Where does West Virginia go to replace key offensive players?
West Virginia is now down two of their top playmakers on the offensive side of the ball with running back Jahiem White and wide receiver Jaden Bray expected to miss the remainder of the season due to injury.
So where do the Mountaineers turn?
In the backfield, losing White is a massive blow on the surface considering that he was the leading returning rusher on the roster and one of the most dynamic players on the offense. White had rushed for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 24 carries and his impact was felt immediately after he left the Ohio game with injury.
The Mountaineers struggled to generate much on the ground sans White, but now there isn’t a choice to find somebody to step up in his absence.
In the position room, West Virginia has sophomore Clay Ash, redshirt sophomore Cyncir Bowers, redshirt senior Tye Edwards, redshirt freshman Diore Hubbard, redshirt junior Kannon Katzer, sophomore Tyler Jacklich and redshirt freshman Andre Devine.
The most proven of those at the college level is Edwards who has rushed for he rushed for 1,557 yards and 11 touchdowns over the past two seasons at Northern Iowa. He missed a portion of fall camp as he awaited NCAA eligibility but now could be a factor in the run game.
Ash was the trusted option after White went down with the injury with 35 snaps but rushed just 4 times for 2 yards and caught 4 passes for 20 yards. He is an option that the Mountaineers can trust but could there be more dynamic options available?
One of those would be Bowers who has flashed his speed but the question there becomes if he can get up to speed with his understanding of the offense and what is being asked in other areas. Hubbard is a player that also could potentially help but he has not played in the first two games of the season however with White down now he is expected to receive reps according to head coach Rich Rodriguez.
As for the others, that is more of an unknown, but it would be fair to imagine that each are going to have an opportunity to state their case for more reps with White sidelined.
At the wide receiver spot, replacing Bray also is going to be difficult given the impact that he has made as another dependable outside option aside from Cam Vaughn with experience. He led the Mountaineers with 4 catches for 69 yards against Ohio but now has had his season derailed twice due to injury.
At the spot, the Mountaineers are going to need players such as Preston Fox, Jeff Weimer or Justin Smith-Brown to take on larger roles on the outside. There are other options as well such as Logan Ramper and Jordan McCants.
The inside wide receivers are still a deep group, while Vaughn can handle one side but adding another presence there will be key especially with the struggles in the run game.
The good news is all three of those players have experience and while they might not be as well-rounded as Bray, do offer a good mix of traits to potentially replace him for the time being.
The Mountaineers also could use some of their slot wide receivers out-wide in certain situations in order to take advantage of their skill sets to help aid the passing game.
It won’t be easy regardless because the offense already was still figuring things out even with both on the field, but there’s no other choice but to move forward.
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