MORGANTOWN — When Alec Sinkfield decided to transfer to Boston College this off-season, not only did WVU lose its backup running back, but also its punt returner the last two seasons.
The Mountaineers have had their fair share of electric punt returners through the years in Adam “Pacman” Jones and Tavon Austin, but Sinkfield wasn’t an explosive threat who could take the ball to the house every time he touched the ball.
However, he did do a good job of finishing Step 1 and worrying about the rest after — catching the ball. It sounds simple enough, but it is difficult to practice with limited contact during spring camp, and because Sinkfield handled punt return during most of 2019 and 2020, there aren’t many experienced returners on the Mountaineers.
Jeff Koonz, entering his second season as WVU’s special teams coach, believe it’s hard to replicate the pressure of returning a punt in practice compared to a game. Defenders are known to tee-off on a returner without a fair catch signal, and obviously, teams do not want to hit their own players that hard in a controlled environment.
But Koonz is trying the best he can to prepare whomever is next in line to take over punt return duties.
“There’s not going to be many of them, but there will be situations where we put those guys in spots where they’re going to have to catch that ball, make that cut, and be able to do that in a full 11-on-11 (drill),” Koonz said.
Koonz said the Mountaineers are doing a little different drill this spring with the punt return unit — rolling three groups. The return unit is working their own responsibilities with rubs and lanes, rather than covering the whole field, so the coverage unit is able to converge on the returner.
While they can’t hit him, the returner is able to feel that pressure.
“He is going to have multiple guys in his face, so he is going to have to catch it, make his stick, get vertical and work through traffic,” Koonz said.
A few players who could be in the mix are Graeson Malashevich, Winston Wright, Sam James, and true freshman Kaden Prather.
Prather, a native of Montgomery Village, Md., has impressed as an early enrollee, especially on offense. At 6-foot-4 and 209 pounds, he is learning the mental aspect.
“Kaden Prather is starting to learn how to practice and be a college guy,” offensive coordinator Gerad Parker said. “He’s conscientious and works and has made some plays in the spring. It’s always going to be a learning curve with a different offense and the pace of practice, though.”
Experience at kick returner is much different with Wright back, with three years under his belt on kickoffs. He returned a kickoff for a touchdown at Baylor in 2019.
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