Between The Eers: The Biggest Wild Card
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 Whenever you have this infusion of young talent,
00:13 it's easy to kind of look over some of the older guys,
00:16 even those that are newcomers that have experience elsewhere.
00:20 And I think we can all fall victim to that.
00:26 >> EJ Horton, West Virginia wide receiver is one guy that I've got my eyes on
00:31 this spring and we're gonna talk about him here today.
00:36 I'm Skylar Callen, you are watching Between the Ears here on Mountaineers.
00:40 Now we thank you guys for tuning in each and every single day throughout the week.
00:44 And look, there's gonna be a lot of talk about Rodney Gallagher and his growth.
00:50 How can he become an all around complete player?
00:54 Because in year one as a true freshman, he's coming in as just really just
00:58 a playmaker, just somebody that they needed to get the ball in his hands.
01:02 He hadn't played very much receiver at all before he landed in Morgantown.
01:08 He was playing quarterback, he was doing this, he was doing that,
01:10 he was playing multiple sports.
01:12 He hasn't had that opportunity to just put all of his focus into football and
01:17 at receiver.
01:18 What's that growth look like?
01:20 What does that growth look like for Trae Lynn Ray physically?
01:23 Is he becoming much stronger and able to handle one on one press coverage better?
01:30 Is that something that he's making progress in?
01:32 Hudson Clement, what's he look like in year two?
01:37 Those are all valid questions.
01:39 And those are all things that I'm just as curious as anybody to find out what we
01:44 see here in the spring, how much progress they've made in just a few months since
01:48 the bowl game.
01:50 But there's one piece in all of this that I think,
01:55 again, is getting kind of lost in the fold here.
01:59 And that's EJ Orton.
02:01 Ten catches for 201 yards and a touchdown.
02:06 In very limited playing time for West Virginia this past season.
02:10 And I was somebody that was expecting him to
02:16 have a much bigger impact than he did.
02:20 But things happen.
02:23 The young kids kind of impressed in the back half of the season.
02:29 And Cole Taylor at tight end really stepped up,
02:33 which took up some targets obviously.
02:35 But there was a part of it too where I think he just couldn't figure out what
02:40 his role really was.
02:43 He was still trying to learn the playbook, master it,
02:47 understand what he is being asked to do.
02:51 And I think that's why we saw limited action for him here in Morgantown year one.
02:56 So what does year two look like for him?
03:03 That's really kind of my biggest question mark on the offensive side because
03:11 we know what we're gonna get out of CJ Donaldson and Jaheim White,
03:16 Garrett Green, the offensive line, the young kids you would expect.
03:20 They're gonna take a big step, but
03:21 there's still gonna be a little bit of a learning curve.
03:23 There's gonna be bumps in the road in year two, sophomore slumps are a legit thing.
03:27 But EJ Horton's like the one wild card that nobody is talking about.
03:33 I mean, this kid can absolutely fly.
03:37 One of the fastest kids on the team, and it's really not even close.
03:42 Neil Brown has even said before,
03:47 he's the best straight line guy they got.
03:51 He can just take the top off a defense.
03:54 We saw it happen a couple of times in 2023.
03:59 Is he somebody that makes that,
04:03 I'm not saying he has to make that gigantic leap where
04:08 he's gonna go for 700, 800 yards.
04:13 But can he at least get you 300 to 500 yards?
04:19 I mean, is that reasonable?
04:21 I mean, I would think so with his speed, his yak ability, his yards after a catch.
04:27 But again, he didn't really turn that corner at any point in 2023.
04:37 And I'm not gonna blame him for that.
04:41 That's, again, that's developing chemistry at the quarterback,
04:44 that's understanding the role, it's understanding the offense.
04:47 There's a lot that goes into that.
04:48 Year two is usually in just about every situation where you start to see that
04:54 light bulb turn on.
04:56 But is there room for him?
05:03 That's another question that maybe gets thrown into this.
05:08 You add Jaden Bray from Oklahoma State,
05:11 who everybody is just excited about.
05:15 And rightfully should be if you haven't got to really
05:21 get a close up of what Jaden Bray looks like.
05:24 Just go back and watch the West Virginia game from this past season
05:28 between Oklahoma State and WVU.
05:30 He's pretty good.
05:33 He's gonna be a huge addition to that wide receiver room.
05:35 And what I think ultimately end up being a bigger impact player than what
05:40 Devin Carter was in his lone season at WVU.
05:43 So I think what EJ's gotta do is he's gotta figure
05:49 out what that role is going to look like here in the spring.
05:53 And again, it's not to be that 700, 800 yard guy.
05:58 If he develops into that, that's tremendous, that's great.
06:01 That means that the overall health of that wide receiver room
06:05 is even better than what we had perceived.
06:07 But if he can find that role and just really thrive in it,
06:15 I think he's got a chance.
06:20 I think he's got a chance to be a key player in this offense.
06:22 I think he's got a chance to even potentially do something at the next level.
06:30 I'm not saying he would be a draft pick.
06:32 I'm not saying that he'd be in the league for ten years.
06:34 But you need to have something put on tape to even get that
06:40 UDFA opportunity to get that invite to rookie minicamp.
06:47 And I mean, the kid's just, he's got so much speed.
06:52 It's hard to not think he can't get that opportunity.
06:59 So he's the wild card for me.
07:01 He really is.
07:02 He's got so much speed, so much home run ability,
07:09 that if he fully lives up to the expectations,
07:15 it's going to be a scary sight for opposing defense.
07:19 Because not only do they have to worry about all the headaches with the run game,
07:25 and then you have all these young receivers plus a Jaden Bray.
07:28 But then you also got this guy that, hey, if he's on the field,
07:33 safeties better be ready.
07:35 Because he's going to blow by these corners that are maybe going to try and
07:40 press cover him.
07:41 If they're sitting in zone coverage, which would probably be a better idea.
07:45 Then again, that's where he's got to come into play and
07:49 figure out how to work in the zones, find the soft spots.
07:54 But he's the wild card, 1,000%.
07:59 And I think he's the one thing that can really take this offense
08:05 from the potential of where maybe it could be
08:11 to something that we're not even thinking about.
08:14 Because again, we know what we're getting out of everybody else just about on this
08:19 offense, EJ Horton is the one we really have no idea.
08:24 It's either going to be what we saw this past year, or
08:28 he's going to get 25 to 30 catches and 500 some yards.
08:35 You get that end of it, you're in good shape.
08:41 Garrett Green's going to be airing that thing out all day long down the field,
08:47 30, 35 yard bombs, maybe even more.
08:49 So let me know your thoughts on EJ Horton.
08:54 Does he find that role?
08:56 Does he thrive in it?
08:57 Does he make this offense go to its next level?
09:00 We'll find out here in a couple of months when spring ball gets going.
09:07 Actually next month, I'm already behind here.
09:10 I'm still thinking it's January, but March is when spring ball comes back around.
09:15 So we'll see if there's been any progress made for EJ Horton.
09:20 Major wild card, but man, if he finds that role,
09:24 [MUSIC]
09:27 Watch out, that's all I gotta say.
09:29 That's it for me here today.
09:31 I'm Skylar Callen here on Between the Ears.
09:33 Make sure you hit that subscribe button on YouTube at Mountaineers Now.
09:37 Give us a like and a follow on X at the same handle, and
09:40 we'll be back here tomorrow morning.
09:42 [MUSIC]