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Draft Scout College Football Player News: West Virginia

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08/09/22 - Devin Carter, rSr/2024, West Virginia + More +

For all the spectacular catches he's made over his career, Devin Carter knows two drops against Miami in 2021 still hang over his head. Just after that 31-30 loss, the N.C. State wide receiver took to Twitter and apologized. Ahead of the new season, it's a moment that still sticks with Carter. "I needed to apologize for, I guess, being distracted and not being all in," Carter told the News & Observer. "I just feel like recognizing your faults can gain respect. I recognize it, that's the first thing you're supposed to do and not run from it. You can't ignore it but you can dim the light on it." Carter, a junior, is known for making improbable grabs look routine - like his 40-yard touchdown catch against Boston College last season, when he caught the ball behind the defender's back. But for every hard catch he makes look easy, Carter wants to make the easy catches more often. "I feel like last year was probably my most inconsistent season," Carter said. "I wouldn't say anything in particular, it just happened the way it happened."

Last season the Clayton High School product caught 31 passes for 556 yards and six touchdowns. The yards and TDs were career highs, and for the second straight season, he led the team in yards per catch (17.9). The team needs to replace Emeka Emezie, the school's all-time receptions leader. Emezie could occasionally be a downfield threat, but his biggest strength was moving the chains, a prototype possession receiver. Quarterback Devin Leary could depend on Emezie to make the routine catches. Ahead of the 2022 season - which could potentially be his last - Carter wants to show he can be that player. He has the size (6-3, 215) and game experience (40 career games). "He's an emotional player, which we like, but he needs to control that and not let them control him," N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said. "I think that's something that comes with maturity." - Raleigh News Observer

rSr/2024

WR Devin Carter, West Virginia
News Source: Raleigh News Observer
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08/05/22 - Ty French, rSr/2025, West Virginia + More +

2022 PRESEASON BUCK BUCHANAN AWARD WATCH LIST: DL Ty French, Gardner-Webb, Jr., 6-3, 230,...French is making his second appearance on one of Stats Perform's most important national awards. The 6-foot-3, 230-pounder was a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award following the spring 2021 season – which is given to the nation's top freshman each season. After announcing his arrival to college football with a debut that included 12 tackes, 4.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in a win over No. 24 Elon on February 27, 2021, French continued to dominate as a sophomore. He finished last season with 61 total tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 quarterback sacks. French earned Freshman All-America and Sophomore All-America honors for his efforts and enters his third season with 22.5 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks and 24 quarterback pressures in just 14 career games to date. - Gardner-Webb Football

rSr/2025

OLB Ty French, West Virginia
News Source: Gardner-Webb Football
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08/02/22 - Luke Hamilton, rSr/2024, West Virginia + More +

2022 PRESEASON ALL-CAA CONFERENCE TEAM (COACHES/MEDIA): Luke Hamilton, Towson, Sr., FB,...Hamilton was the 2021 Second Team All-CAA fullback and picks up his first-ever preseason all-league selection. The senior was one of the top blocking fullbacks in the league last season in seven games played, also making receptions in five contests. - Towson Football

rSr/2024

FB Luke Hamilton, West Virginia
News Source: Towson Football
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08/02/22 - Dante Stills, rJr/2023, West Virginia + More +

2022 PRESEASON BRONKO NAGURSKI TROPHY WATCHLIST: DT Dante Stills, West Virginia,...All-Big 12 First Team (AP, Coaches, Phil Steele) in 2021...Sits No. 3 in program history in career TFLs (43.5) and tied for No. 6 in sacks (19)...His 15 tackles for loss in 2021 are tied for No. 10 in single-season team history...Played in 13 games and started 12 at defensive tackle...Finished with 36 tackles, including 29 solo stops, seven sacks, 15 tackles for loss, six quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and one interception. - West Virginia Football

rJr/2023

DT Dante Stills, West Virginia
News Source: West Virginia Football
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08/01/22 - Ty French, rSr/2025, West Virginia + More +

2022 PRESEASON ALL-BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE TEAM (COACHES/MEDIA): DL Ty French, Jr., Gardner-Webb,...French (Moultrie, Ga./Colquitt County HS) has been one of the nation's most feared pass rushers since arriving on campus in 2020. He was the Big South's Defensive Freshman of the Year following the spring season in 2021, and followed that up with another first-team All-Big South nod this past fall. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound junior was a Hero Sports Freshman All-America in the spring and a Sophomore All-America in the fall. French has 22.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks in just 14 career games so far, disrupting opposing defenses to the tune of 132 lost yards. - Gardner-Webb Football

rSr/2025

OLB Ty French, West Virginia
News Source: Gardner-Webb Football
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08/01/22 - Dante Stills, rJr/2023, West Virginia + More +

2022 PRESEASON OUTLAND TROPHY WATCHLIST: DT Dante Stills, West Virginia,...Finished with 36 tackles, including 29 solo stops, seven sacks, 15 tackles for loss, six quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and one interception in 2021...Recorded at least one tackle for loss in 10 of 13 games...Finished at No. 4 in the Big 12 in tackles for loss (1.15)...Ranked No. 10 in the Big 12 in sacks (0.54). - West Virginia Football

rJr/2023

DT Dante Stills, West Virginia
News Source: West Virginia Football
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08/01/22 - Dante Stills, rJr/2023, West Virginia + More +

2022 PRESEASON CHUCK BEDNARIK AWARD WATCH LIST: Dante Stills, West Virginia, Senior DT,...Stills has played in 47 career games, including 26 starts...Team leader in career sacks (19) and tackles for loss (43.5)...Finished at No. 4 in the Big 12 in tackles for loss (1.15) in 2021. - West Virginia Football

rJr/2023

DT Dante Stills, West Virginia
News Source: West Virginia Football
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07/28/22 - Casey Legg, rSr/2023, West Virginia + More +

2022 PRESEASON LOU GROZA AWARD WATCH LIST: Casey Legg - West Virginia, Class: Senior - Hometown: Charleston, West Virginia,...A 2021 Groza semifinalist, Legg made field goals in every one of West Virginia's 12 games, including a stretch of five straight games with multiple kicks. He opened the season with 13 consecutive made field goals, just two shy of the program's all-time record. - Lou Groza Award

rSr/2023

K Casey Legg, West Virginia
News Source: Lou Groza Award
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07/25/22 - Zach Frazier, rJr/2024, West Virginia + More +

2022 PRESEASON RIMINGTON TROPHY WATCHLIST: Zach Frazier, West Virginia,...Frazier earned All-America Second Team honors (AFCA, Walter Camp) in 2021...Started all 13 games; saw action on 895 offensive snaps, including a season-high 90 against Texas...Registered 63 knockdown blocks and 30 great blocks...Allowed only three sacks all season; registering 10 games without allowing a sack. - West Virginia Football

rJr/2024

C Zach Frazier, West Virginia
News Source: West Virginia Football
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07/18/22 - Zach Frazier, rJr/2024, West Virginia + More +

2022 WALTER CAMP PRESEASON SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICAN: OL Zach Frazier (West Virginia),...As a sophomore in 2021, Frazier earned All-America Second Team honors (AFCA, Walter Camp)Started all 13 games at center; Academic All-Big 12 First Team...tarted all 13 games; saw action on 895 offensive snaps, including a season-high 90 against Texas. Registered 63 knockdown blocks and 30 great blocks, allowed only three sacks all season; registering 10 games without allowing a sack and 10 games without missing an assignment. WVU Offensive Lineman of the Game: LIU, VT, TCU, Kansas. Moved to center in the offseason. 2021 Iron Mountaineer Award winner. - West Virginia Football

rJr/2024

C Zach Frazier, West Virginia
News Source: West Virginia Football
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07/08/22 - Dante Stills, rJr/2023, West Virginia + More +

West Virginia has placed four players on the 2022 Preseason Football team as selected by the conference's media, with three of the four players being in-state products. Leading the way are linemen on each side of the ball who are expected to have All-American seasons, both from the same high school just 15 miles down the road from WVU. Center Zach Frazier, a junior, and defensive tackle Dante Stills, a fifth-year senior, both from Fairmont Senior, anchor the offensive and defensive lines, which are expected to be the strength of the team. Also named to the team is Casey Legg, the aptly-named placekicker from Cross Lanes Christian in Charleston, highlighting an amazing journey. Legg did not play football in high school. The final Mountaineer to earn all-conference honors is Charles Wood, a senior from Dallas who transferred to WVU last season from Illinois State. - Charleston Gazette-Mail

rJr/2023

DT Dante Stills, West Virginia
News Source: Charleston Gazette-Mail
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06/29/22 - Doug Nester, rSr/2024, West Virginia + More +

Mountaineer offensive lineman Doug Nester smiles before he even hears the question. He knows it, or some form of it, is coming, and he knows that only one thing can stop it. "Will the offensive line be better this year?" That's the query posed by basically every media member, and pretty much every fan, when discussing the Mountaineer forward wall in advance of the 2022 season. While many other questions must be answered with positive results if WVU is to exceed last year's six-win total, there's no question that betterment of play up front is the first item that has to be put in place. From it, everything else springs, from running room for the backs to time to throw for the QBs. With that understood, Nester and his linemates are working on technique, breaking the facets of line play down into their smallest components while getting as many reps as possible in to hone their craft. With no contact allowed over the summer, that's the most they can do in trying to get better.

Along with that comes a focus on developing as a unit, of getting to the point where every man knows what the teammate next to him is going to do even before he does it. "We really don't talk a lot about improvement," said Nester, who handles the repetitive questions with good grace. "We just talk about coming in each and every day and trying to get better, at least one thing a day. I think we are ready to show that we are improved." "A big thing (we have been working on) is our first step," the 6-foot-6, 320-pound junior guard illuminated, noting one of the most recent areas of focus. "That's a big thing for us, the first step off the ball. Some others have to do with hand placement, leverage - there are so many fine details that you have on the offensive line that people don't really see." - Charleston Gazette-Mail

rSr/2024

OT Doug Nester, West Virginia
News Source: Charleston Gazette-Mail
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06/27/22 - Exree Loe, rSr/2023, West Virginia + More +

West Virginia linebacker Exree Loe can't wait to hear the words. "You are cleared for all physical activity, practice and play." Sidelined since late November of 2021, Loe has been diligently rehabbing a knee injury that kept him out of contact work during spring practice. With nothing to gain from pushing recovery, as no games were imminent, WVU's medical and sports performance staffs have kept him on a slow recovery trajectory. Such an approach makes sense, but it's also in direct opposition to the desire of a competitor to do everything he can on the field. "It's a tough battle," Loe said recently in the midst of his rehabilitation regimen. "You aren't doing what you do every day, and what you love to do. So when I'm training, or in rehab, I know I have to go harder so I can get back with my brothers."

The Johnstown, Pennsylvania, native doesn't want to waste a moment of what will be his sixth year at WVU. After redshirting in 2017, he has played four seasons for the Mountaineers as a safety and linebacker. In 42 games of action, he has 132 tackles while forcing three fumbles and breaking up three passes, and he believes he has been building toward an even more successful final year in a Mountaineer uniform. Getting full clearance to practice and play will remove a final hurdle in that process. "It's a big relief on you," he said of returning to a no-restriction status. "It's not as stressful anymore. You don't have to worry about coming in and getting rehab. It keeps me going, and it's a big motivator when I get that clearance. - Charleston Gazette-Mail

rSr/2023

OLB Exree Loe, West Virginia
News Source: Charleston Gazette-Mail
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06/23/22 - Sean Martin, rSr/2025, West Virginia + More +

WVU defensive lineman Sean Martin had a 2021 season that many young players in his position group would happily accept. Playing in his second year as a Mountaineer, he saw action on 275 plays, recording 16 tackles and scooping up a fumble as a dependable backup on the West Virginia defensive front. That followed a 2020 year in which he worked his way into five games of action late in the season, but as that didn't count against his eligibility due to NCAA rules in response to the Covid pandemic, he is, in effect, coming off a true freshman season. His performance last year has set him up for an even bigger role this year, and he believes he knows the keys to becoming another stalwart on the line. Martin also lists gaining strength as important in that pursuit.

With a long, lean build and good quickness, speed has always been a part of his resume, but if he can add more strength and explosiveness to his toolkit, he could be poised to move into one of the stalwart roles currently held by players like Dante Stills and Taijh Alston. Still, he doesn't share the same physical makeup as many of his teammates, which leads him to look at some professional players when comparing and matching skills. "I look at NFL players like Calais Campbell and J.J. Watt, people that have my ability. I look at people that are the same size as me, because in college football there aren't a lot of people built the same as me, so I have to look as some guys in the NFL," he said, noting that they tend to employ techniques and play the game in a similar manner. "I'm working on getting stronger, doing the things I need to do to better myself." - Charleston Gazette-Mail

rSr/2025

DT Sean Martin, West Virginia
News Source: Charleston Gazette-Mail
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06/23/22 - Lee Kpogba, Sr/2024, West Virginia + More +

West Virginia linebacker Lee Kpogba is determined to make everything he can from his second shot at Division I football. After two seasons at Syracuse (following an earlier commitment to West Virginia before flipping to the Orange when WVU went through a coaching change), things soured in upstate New York for the native of Ghana, who played his high school football in North Carolina. He was suspended from the 'Cuse after playing in 22 games over the 2019 and 2020 seasons, and he was forced to try to work his way back via the junior college route, enrolling at East Mississippi Community College for the 2021 season.

That served as a wake-up call for the enthusiastic linebacker, who hasn't been shy in discussing what he has learned from a trip to the nether regions of the collegiate game. "Junior college was definitely a different experience for me." he said of his time at EMCC, which was the subject of the first two seasons of the documentary "Last Chance U," that has taken a look at three different junior college programs from 2016-20. "Being out there in Scooba, Mississippi, there isn't anything but football. It helped me stay locked in and really made me appreciate the game much more and some of the things I had in my life." While Kpogba's time at EMCC came after the Last Chance U cameras had moved on, he was a viewer of the series. "Last Chance U was pretty accurate, and (what I experienced) aligned with the series pretty well," he confirmed. - Charleston Gazette-Mail

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