Transfers Highlight Future of WVU Football Defensive Backfield

Following yesterday’s additions, West Virginia Football seems to have a generously stacked defensive backfield.

Tyler Junior College transfer Jaylon Shelton and James Madison transfer Wesley McCormick are both poised to join defensive backs coach ShaDon Brown’s room come fall. Shelton was selecting between TCU and WVU, and ultimately opted to head significantly further away from Tyler, Tx. He will have three seasons of eligibility remaining. McCormick, on the other hand, comes to Morgantown as as grad transfer. He played 49 games with JMU over the past five seasons; he redshirted in 2021 after suffering a season-ending ankle sprain and will have a single season left to play with the Mountaineers.

Couple the movements of Shelton, McCormick, and Colorado State transfer Rashad Ajayi with an underclassman-heavy defensive backfield, and the West Virginia depth chart appears more than prepared to make significant improvements this offseason.

Sole veteran Charles Woods, an Illinois State transfer, will reprise his role at cornerback, while fellow transfers Hershey McLaurin (Jones College) and Marcis Floyd (Murray State) will add crucial experience.

Outside of Woods and Andrew Wilson-Lamp, whom head coach Neal Brown spent many a spring practice press conference lauding, none of the other defensive backs have played a snap of defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley’s schemes.

McCormick significantly trumps Woods in defensive contribution, and only four days after entering his name into the transfer portal, he announced via Twitter his decision to relocate to Morgantown. The JMU coaching staff and roster, lead by former West Virginia quarterback-turned head coach Curt Cignetti, has strong ties to its border state counterpart, and McCormick seems to have gotten the best of both worlds with this transfer.

Now, Woods has ample competition, and this fall’s freshmen, Mumu Bin-Wahad, Ty Woodby, Christon Stokes, and Jacolby Spells, have strong mentors coming out of the woodwork. It will be intriguing to watch how to combination of ShaDon Brown and Lesley intend to utilize the newfound defensive depth when fall camp begins.