True Freshmen Receivers Jennings, Wright Jr. Will Not Redshirt

We are well into the 2019 football season as the Mountaineers currently sit at 3-1 (1-0) heading into the bye week. Many college football experts probably did not expect West Virginia to be off to this good of a start and mainly due to the amount of firepower lost from last years offense.

Anytime you lose an abundance of talent, you may be forced to throw more responsibility on your young guys than one would like. Fortunately, for Neal Brown and receivers coach Xavier Dye the moment does not appear to be to big for these true freshman and redshirt freshman Sam James, who has been the teams most explosive play maker in the pass game.

This afternoon, during the weekly press conference head coach Neal Brown was asked if he and the coaching staff had made any decisions on whether to continue to play Ali Jennings and Winston Wright or to redshirt them. His response? “I think that if everything stays the same, we will continue to play both of those guys. I thought Ali [Jennings] was one of our best outside receivers,” Brown stated.

To be able to make your presence known as a true freshman, you must have a mature approach about the game and wide receivers coach Xavier Dye sees that in Ali Jennings. “He’s done a great job of preparing. He’ll try to meet with me when he has a free moment of the day and ask me a quick question. He’s done a great job on the practice field and has a great attitude.”

Jennings has recorded 6 receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown through two game this season.

For Winston Wright Jr., he has hauled in 7 catches for 40 yards and has been a lightening rod when he gets the ball out in space. Coach Brown has used him as a decoy in motion to get the defense to pursue on the opposite side from where the play is designed. Wright can absolutely fly and the more looks he gets, the sooner we will see him blossom into a play maker.

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