MORGANTOWN — Neal Brown has yet to see his West Virginia football team with an actual football in its hands. So with spring practice little more than a week away, the possibilities — and perhaps a few problems — are still limitless.
But based on the interactions he’s had with the Mountaineers during offseason workouts and meetings, one position group is standing out.
“Running back,” Brown said. “I think that’s the strength of our offense right now.”
That probably shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Running back is the most intact position on the roster from last season. Martell Pettaway, Kennedy McKoy, Leddie Brown and Alec Sinkfield bring back a combined 1,939 rushing yards to the Mountaineers — pretty impressive production considering the offense officially tallied 1,931 rushing yards last season due to sack totals.
But it’s not the numbers that have Brown jazzed up about his running back corps.
“The competition that we have in that room, quite frankly, needs to come across the board,” Brown said. “I think we have four really high-quality guys in that room that are going to compete at a high level all spring.”
Running backs coach Chad Scott said the quartet is highly self-motivated.
“I got here and everyone told me ‘You’ve got the best group in the building.’ I mean that in terms of work ethic,” Scott said. “Academically, there’s no issues with them at all. Off the field, no issues at all. [They have] that work ethic and drive to be great. And they work together very well.”
Last year McKoy was the closest thing to a workhorse in the group with 145 carries, while Pettaway (98) and Brown (91) got nearly equal distribution behind him. Injuries limited Sinkfield to five games, but Scott believes the sophomore may be the most versatile member of the group.
“Alec Sinkfield, we can use him as a receiver and find ways to get him the ball,” Scott said. “He has the element of speed we can use on this football team, and he [doesn’t] seem to tire real quick.”
It should be noted that running backs have a slight advantage over their counterparts when it comes to shining in offseason workouts. The speed, footwork and burst that make a good running back are much easier to assess than a quarterback who can’t yet throw, a receiver who can’t yet catch, a linebacker who can’t yet tackle and so forth.
Based on what he’s seen on film, though, Scott thinks what he’s experienced thus far will hold up this spring and into the fall.
“What will we not be able to do?” Scott said. “They’re so versatile. They can run, catch the ball out of the backfield. They can all block.”
For that reason, Brown expects all four — and possibly incoming freshman Tony Mathis — to make a difference in his first season.
“They’re talented, they’ve had really productive offseasons, and really, we’ll need to utilize more than one,” Brown said.
