Neal Brown Makes Bold Statement on Rodney Gallagher's Defensive Ability

Is West Virginia home to college football's next two-way star?

Experimenting with new ideas doesn't always lead to something grand, but West Virginia may have hit the jackpot on something with Rodney Gallagher III.

Back in the spring, Neal Brown threw the sophomore wide receiver on the defensive side of the ball for a few plays just to take a look at something. That little trial run turned into taking more reps on a regular basis throughout the duration of spring and he performed well enough to where the coaching staff fully opened the door for him to play on both sides of the ball.

Still, the expectation remains that Gallagher is an offensive player first, but his role on defense as a nickel may become more than just a handful of snaps.

“Yeah, since about practice four he’s been splitting both. He may be our best man defender right now," coach Brown said. "He’s going to play. Today, we put some pressure on him and played him against a bunch of run scenarios where he had to tear off blocks. We really hadn’t asked him to do that to this point, but when he’s going to play on that side of the ball he’s going to have to do that. Offensively, he had two really nice catch and runs in the scrimmage on Saturday. He’s looking more fluent as a receiver too and I’m proud of him because we’re putting a bunch on him mentally he’s spent a lot of time to make this both ways work.”

As great as it sounds that Gallagher is making plays, it could be a little concerning that Brown believes he could be their best man defender, especially when the Mountaineers inserted a number of transfers into the secondary. Guys like Ayden Garnes and Garnett Hollis Jr. have been praised for their play on a handful of occasions already, so I wouldn't sound the alarm just yet on Brown's above statement. Other corners and defensive backs may offer better zone coverage or perhaps they've not been quite as consistent in man as Gallagher, but have the ability to play it well.

Regardless, the Mountaineers just may have college football's next two-way star.

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