Between The Eers: Some New Cats in Town
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 Good morning, everybody.
00:11 Skylar Callen here on Between the Ears, and we are going to talk about the new cats.
00:16 That is the two new transfer defensive backs into the West Virginia football
00:21 program, both coming from Northwestern.
00:24 That is Jaheim Joseph and Garnett Hollis Jr.
00:27 I think this is gonna be a really, really good momentum boost going into spring ball,
00:33 having that secondary starting to become more filled out.
00:37 So we're gonna talk a little bit about that.
00:39 But before we do, make sure you hit the subscribe button here on YouTube.
00:43 Or if you're watching at our site, Mountaineers Now, go over to the YouTube
00:46 page and hit that subscribe button.
00:48 Give us a like.
00:49 And then also follow on X as well at the same handle.
00:53 So let's go and dive right into it.
00:55 Garnett Hollis, Jaheim Joseph.
00:58 What do these two guys mean, and what can we expect from them?
01:03 So let's start with Jaheim.
01:05 Jaheim Joseph, a little on the smaller side, about 5'9", 5'10",
01:11 hanging around 200-some pounds.
01:13 He's probably gonna be, if I had to guess right now,
01:16 he's probably playing the spear position.
01:19 But I could see them using him in several different ways.
01:25 He has played corner before, played corner back in high school.
01:29 So he's kind of got that flexibility like Marcus Floyd had to where he can move
01:36 him at several different spots.
01:38 And I think that they'll use that versatility to their advantage.
01:42 He's kind of a late bloomer.
01:44 He didn't really play a whole lot in his first few years at Northwestern.
01:48 He really didn't make much of an impact when he was on the field.
01:54 And then this past year, he started to show up and make some plays.
02:00 And personally, I think this is -- now, this isn't the same position, of course.
02:06 He's going to be playing safety.
02:08 But it's kind of a similar path in some ways to Beanie Bishop.
02:14 Maybe not exactly, because Beanie did have some success
02:17 at Western Kentucky before going to Minnesota where he lost playing time.
02:21 Here, it's kind of the reverse where he didn't get the playing time,
02:25 then he gets it in 2023, maybe setting up a big year in 2024.
02:30 But this kid's overlooked.
02:33 I think he brings a toughness, a physicality to him that fans are going to like.
02:39 Again, he's small, but he packs a punch.
02:42 And I think he's going to add a lot of value in that back end because of how
02:46 he can move around and play different spots.
02:49 As far as Garnett Hollis Jr. is concerned, this is a hell of a pickup,
02:56 hell of a pickup.
02:59 Big, long, can't really remember the last time that West Virginia's had this type
03:04 of length at cornerback.
03:07 He's about 6'2"ish, 200-plus pounds.
03:12 This is your type of guy that you want in the Big 12, defending the number one guy.
03:21 He's going to be very key in man coverage.
03:25 I think that by getting Hollis, you can expect more man coverage.
03:30 The last year, the last two years, really, Jordan Leslie has had to go through
03:34 a zone coverage or a zone coverage where they played it well,
03:40 especially with Beanie Bishop.
03:42 But at times, namely the Oklahoma game, when they did go to man,
03:47 wasn't that great.
03:49 Now you have that flexibility to where teams just aren't going to start carving
03:53 you up because they can pick out the soft spot in the zone coverage.
03:57 You got man coverage now where your guy is going to have to beat our guy,
04:02 and that's just how it's going to go.
04:04 That also will free up more blitzers.
04:07 It will just present a different picture for quarterbacks,
04:10 and it's going to open up more things in the back end,
04:13 especially because you have Aubrey Burks coming back.
04:18 You have some other guys coming back on the other side of cornerback,
04:23 like Montre Miller, who we really didn't get to see much of.
04:26 Assuming he gets that waiver, he'll be back.
04:28 If not, you have Aiden Garns and/or TJ Crandall on that side.
04:31 So you're going to have some depth pieces on that side of the ball.
04:35 I think this is probably the deepest secondary potential.
04:40 Now there's still a lot of work that needs to be done, obviously,
04:43 but this is potentially the deepest secondary that Jordan Lesley is going to
04:47 have to work with.
04:48 When you have that many options and you have that many, I wouldn't say high end,
04:53 but you have more quality options, again,
04:57 it's going to open things up for what he can do with that front seven.
05:01 When you have a guy like Ty French who can get after the passer,
05:04 you have Sean Martin who you expect to take another step this year,
05:09 it's going to make things a lot more interesting.
05:12 So Hollis, I mean, he's been a two-year starter, big-time producer.
05:18 I think he's going to have a chance to not only make a name for himself here,
05:22 but I think he's going to have a chance to play his way into the NFL draft
05:26 in 2025.
05:28 He has got the size, he's got the traits,
05:32 he's going to be somebody that you're going to want to watch.
05:35 I think he's got a chance to be one of the biggest impact transfers in this
05:38 class for WVU.
05:40 For those of you that have probably watched previous episodes,
05:44 you know I'm huge on Ty French, that's probably my number one guy.
05:48 Hollis is probably knocking on the door.
05:50 So we'll see what West Virginia does here in the next transfer portal window.
05:55 These guys were in the portal already,
05:58 so the portal will reopen after spring -- well,
06:02 actually it will open during spring ball, which is interesting.
06:06 You would think that they'd wait until the end.
06:08 So more guys are coming.
06:11 There will be more changes, which means with new additions,
06:15 there's going to have to be some subtractions.
06:17 With the scholarship, standing where they're at,
06:20 they were over a couple of spots.
06:22 I believe that's still technically the case.
06:25 My math is correct in my head.
06:27 I believe they're still over, maybe by one or two.
06:31 But if not, you're still going to see departures.
06:35 There's going to be guys that go through spring ball thinking that, hey,
06:39 if I go through spring and have a good spring,
06:41 I'm going to have a chance to compete for a job in the fall,
06:44 or I'm going to have a chance to increase my role.
06:47 If that doesn't happen or doesn't look like it's going to happen,
06:50 then those guys are going to bounce.
06:52 And I don't blame those kids.
06:54 I mean, if they get through spring ball,
06:56 they have the end of spring meeting with Neil,
07:00 and they find out what their projected role is going to be,
07:03 they don't like it, go ahead and move on.
07:07 It gives West Virginia time to replace those guys through the portal.
07:11 And then, obviously, any time you get the high schoolers that come in,
07:15 you kind of have a better picture as to what their role may look like
07:19 in year one, if any.
07:21 So a lot of moving parts to this still.
07:23 But Jaheim Joseph, Garnett Hollis Jr. locked in.
07:27 Two Northwestern defensive backs that I think are going to have
07:33 a pretty good impact on this West Virginia defense,
07:36 and one that I believe could finish in the top half of the league.
07:40 So that'll do it for me here today on Between the Ears.
07:43 Again, make sure you hit that subscribe button at Mountaineers Now.
07:46 Give us a like and a follow on X at the same handle,
07:50 and we'll be back tomorrow with another episode.
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