MORGANTOWN — Fall camp is usually loaded with secrets from college football coaching staffs, with many “hush-hush” personnel decisions to keep as much under wraps as they can while preparing for the season-opener.
For WVU head coach Neal Brown, he didn’t hide that true freshman CJ Donaldson was more than what they expected him to be.
After being recruited as a tight end, it didn’t take long to realize his future was in the backfield at running back. Brown praised Donaldson, a Miami, Fla. native, throughout camp and said he earned the right to play, but what Brown did hide was exactly how the Mountaineers would use him.
Donaldson can play as a running back, fullback or flex tight end at 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds.
“He played slot receiver, played a little bit of running back, a little bit of H-back [in high school],” Brown said during camp. “He was just a really good football player, and the more I got to know him, I knew he loved football. Right now, we’ve got a need at running back, and that’s where he’s going to play. Man, he gives us a lot of versatility. He’s just good with the ball in his hands and he makes plays … It’s a great pick-up for us. He’s going to make us a lot better offensively just with his versatility and his ability to do a bunch of different things.”
In his collegiate debut last Thursday at Pitt, Donaldson was the star offensively for the Mountaineers, finishing with 125 yards on seven carries — 17.9 yards per attempt — and a touchdown.
“Y’all have heard me talk about him the whole camp, so I’m not surprised,” Brown said after the game. “He’s a football player.”
He also blocked a punt before scoring his TD on the very next play.
“I was expecting it, but not this fast,” Donaldson said. “But when the opportunity came, I took it.”
Donaldson is the first WVU player to rush for 100 yards in his collegiate debut since Martell Pettaway did it against Iowa State in November 2016.
Coming into the season, it was expected Tony Mathis would be the primary ballcarrier, followed by sophomore Justin Johnson. Against Pitt, Mathis finished with a team-high 17 carries, but Donaldson had three more carries than Johnson.
If Donaldson continues to trend in this direction, it will be difficult to keep him off the field.
