How WVU's position rooms look on defense after spring portal movement

Since the beginning of April, there has been a lot of movement both in and out of the transfer portal for West Virginia.

WVSports.Com looks at who has transferred to WVU and how that affects the position rooms on defense.

As a whole, West Virginia lost 18 guys on the defensive side of the football to the transfer portal. Since then, the Mountaineers have added three guys on that side of the ball.

WVU's defensive line was one of the hardest hit areas on the team in terms of losing numbers this spring.

The Mountaineers lost eight guys up front, but all of them were either redshirt-sophomores or younger.

In the portal, WVU has added Eddie Kelly Jr., an edge defender from Missouri. He played in all 13 games this past season, finishing with 20 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, and a sack. He is a senior with one year of eligibility remaining.

WVU has 11 edge guys and three guys who are bigger tackles on the inside on their roster. Out of those 14, Kelly is one of four seniors, while there are three juniors. The snioers are Jimmori Robinson, Hammond Russell, Edward Vesterinen, along with Kelly.

There are four freshmen DEs, and one redshirt-freshman in Quintin Goins.

Between the safety spot and the corner spot, WVU lost nine defensive backs this portal cycle, most notably Jacolby Spells who had played in 28 games as a Mountaineer.

West Virginia added cornerback Nick Taylor from Appalachian State. Taylor spent just one season there, where he played in seven games, starting one as a true freshman. He had 10 total tackles and played about 150 snaps in 2024.

Taylor is a younger option compared to other positions WVU has added in the portal, one of five sophomores out of the 22 safeties and corners currently on the roster.

At safety the program added Darian Lewis has spent all four years of his career at Akron where he has appeared in 36 total games and recorded 205 tackles, 17 passes defended, 10.5 tackles for loss and 2 interceptions. The Ohio native is coming off a season where he recorded 74 tackles, 7 passes defended and an interception.

The versatile defensive back has one year remaining.

Those two rooms are still senior-heavy, with a combined 11 seniors. There are no juniors in either room, with six sophomores, one redshirt-freshman, and five freshmen.

West Virginia's linebacker corps was not hit too hard in the transfer portal, losing two redshirt-freshmen in Rickey Williams and Aydin Fleming.

The Mountaineers went out and added Ben Bogle from Southern Illinois. Bogle spent three seasons there, and in 2024, he started the last ten games of the season, totaling 87 tackles, 16.5 TFLs, 5.5 sacks, and two interceptions.

As well as linebacker John Lewis who transferred to UNLV in the winter after four seasons at Mississippi State where he played a total of 365 snaps across 40 games. Over the course of his career Lewis recorded 44 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and one pass breakup and played a number of different linebacker spots during that time.

Bogle and Lewis are part of a linebacker room that is full of experience. Bogle is one of four juniors and then there are also five seniors in the room.

Lewis, Braden Siders, Chase Wilson, Reid Carrico, and Caden Biser are the seniors. Bogle, along with Ben Cutter, Marshon Oxley, and Keenan Eck, are the juniors. WVU has four other linebackers: two true freshmen, a redshirt-freshman, and a sophomore.

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