He likes where Jefferson is at right now and the ultimate goal is to get him matched up one-on-one with offensive tackles in the fall.
-Defensive line coach Damon Cogdell echoed what Gibson said about Darrien Howard, but also said that Noble Nwachukwu is having an outstanding spring. Cogdell says Nwachukwu could be an excellent player and will have plenty of sacks this season.
-Wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway says Daikiel Shorts should have a pretty easy move to outside receiver because Shorts played outside receiver when he first got to Morgantown as a true freshman. Galloway says Shorts knows the offense and is going to be on the field pretty much every play.
-Quarterback Skyler Howard likes that Shorts is on the outside too. He's started to gain some chemistry with Shorts and says that Shorts' body type fits the mold of an outside receiver a little better than an inside receiver. Howard connected twice on goal line fade touchdown passes to Shorts during practice.
-Howard also talked about how he watches film. He explained that he'll skim over today's practice film tonight and then watch it tomorrow very closely.
-Running back Rushel Shell is trying to figure out some of what to do at receiver. He's trying to get better at where he has to be on routes so that he doesn't have to come off the field and can play some inside receiver if he has to.
-While the running the ball, Shell feels extremely comfortable running behind left tackle Yodny Cajuste and Adam Pankey. Shell says the guys on the team call Cajuste, "The Created Player" because he's the offensive linemen everyone would create when they'd play Madden or NCAA video games.
-Right tackle Marquis Lucas has also taken Cajuste under his wing. While teaching Cajuste about the offense, Lucas has nothing but high praise for his fellow tackle and said that Cajuste is a freak of nature athletically and is a special talent.
-SPUR KJ Dillon says the confidence for the defense is extremely high with the group able to play in the same system for a second straight season. Dillon said that he and Karl Joseph along with Nick Kwiatkoski and Jared Barber have emerged as the leaders of the group. Dillon takes credit for being the most vocal.
-Dillon also added that there is no reason why the defense can't be the best unit in the Big 12 with as many as players it returns.
-Karl Jospeh opened up about his decision to return to school a little bit and explained that while it was a very tough final decision, he made the right one. Joseph wanted to get his degree and he will get it this summer. Additionally, instead of going to the NFL he wanted to take on some "unfinished business" he felt like he had.
-Joseph says he's really working on the coverage part of his game and it should be improved this fall.
Greg Madia
Radio Host/Writer
WVSports.com
Follow on Twitter @GregMadia
