Maybe it was just me, but I found it interesting to see Ryan Dorchester, West Virginia football’s director of player personnel, name three recruits he thought could play next season.

For starters, Dorchester is pragmatic. His job is to project and, if were being honest, be optimistic since his projections involve recruiting, and WVU obviously wants its players and classes to succeed. But there’s a reality sewn into all of that, and he’s careful to never ignore that and to never be surprised by it.

But, hey, keep an eye on these three:

I would be shocked if a guy like (wide receiver) (Reggie) Roberson comes in and isn’t a guy that is in our two-deep to start right off. A guy like (safety) Kenny Robinson just because he’s so athletic and can do so many different things, I would be really surprised if he’s not involved. (Safety) Derrek (Pitts) being here early and one of those freshmen D-linemen; one of them is going to have to be involved and may the best man win.

What do those three have in common? They’re freshmen, and what Dorchester and the fellow architects of the roster have come to realize in recent years is they might have to wait on freshmen and are better off looking for immediate help from transfers.

Bringing in older, more mature players to supplement the roster has helped take away some of the unknowns in recruiting. Another is holding back a couple of scholarships to see what becomes available later in the spring and on into the summertime.

This is where Dorchester has masterfully supplemented West Virginia’s roster the last couple of years.

If there were no scholarships available, that would have meant no Charles Sims, no Clint Trickett, no Shaq Riddick, no Kyle Bosch, no Maurice Fleming or no Will Grier.

How valuable was Fleming last year?

Well, it turns out he was the difference between having a nine-win or 10-win season.

“Maurice started six games for us last year and he made the pick that sealed the win against BYU,” Dorchester pointed out. “I don’t know how many kids (who signed on February 1) will add or subtract to the win total this fall – to go from a nine-win team to a 10-win team, or an eight-win team to a nine-win team, but I know we’ve signed some graduate transfers and some post-signing day four-year transfers that have moved that win total.

“And if we don’t have a scholarship available last year we don’t sign (Florida transfer) Will Grier,” he added.