Geno Smith and Tavon Austin could make West Virginia history Thursday night by marking the first time two former Mountaineers are taken in the first round of the NFL draft.

There has been a ton of speculation out there from credible sources that points to that being a likely scenario.

Check out CBS Sports Jason LaCanfora’s piece from April 3 that has Smith a lock for top-5.

Here is another from April 23 with Smith and Austin projected high. 

The draft begins at 8 p.m. Thursday night on the NFL Network and if the two are picked in the first round, it will be a banner day for them both and the program.

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Caught up with Stedman Bailey this week, who was heading to New York today to meet up with Smith and Austin.

Bailey said he’s spent some time trying to navigate his own draft expectations, and has sought advice from others in his shoes.

Most analysts project Bailey to be a second or third round pick, and Bailey expects that is accurate. But exactly who?

“It’s actually hard to tell because I’ve gotten equal amount of attention from teams that are interested,” said Bailey. “I’ve reached out to people who’ve been through this process before and asked them ‘Did you end up going to that team?’ A lot of them told me they ended up going to a team they never had contact with. So it’s hard to guess. Anything can happen.”

What is clear? Bailey is excited about the next step: “I’m very excited about the future to start this new journey.”

West Virginia's new uniforms were unveiled this afternoon at the Mountaineer Athletic Club tent outside the stadium.

Here is a video, courtesty WVU Sports Information website on just about anything and everything you might want to know about them.

 

 

The long awaited Blue-Gold spring game will kickoff at 2 p.m. at Milan Puskar Stadiuim on Saturday.

The team’s new uniforms will be unveiled at 12:30 p.m. at an event hosted by the Mountaineer Athletic Club.

What to watch:

• Quarterbacks: The quarterback battle will take center stage between Paul Millard, the two-year backup of Geno Smith, and redshirt freshman Ford Childress. Word from practice is that these two are neck-in-neck and neither has emerged – even slightly – at this point as a frontrunner for the job. Both will get equal chances to start drives with the first and second offense so there can be no question of advantage to one or the other.
• O-line: Ron Crook’s unit has had its fair share of injuries this spring and will be interesting to see who has used the opportunity to his advantage.
• Receivers: Second to the quarterback position, this is where the roster is most wide open.
• Backfield: By all accounts Dustin Garrison and Andrew Buie sense an opportunity to run the ball more next fall and are responding with a strong spring. But everyone wants to see junior college transfer Dreamius Smith and what he can bring to the table.
• Defense: Has Keith Patterson’s group made much progress this spring? Seems they’ve had to and with six returning starters - including  LB Isaiah Bruce and S Karl Joseph who both had breakout years as freshmen. Will also be interesting to see the impact of Brian Mitchell on the corners, and the overall identity of this group.

Of note: CBS News reported this morning that quarterback Clint Trickett will attend the spring game at West Virginia on Saturday on an official visit. Trickett has been released from a scholarship at FSU and plans to transfer, and of course his father, Rick Trickett, is a former West Virginia assistant coach and graduate of Glenville.

West Virginia released a spring football depth chart today though notably there is no starter listed at quarterback just Paul Millard "or" Ford Childress "or" Chavas Rawlins. 

 

Here is the depth chart, courtesy WVU sports information: 

 

West Virginia University

Football Depth Chart (4/11)

Offense

Pos.    No.    Name        Ht.    Wt.    Cl.        Hometown

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WR (X)    19    K.J. Myers        6-2    197    r-So.    Jacksonville, Fla.   

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        6    Daikiel Shorts        6-0    201    Fr.    Clayton, N.J.

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LT    67    Quinton Spain        6-5    335    r-Jr.        Petersburg, Va.

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        79    Nick Kindler        6-6    298    r-Sr.        Camp Hill, Pa.

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LG    78    Marquis Lucas        6-4    312    r-So.        Miami, Fla.

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        69    Tony Matteo        6-4    296    r-Fr.    Clinton, Ohio

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C    76    Pat Eger        6-6    302    r-Sr.    Jefferson Hills, Pa.

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        65    Tyler Orlosky        6-4    296    r-Fr.    Cleveland, Ohio   

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RG    64    Mark Glowinski        6-5    305    r-Jr.    Wilkes-Barre, Pa.   

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        73    Russell Haugton-James    6-5    312    r-So.        Plantation, Fla.

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RT    62    Curtis Feigt        6-7    314    r-Sr.    Berlin, Germany

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        79    Nick Kindler        6-6    298    r-Sr.        Camp Hill, Pa.

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IR (Y)    83    Connor Arlia        5-9        181    Jr.    Weirton, W.Va.

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        10    Jordan Thompson        5-7    168    So.    Katy, Texas

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WR (Z)    11    Kevin White        6-3    211    Jr.        Macungie, Pa.

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        82    Devonte Mathis        6-1    210    r-Fr.        Miami, Fla.   

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QB    14    Paul Millard        6-2    219    Jr.        Flower Mound, Texas

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or    7    Ford Childress        6-5    234    r-Fr.        Houston, Texas

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or    12    Chavis Rawlins        6-2    202    Fr.    Monessen, Pa.

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HB (A)    88    Cody Clay        6-3    252    r-So.    Alum Creek, W.Va.

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        89    Will Johnson        6-6    248    r-Fr.    Maple Grove, Minn.

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RB (B)    13    Andrew Buie        5-9    190    Jr.        Jacksonville, Fla.

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        29    Dustin Garrison         5-8    182    Jr.        Pearland, Texas

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        2    Dreamius Smith        5-11    217    Jr.    Wichita, Kan.

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Defense

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DT    98    Will Clarke        6-7    273    r-Sr.        Pittsburgh, Pa.

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        45    Eric Kinsey        6-2    265    So.    Miami, Fla.

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NT    90    Shaq Rowell        6-4    305    r-Sr.        Maple Heights, Ohio

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        95    Christian Brown         6-3    308    So.        Miami, Fla.   

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DE    93    Kyle Rose        6-4    283    r-So.        Centerville, Ohio

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        97    Noble Nwachukwu        6-2    271    r-Fr.    Wylie, Texas

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SPUR    37    Wes Tonkery        6-2    222    r-Jr.        Shinnston, W.Va.

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        44    Hodari Christian        6-0    218    Fr.    McKeesport, Pa.

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SAM    31    Isaiah Bruce        6-1    231    r-So.        Jacksonville, Fla.

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        47    Doug Rigg        6-1    237    Sr.    Oradell, N.J.

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WILL    35    Nick Kwiatkoski        6-2    232    r-So.        Bethel Park, Pa.

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        33    Jared Barber        6-0    233    Jr.        Mocksville, N.C.

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BUCK    17    Dozie Ezemma        6-2    235    r-Sr.    Pomona, N.Y.

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        42    Garrett Hope        6-3    245    So.    The Woodlands, Texas   

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    BC    23    Brodrick Jenkins        5-10    183    r-Sr.        Ft. Myers, Fla.

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        15    Rick Rumph        5-11    182    So.        Daytona Beach, Fla.

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FS    8    Karl Joseph        5-10    200    So.        Orlando, Fla.

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        9    K.J. Dillon        6-1    200    So.    Apopka, Fla.

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BS    25    Darwin Cook        5-11    203    r-Sr.        Cleveland, Ohio

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        24    Jarrod Harper        6-1    212    r-Fr.    Frostburg, Md.

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FC    7    Nana Kyeremeh        5-10    180    So.     Worthington, Ohio

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        20    Brandon Napolean        5-11    178    r-Fr.    Rahway, N.J.