MORGANTOWN — West Virginia’s offense is going to go as far as its offensive line can take it this season. The Mountaineers’ line was one of the most-experienced groups in the country last season and with four of the five day-one starters returning for 2023, the group continues to get that much stronger.
“Offensively this is going to be our best group and we have 132 starts returning on the offensive line,” WVU head coach Neal Brown said at Big 12 media days last week. “If that’s not the most in the country, it’s got to be close. Within that group, we’ve got four former freshmen all-Americans and we’ve got three for-sure all-conference-type players.”
The three all-conference players Brown refers to are senior Doug Nester and junior Zach Frazier and Wyatt Milum.
“We all have high expectations for us,” Nester said this spring. “We talk about it a lot how we have to come in and be the leaders of this offense because we have that experience. Just to bring it every day because the team’s going to rely on us.”
Nester had the opportunity to leave college and pursue the NFL after last season but chose to return to WVU for one final season. He will slide from right guard to right tackle this season.
Entering his fourth season as a starter, Frazier has established himself as one of the premier centers in the nation and a formidable anchor for WVU’s offensive front. A first-team All-Big 12 selection in 2022, Frazier has already been named a 2023 preseason All-Big 12 first-teamer and a first-team preseason All-American.
Milum will start opposite Nester at left tackle, his first this season as a starter and second at the position. Nester (41 starts), Frazier (34) and Milum (20) make up the bulk of WVU’s returning experience are were able to tune into more of the finer details of offensive line play this off-season.
“The teaching is always in the little things,” offensive line coach Matt Moore said. “They know what to do and that’s good, but how do you react to little movements? With the young guys, you don’t preach it as much because they’re still trying to learn what to do. Those older guys, you have to take it to another step.”
WVU’s offensive line showed marked improvement in 2022, allowing just 20 sacks compared to 38 in 2021 while the team rushed for nearly 500 more yards (2,058 vs. 1,580) and averaged more than a yard better per carry (4.6 vs. 3.5).
Other returning starters include Brandon Yates (21 starts), Ja’Quay Hubbard (11) and Tomas Rimac (five).
Yates and Hubbard, both redshirt-juniors, split time at right tackle last season, but will slide inside to right guard this year. Yates was also trained at center while Frazier was out with an injury this spring.
“Every single day we have to work on not being complacent and wanting to get better, wanting to still iron out our technique,” Hubbard said. “We all want to be that anchor for the team, so we’re trying to make it so the team can lean on us.”
Rimac started the final five games of 2022 at left tackle as an injury replacement and figures to be the starter there going into 2023.
Primary backups will be redshirt-freshman Landen Livingston at center, redshirt-junior Nick Malone and freshman Johnny Williams IV at tackle and redshirt-sophomore Bryce Biggs, redshirt-freshman Maurice Hamilton and redshirt-freshman Sullivan Weidman at guard. Providing depth will be redshirt-freshman Charlie Katarincic and true freshmen Cooper Young and Nick Krahe.
Projected Depth Chart
Center
Zach Frazier, Jr.
Landen Livingston, R-Fr.
Guard
Brandon Yates, R-Jr.
Ja’Quay Hubbard, R-Jr.
Tomas Rimac, R-So.
Sullivan Weidman, R-Fr.
Bryce Biggs, R-So.
Maurice Hamilton, R-Fr.
Cooper Young, Fr.
Tackle
Doug Nester, Sr.
Wyatt Milum, Jr.
Nick Malone, R-Jr.
Johnny Williams IV, Fr.
Charlie Katarincic, R-Fr.
Nick Krahe, Fr.
The Dominion Post will be previewing WVU football by position in the lead-up to the 2023 season. Previews of offensive positions will be published on Saturdays and defensive position previews on Sundays throughout the summer.
TWEET @CodyNespor
