Today's preview focuses on the offense while Monday's preview will include the defense and special teams.
First-year head coach Tyson Helton is set to begin his first spring practice with the Hilltoppers on Tuesday, March 12. In a homecoming of sorts for the former offensive coordinator under Jeff Brohm in 2014 and 2015, it won't be an unusual setting, but it will be an unusual role. How Helton organizes and runs practices, communicates with players and staff, and maintains his oversight role as the head coach will all be new to the longtime position coach who has worked with quarterbacks specifically for the last five years at Tennessee, Southern California, and WKU.
The Offense
Helton and the offensive staff enter this spring with the luxury of replacing just one starter from last year's team: tight end Mik'Quan Deane. And, considering fellow starting tight end Kyle Fourtenbary started in 11 of 12 games to Deane's six, there are 11 returning players on offense who started at least five games last season. Depth and experience will be on WKU's side this spring as the Hilltoppers look to return to the air raid concepts from the Brohm-era seasons. In total, 26 lettermen return and only five depart - a healthy ratio for any coach, much less a first-time head coach.
Quarterbacks
WKU enjoyed a wealth of consistency from 2010-17 at the quarterback position that few other schools across the country could match. Our three opening-day starters over that span, Kawaun Jakes (2010-12), Brandon Doughty (2013-15), Mike White (2016-17), was matched only by Troy for the least amount of turnover at the position. Then, in 2018, for a variety of reasons including injuries, three different quarterbacks started for the Hilltoppers. Steven Duncan led the way with five starts, while Davis Shanley and Drew Eckels added four and three, respectively. Freshman Kevaris Thomas also saw game action while maintaining his eligibility for a four-game redshirt.
In terms of snap counts at the position, Duncan led the way at 407 with Shanley not far behind at 303. Eckels graduated with his 181 snaps while Thomas played just eight snaps in all.
This spring, Helton and offensive coordinator Bryan Ellis will look to establish who the signal caller of the future will be. Whether that gets decided this spring or the competition continues into the summer and fall is anyone's guess. To aid in that competition, WKU added graduate transfer quarterback Ty Storey from Arkansas. Storey, like Mike White and Tyler Ferguson before him, will bring game and starting experience from his previous stop in order to compete for the job.
Running Backs
D'Andre Ferby closed out his WKU career in style at Louisiana Tech with a two-touchdown day. For his career, the bruiser's 1,297 rushing yards are the fifth-most by a back in WKU's FBS era. But, the big man is gone and now the torch must be passed down the line.
In youth, there is promise.
Joshua Samuel's 641 rushing yards last season are the fourth-most ever by a WKU freshman back, and his 5.3 yard per carry average was the second-best among freshmen backs with at least 100 carries. The Conference USA All-Freshman teamer will look to build on that performance in his sophomore campaign alongside fellow sophomore Gino Appleberry, Jr. Jakairi Moses is also looking to return from injury while Quinton Baker, Marcelis Logan, and KeShawn McClendon add additional depth and skill to the room.
Tight Ends
Over the past two seasons, the Hilltoppers utilized a number of formations that relied on two tight ends in the group. That commitment to the position will yield a wealth of experience heading into 2019 for Helton and position coach Zack Lankford. Last season, Mik'Quan Deane's 530 yards and 44 receptions were both second on the team while his six touchdown catches led all pass catchers. However, junior Kyle Fourtenbary started 11 of 12 games as well and fellow tight ends Steven Witchoskey and Kris Leach each appeared in at least 11 games.
Incoming freshman Josh Simon has shown to be an exceptional athlete in winter conditioning, and he will provide additional depth and intrigue this spring alongside redshirts Jay Gibson and Joey Beljan.
Wide Receivers
Like the running back position, the Hilltoppers return a wealth of experience heading into 2019 as a three-man receiver rotation of Lucky Jackson, Quin Jernighan, and Jacquez Sloan are all back. While Sloan will miss the spring as he recovers from a season-ending injury suffered late in 2018, Jackson and Jernighan will be tasked with not only developing their own skillset in the return to an air-raid type of offense, but they will also be called on to develop their teammates around them.
Apart from Jackson (115 career catches) and Jernighan (82 career catches), no other receiver in the room has more than 43 receptions, and those belong to Sloan. Xavier Lane's 34 catches are the fourth-most while Jahcour Pearson has 20. A young receiver room gets even younger from there.
Incoming freshmen Manny Allen and Dalvin Smith are here this spring to compete for playing time, while Garland LaFrance has moved from running back to receiver after catching 20 balls last year as a true freshman. Spencer Gaddis saw playing time while maintaining his redshirt, and Marcus Floyd has experience on the collegiate level at a previous stop.
Offensive LineFew position groups in the country were as improved year-to-year as WKU's offensive line between the 2017 and 2018 seasons. After one of the worst statistical seasons on record in 2017, the offensive line began to build their reputation back up with a steady 2018 season. Now, in 2019, Helton and position coach Mike Goff, a 13-year NFL veteran, will be tasked with continuing this group's development with the return of all five starters as well as two big time contributors.
Entering 2018, then-sophomore Cole Spencer was expected to man the left tackle position again after taking over the role as a true freshman at the tail end of 2017. But, an injury at Louisville sidelined him for the remainder of the season which gave way to a two-man rotation of Parker Howell and Mason Brooks at the position. All three are back for 2019 along with four other position starters.
Of a possible 898 snaps played last season, the three interior linemen - Tyler Witt, Seth Joest, and Jordan Meredith - played every single snap. Tackle Miles Pate missed just five snaps (893) all season as well. At the other tackle position, in relief of Spencer's injury (223 snaps), Howell took 439 snaps and Brooks handled 244 while rotating between left and right tackle.
