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

Until they meet again

June 28, 2016 by Mike Casazza

https://twitter.com/Cole_island/status/747580627730370560

That’ll be an interesting reunion in Week 2 this fall, when West Virginia plays host to the Penguins and their newly acquired erstwhile four-star cornerback. Cole, of course, was a Miramar High star who didn’t survive his first semester at WVU last year.

If you’re keeping score, Cole and David Sills V are the only players from the 2015 recruiting class who aren’t with the team today.

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Who is WVU’s pro?

by Mike Casazza

 

Here’s a fun conversation-starter from ESPN: Who’s the best NBA draft prospect on each top 25 team?

This is useful fodder for a few reasons. First and foremost, the team with the best players typically wins … and that’s not a journalist or a fan thing. I’ve heard Bob Huggins say it a bunch. So if you get into the top 25 and the top of the top 25, you’re going to see teams with a few candidates.

Now, is West Virginia an outlier? Does it always, or ever, have an NBA player or a few NBA players? But there are the Mountaineers, frequently in the rankings. They’re in preseason top 25s now and thus in this conversation, which is the second appealing point. Huggins does well with what he has. He doesn’t have a crystal clear NBA prospect, but there are a few possibilities, and that means you have to think for a moment about who is the leading candidate.

So transition to the topic, and answer aloud who you think is WVU’s best NBA prospect. Does it match ESPN’s pick, and do you agree with its selection?

(Also: The Big 12 has one team above WVU. It’s Kansas, of course, but if this is to be a bounce-back year for the  Mountaineers without Jon Holton, Jaysean Paige and Devin Williams, it’s no doubt comforting for you to know most of the rest of the league will be in a similar state.)

Huddle update

by Mike Casazza

I haven’t forgotten. There’s a lot going on, but at the moment we — the sports department — are trying to figure out what’s the right thing to do. Your enthusiasm is noted.

Mean time, how about this? West Virginia center Tyler Orlosky, who last week was named third-team All-American by Athlon, to which I nearly devoted a post out of disbelief, has been named one of Pro Football Focus’s top 101 players.

The top-graded returning center, Orlosky has surrendered only 10 pressures on 1,094 pass blocking snaps the last two years and he complemented it with a +16.9 run blocking grade that tied for ninth in the nation last season. He doesn’t lose many blocks in West Virginia’s zone-heavy system, giving his running backs a chance to pick up yards on either the front or back side of the play.

I’m skeptical that there are two other centers better than him in the country, but who knows? I do know that PFF only ranked five offensive linemen above Orlosky, and not one was a center. And to think, when I did the All-Camp team last summer — not a depth chart! — the most dubious feedback I received was about the Orlosky praise.

C: Tyler Orlosky
This started over the summer when I first heard stories about how Orlosky was the strongest guy on the team and might leave here in two years as the best center the school has seen. Those are some serious plaudits. You’d spend more time convincing me either is wrong than you would convincing me either is right. He’s an ideal fit at center, a strong, stout technician who is firm with is feet and sound with his hands, and I was stunned fellow Big 12 centers were so eager to praise Orlosky. What people closer to him say and marvel about most is how he doesn’t mess up despite all the things he has to know and anticipate as the central nervous system of the offense. He’s in line for a big season and some major honors at the end.

Down to one

June 27, 2016 by Mike Casazza

Jonn Young and Martell  Pettaway enrolled in summer classes at WVU today. Pettaway is no doubt the more celebrated of the two players, and we had to figure he was something special right away if the Mountaineers went up to Detroit to get him and then cheered their achievement.

Then he was a stud as a senior.

That said, we’re not certain he’ll play as a freshman.

Continue reading…

WVU’s 2017 class adds a Harley

by Mike Casazza

When the NFL season started last year and teams set their official 53-man rosters, they found room for 17 former St. Thomas Acquinas High School players. No other high school was as prolific.

We’re a long way from finding out where Mike Harley ends up, but he took aim at his goal Sunday. The star Raiders receiver, who has had a massive offseason at various camps and combines, committed to West Virginia with one thing on his mind.

The speedy wideout put on a clinic this spring, dominating at school and Nike Regional camps alike, earning not only a rise in his ranking (from 88 to 84 on 247Sports, with talk of him moving even higher) but new offers from Michigan, Louisville, Miami, Wisconsin, and more, pushing him close to 30 total scholarships.

West Virginia was there first, though, offering over a year ago, and that played a huge factor in his decision on Sunday evening.

“They always put their inside receivers into the league,” Harley said. “They were my first offer. I can definitely play there my freshman year and learn from Shelton Gibson and Jovon Durante. Then it will be time to shine my sophomore and junior year.”

Let’s huddle

June 25, 2016 by Mike Casazza

As you know, the state has been just devastated by flooding. It’s tragic and depressing and inescapable. A lot of people within the borders need a lot of help, but I’ve seen so many things in the last two days that inspire me and give me hope that all that help is somewhere out there.

At the same time, you do feel helpless. You’re one person, one family, one football team, and an enormous part of our 1.8 million are in need. I really want to do something, and we have an outstanding community with our blog.  You’re not only funny and sharp, but you’re great people with great reach. I’d like to use what we have at our disposal.

I’m open to suggestions, but the immediate thought is to take collections via PayPal. I don’t know where the money would go. It’s still early in what’s sure to be a long recovery. But I’ve seen ruined homes and towns. I’ve heard of shelters needing a long list of supplies. I know high school football teams lost a lot of equipment or basically all of their equipment.

We’ll be democratic about it, but I’ll be honest: I’d really like to help those high schools and their athletic departments and their teams. This is a sports blog. We’re sports fans. There’s a greater cause out there, I know, but I feel like so many good organizations and people have that covered. So let’s stay in our lane. I know the affected communities could use something to feel good about. I have to think Friday nights would help usher things back toward normal, if only a little, and I get sad as heck when I think schools might not be able to have a football season this fall.

So that’s my proposition. I’d like to organize something here to help. We can figure out where it goes and who we help. If nothing comes of it — and I can’t imagine a scenario like that — I’ll return the money.

So, what do you think?

Friday Feedback

June 24, 2016 by Mike Casazza

Welcome to the Friday Feedback, willing to do whatever it takes to help the team. Granted, the team may change, but the intent will not.

Let’s begin with David Sills the Fifth, who will enroll at El Camino College Monday. I’m pretty proud of the discussion we were able to have here. No one alleged Sills was “screwed,” but no one put this directly on Dana Holgorsen, either. His continued quest to recruit, sign and develop a blue chip quarterback prospect continues, but I really do think it continues irrespective of what Sills decided. It seems you all do, too.

No one’s turning on Sills here, but let’s be honest: He was a four- or five-star prospect after he committed to USC. His spot near the top of the 2015 recruiting rankings dropped through the years, and he wasn’t as celebrated or as coveted as he was before. There are different explanations, but they all seem to agree he either wasn’t as good as what was projected or he didn’t evolve as expected. Either way, there was only a loose consensus about him.

Rivals gave him four stars and ranked him 15th nationally among pro style quarterbacks. 247Sports chose three stars and No. 19 among pro style signal-callers. Scout went with three stars and No. 38 among all quarterbacks. ESPN settled on three stars and No. 26 among pocket passers.

Translation: Good prospect. Not a blue chip. Not a lock. Not the guy who should have been expected to validate Holgorsen’s reputation. It doesn’t help that this was a prospect with a lot of potential who got away without hardly any development at the position he was brought here to play, but this is seemingly more about a player who wants to be something he wasn’t going to be here.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, lay low.

Mack said:

Currently on the WVU Sports Blog with Mike Casazza, there is a story about a magician that plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, but there is still no coverage of women’s flat-track roller derby. Explain it!

Can’t. Won’t.

Continue reading…

On Sills, Crest and the future of oddball recruiting

June 23, 2016 by Mike Casazza

 

There’s a lot we can and might disagree upon as it relates to this discussion because it involves two divisive topics:

  1. Recruiting
  2. Quarterback recruiting

So, first things first, let’s establish common ground. William Crest and David Sills were signing day accomplishments for West Virginia. Signing day was before they ever played in college and allowed their performances to shape those reputations, but Crest and Sills were really good prospects. They deserve and we owe them that distinction.

Continue reading…

Perhaps the WVU guy can make him disappear

by Mike Casazza

This guy is Philadelphia’s long snapper. The Eagles not only drafted West Virginia running back Wendell Smallwood but signed the Mountaineers’ perfectly anonymous long snapper, John DePalma, after the draft.

So long, Sills

by Mike Casazza

 

Unable to work his way into the quarterback picture at West Virginia, David Sills has asked for and been granted a release from his scholarship. He’s transferring and will have four years left to play three seasons, though Sills will pursue immediate playing time and head to a junior college out west — El Camino, I’m told — and with a pretty good recommendation from Dana Holgorsen.

“We appreciate everything David has done for the Mountaineer football program. He has done everything asked of him and has been a great teammate,” Holgorsen said. “He has decided to transfer to pursue his dream of playing quarterback in college. We wish him nothing but the best in all of his future endeavors on and off the field.”

This is a bummer for the offense. He was a pretty decent receiver despite having no experience, and a position that was a little thin in the spring and depending more than it wanted on new players is thinner and greener now.

It can’t be a surprise, though. He’s been classically trained as a quarterback, going to great lengths to secure that schooling, and even upon his debut in the fall, it was clear he wanted to be a quarterback.