Through the first seven games of the season, West Virginia has played Ben Cutter, Ashton Woods, Isaiah Patterson, and Cam Torbor the most at the linebacker spot. Those guys will continue in their respective roles, but we could see one more guy work into the mix as early as this week.
Illinois transfer Malachi Hood has played one snap of the season, which is a bit mind-boggling considering he played nearly 400 snaps for the Fighting Illini a year ago and played well. Head coach Rich Rodriguez gave a brief update on him when asked if he will get an opportunity during his radio show on Monday night.
"He's on the scout team, and he's working," Rodriguez stated.
Instead, it appears that Villnova transfer Jason Hall Jr. may be in line for an expanded role.
"Right now, I couldn't point out anybody right now that's playing great football on defense. But there's some potential. Jason Hall got on some special teams (snaps) and played towards the end of the game (on defense), and he's a guy that's probably going to get more reps this week. Ashton Woods has been in there, but he's been a little banged up, and that's hurt him a little bit. Ben Cutter has been in there. Cam Torbor is a young guy; I think he's got a great future. But probably the guy that hasn't played as much that's probably going to get more of an opportunity this week is Jason Hall, simply from what he did on special teams and at the end of the game. He's a physical guy. I'm sure he's been wanting an opportunity, and I always tell the guys on special teams, if you want to prove that you've got a shot, then do something on the special teams to show us, and Jason is the prime example of that."
Back in January, I mentioned that Hall had the potential to be a quality defender and perhaps be a bit of a "hidden gem". As Rodriguez mentioned, he plays the game in a physical manner, and we've seen that show up more than a couple of times on special teams this season.
I do find it interesting that Hood has not really sniffed the field, and we are past the midway point of the season. I'm sure there is a reason why he hasn't been given the opportunity, but I would have never imagined this being the case this deep into the year.
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