The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board

Today I wrote a story that probably won’t surprise you too much. In short, there’s no incentive to blame ACL injuries on artificial turf. There’s a lot of evidence that says artificial turf is not dangerous and is actually safer than grass, no matter how old the fake stuff is.

I quizzed Dr. Michael Meyers, who’s conducted injury research since 1986 and turf research since 1997. The latest five-year results of one of his studies show that FieldTurf, the brand WVU uses, witnesses 15 percent fewer substantial injuries, 20 percent fewer severe injuries, 24 percent less ACL trauma and 10 percent fewer combined ACL and associated injuries than natural grass.

Meyers further found that FieldTurf fields that were new, one to three years old, four to seven years old and eight or more years old had fewer injuries than a grass field, which is theoretically new every season.

“But they’re developed to reduce injuries, not to eliminate injuries,” Meyers said. “Because of the violence of the sport, they’ll never guarantee that.”

His verdict? Injuries and ACL tears happen everywhere, and we fixate upon it in the preseason because football is in focus. But WVU’s players are as safe as they can expect to be. It’s hard to argue with the explanation.

It’s called infill weight, and a five-year study of high school football games found that artificial turf, regardless of the brand, is safer when there is more than 6 pounds per square foot of infill weight — basically, sand and rubber pellets.

The higher the infill weight, the sturdier, more durable and safer the surface.

“Artificial turf is known for its consistency from end zone to end zone, unlike natural grass, which can look like a mosh pit in November and a mud pit between the 20-yard lines,” Meyers said. “The greater your infill weight, the more likely you are to maintain a consistent surface.”

The study showed that players on a field with an infill weight of at least 9 pounds per square foot had a 20.5 percent lower rate of injury than they did on a field that measured between 3 and 5.9 pounds per square foot. Severe injuries were lowered by 16.8 percent when the infill weight was at least 9 pounds per square foot.

WVU had FieldTurf installed at its practice field before spring football and at Mountaineer Field during the spring. The infill weight is 9 pounds per square foot at both fields.

“Despite the bad luck that we’ve experienced over the course of the past few weeks, the new turf actually makes our players significantly safer,” said Alex Hammond, WVU’s director of football operations.

That said, Meyers and I went down the road a bit and started talking about an individual’s susceptibility, and he agreed with a point others have raised: College football players subject themselves to a greater likelihood of injury.

Some of that is in the story at the end. What follows is not.

Rejoice! Preseason camp is finished at West Virginia, and that means it’s time to officially start the countdown toward the beginning of the regular season. This is a cause to celebrate, and let’s commemorate the occasion with the 2016 All-Camp Team.

My annual disclaimer: This is not a depth chart. If you present this as a depth chart, I’m done with you. If you see someone presenting this as a depth chart, you should be done with that person — and I might be done with you simply because your eyeballs associated with that person.

So, what is this? It’s a listing of the players who made the most of, who helped themselves the most during and/or who were the talk of preseason camp. It’s based on my notes and observations and the things I hear when I talk to players and coaches and whoever else I chat up along the sideline or in the team building. It’s not necessarily stars and starters but rather the players who came out of camp in a better situation than they were in when they entered it.

This is our fourth edition, and it’s unlike all the others. It’s short on surprises and dark horses.

I think this is in line with the theme of camp. The Mountaineers could identify basically all of their starters and contributors on offense before they began. There was more work to do on defense, but the team went in knowing who was going to factor into the many replacement processes. This is not to say WVU was without competition and question marks, but as camp progressed and when it was over, it just seemed to me that WVU took care of business as far as personnel goes because it knew who and what to expect.

That’s a good thing. No team is where it wants to be today, and surely the Mountaineers could have better luck with health and feel better about a few positions, but I don’t know if anyone’s looking around wondering from where the solutions will come.

Check out the previous editions in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and you’ll find different situations. Check out the 2016 team after the jump.

The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

That’s Gross, or so we’re told

Great practice player takes a practice rep

Friday Feedback

Survey says …

Ginny Thrasher gets to know the new normal

‘But Gary, I’m telling you, is Mr. Dependable.’

Plan B, Part II

Your 2016 All-Camp Team!

Tony Gibson: We’re deeper right now than what we were a year ago in the secondary

Brendan Ferns out of the season

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