UPDATE! Zac Alley has HIGH PRAISE for D-Lineman during Press Conference!

0:00It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This is Nick Gangsta with the Lockdown Mavericks Podcast. This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card. I love that I can run up to 3% daily cash back on every purchase of my Apple Card, which can be automatically sent to my high yield savings account through Apple Card right in the wallet app. With my iPhone, I can use Apple Card with Apple Pay basically everywhere I go. You can apply for Apple Card too, right in the wallet app on your iPhone, subject to credit approval, savings is available to Apple Card owners, subject to eligibility, savings in Apple Card by Goldman Sachs Bank, USA Salt Lake City Branch member FDIC, terms and more at Apple Card.com. You know, guys, KJ Henson and Jalen Thomas, you know, our inside guys, they're both pretty special. I think Zach Alley confirming in his press conference yesterday, something I've been telling you guys all off season. This junior college class, West Virginia brought in is not your average Yuko class.

1:02They're pretty damn special. Let's talk about it. You are a Lockdown West Virginia, your daily podcasts on the West Virginia mountaineers, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. What is up, guys? Welcome back in. I'm your Paul. I am your host here. Welcome back into Lockdown West Virginia, where we're going to be talking about in your football spring practice style today and glad to be doing so with you here on the show. Thank you so much for being here as we dive into another one, man, and going to be brought to you by our friends from Fandall on this one. Right now, a Fandall, today's episode obviously is something that we want you to be here for, and Fandall was giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with the college basketball part, way profit boost, head to Fandall.com to get started today. Thanks for making us, at Lockdown West Virginia, your first listen, and for being a part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, we're talking about your team mountaineers every single

2:04day. Okay, so I'm not a big, I told you so, guy, and I'm not even trying to do that because it's not like I didn't get a whole lot of backlash when I had these takes early this summer. Well, over the course of the winter, whatever these guys committed, maybe it goes back to before winter, but I have to go see, I think these guys from the most part all committed during the, right after the season, and so they're all different in their own ways. But Zach Alley during his press conference yesterday had a lot of really great things to say about not just, you also mentioned Darius Leonard as well, who I didn't have time to prep for, like I want to or usually do. So what we're going to do is we're going to talk about three players today. The Zach Alley specified his press conference that are going to make a big difference on

3:05the West Virginia defense line this year. Here they are right now as we talk about. Guys, KJ Henson and Jalen Thomas are inside guys. They're both pretty special. I think they've got real ability and we've got to get it out of them. They're learning how to practice the same way. It was like, wow, this is fast, yeah, they go fast. But I think both those guys have a really good chance and Jeremiah Johnson too, out of beauty, he's got a knack for past Russian and slipping inside and doing some of the things that you can't teach. And so I'm excited for all those guys to see how they produce and do well along in line. And then I think all the guys we took JC at the back seven are all like six four. So that helps and seeing them run and play and move is good. It's kind of the same thing. There's a learning curve to the amount of defense we do. And so I think it's going to be prudent on the Mount nearest fans to be a little patient

4:11here. But all these dudes can really go and we're going to check it out obviously on this episode. We're going to do the breakdowns on these dudes now as now that spring practices going on and we're going to talk about exactly how they can help this defense this year. We've got film on all and I think it's going to be fun to watch. So we're going to talk about the press conferences as a whole. Nick Kray came up to the podium yesterday. I told you guys on this show yesterday before they did their press conferences and Nick Kray was playing guard now. He confirmed that yesterday in his press conference later on during the day. So just pointing that out that you heard it here first. Not a lot of people knew about that. So very interesting stuff guys and let's dive straight into this. Like I said, I think there's a lot to be excited about here, especially where it concerns

5:12these guys on the jukego. So, you know, obviously we're going to start with Jay or KJ Hanson. He's a guy that I think they view as a plug and play three technique. I've compared him to Dante Stills. That's the skill set. Not saying he's going to be as good as Dante was. But he's that same size, six, three, six, four, two, seven, five, right? So he's not small yet. He moves really well. And you look at where he comes in. He was in all Kansas J help community college conference first team, defensive tackle, you know, every single place you can find has him as a top five jukego defensive tackle. Rivals has him as a top four. And you know, he is on that border of four stars and some and some of the ratings you look around at.

6:13His offers were Minnesota Purdue Kansas State, West Virginia. For the most part, he committed to Minnesota and flipped last minute to West Virginia. Where he was a part of, you know, at junior college, one of the better defenses in all jukego. If not the best in the Hutchison, you know, 11 games was tied for third on the team with 45 tackles, ten and a half tackles for loss and almost six sacks and five quarterback curries and two pass breakups. This kid is supposed to be a defensive lineman, not a pass, not a pass rusher necessarily. But that's what he does, man. He is an inside pass rushing monster that when you look at him on film anyways, it is impressive to say the least like it's some of the most impressive film you can find from jukego guy. He really attacks the gaps on the interior well and that's that's kind of like in my

7:14opinion, that's his probably his biggest strength is how he attacks inside gaps. You know, the tackles totals are really strong for a jukego defensive tackle and I think the more telling numbers are the double digit tackles for loss and the sack production coming from the interior. That usually points to a guy who can really get off, use his hands well and has that feel in the backfield. It's not just his size, it's well, if you look at his Iowa Western game, who was one of the best teams in all of jukego, nine tackles, almost two sacks, two tackles for loss. And they had, I went and looked, they had three players on that offensive line, go division one, two group five, one power four. So they had a good defense, they had a good offensive line, he wrecked them. So I think he's going to be an active participant or defensive line this year. I think he'll be a rotational player and most likely I could see him as a starter.

8:16You know, I do think that he's got a chance to do that. I just, you want to see how they come out of spring practice first, right? So, you know, obviously he's going to be one of the inside guys and Zach Alley's calling him and Jalen both pretty special and also Jeremiah. So I think this is going to be a, I think you'll probably be one in the first wave in the interior rotational pieces because that pass rush is just, it's just, you know, it's crucial, especially in the big 12 to be able to do that. So let's look at some of what he does. Well, we're going to look at him up close and personal first in some practice footage that he's out here and you'll kind of see the explosion that I'm talking about as he lines up on an offensive line, and it makes him look silly. Here he is right here on the center. No chance up and under and uses those hands so well. Here he is playing on the inside over the guard, the right guard. He splits the double team and makes the tackle out the line of scrimmage.

9:19Here you can see him playing on the outside at defensive end and just beats the offensive tackle and affects the quarterback. It does a great job there as well. You know, you look at him. Here he is playing over the left guard and just destroys him. Same thing again over the left guard. That's the same play with reverse in different direction. And look at that athletic ability. Just get off the football. Incredible job there. You know, he gets moving and he is one heck of an athlete when he does. I really love this kid's game. I think he's probably one of my favorite players that we signed. Every time I watch his footage, I get excited. You look at he plays with a nasty streak in him. I mean, look at this play here. Just an incredible job on the stunt. He is a handful, man, especially when it comes to pass rushing. Just a good athlete.

10:20And like I said, he's got that Dante steals in his game. Where he is 275, but like you see, they can line him up on the edge. Look at that swim move there. Great job. Zach Colley, I don't think those are special word out, you know, easily. So I'm all about KJ Hansen and I think his ability speaks for itself. So we'll keep an eye on him. I mean, he's going to be a guy that you have to say is going to be in that rotation. And I think he will be guys. And I feel a little vindicated. I'm not going to lie. You know, I've been on this, I've been on this dude for months now. I've probably played this clip for you guys at least a couple of times over the last few months. But, you know, every time we play it, I think it's exciting because we haven't had this is like a TJ Jackson type player, right? Although TJ Jackson was only 61 and you see him right there. He's he's he's not just a pass rusher. If you look at him in some of these scenarios, he holds his ground really well at the point of attack.

11:24There he is over the center. No chance. You know, so what is he going to do in, you know, in college at the D1 level? It's going to be interesting to find out. I truly believe that he's going to be a standout for us this year. Much like I predicted, you know, TJ Jackson, I'm going to predict this one too. He's just as good as TJ Jackson was. I just don't know, you know, you never know how guys going to perform when a chance run up. But I think there's a lot to be excited about. All right, let's go to break here really quick. The 10 minutes went by fast. We'll come back. We'll talk about these other guys. We'll also talk about what Nick Cray said, what Rich Rodd said, and what Zach Alley said. We'll bring you on the press conference from yesterday. Here I'm locked on what's Virginia stick around. All right, y'all. We're talking about our buddies today and look when it comes to our good friends. We're talking about Robin Hood right now. And if you want to talk about. What are sports were traded like markets?

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16:31this news for you guys. Thank you so much for everything. As always, we love talking ball with you guys every single day here on the show. Make sure you like, subscribe, and the whole thing, share the channel out, share this video out. As we're getting closer and closer, baby, West Virginia football. Just before we know it, guys, we'll blink it. It'll be here. All right. So the second person in the Zach Alley mentioned, which was, you know, guys, KJ Hansen and Jalen Thomas. Jalen Thomas, right? So, you know, Jalen Thomas is a totally different ball of wax from KJ Hansen. He's probably, in a lot of ways, the antithesis of what KJ Hansen is in that he's not the past rushing type, necessarily. But what he is good at is you're lining up over the nose and true try to move him out of the way. He's huge. He's six, three, three hundred and ten, three hundred and fifteen pounds.

17:35And he has a lane clogger. That's what he does. So let's check out some Jalen, Hansen stuff. As I've grown to really love his game too, obviously, for an obvious reason. And here he is. You'll see right here, first, right away. Watch him just pushing back. No chance. Tackle for loss. There's a really good angle here. You'll see his number 72 right there in the middle of the defense. Watch him just hold his, he just can't, he can't be budged. Watch him just hold his lane and wait for the running back. Boom. That's what he's going to be good for this year for West Virginia. Put him in the middle of the defense. Let him hold a gap and let everybody around him make plays. I think that's what he's going to do. He's going to gobble him up and not get blown off the ball like some guys did last year. There he is again, just way in the backfield. You know, Zach Alley wouldn't say he was special if he wasn't special. I'm a big Jalen Thomas guy.

18:35As soon as I watched this film, I knew that he was going to be something for West Virginia. You know, it's just, it's just obvious on film. Now, once again, does it transfer up? That's the question with all these guys. Too bad it's not power for, but, you know, at the end of the day, you have to take a shot on guys when you, when you see them. And I've always felt Jalen Thomas and KJ Hansen both had, quote unquote, it. It's just the way they play a game. And then you look at here. I mean, this is a 320 pound guy. Look at the motor. Incredible motor on him. And he does such a good job. Here he is again in the middle of the defense. I mean, it's just, and he can't, I mean, it's not he can't. He's not much of a past rusher, but he is a TFL guy because he's athletic enough to rush back there quickly. So he does a good job as far as athletically getting into the backfield.

19:35But I don't know, you don't see him a whole lot of past rushing moves out of him necessarily. It's all, I'm just stronger than you kind of stop. So, and, and there he is again, just a monster, you know, so tough to handle. And a guy that I certainly think that, you know, when you, when you, when you factor in. Who's on this team this year? I don't know how you don't start him on the nose. Unless he's just not ready yet, which is a chance he may not be. I totally admit that it's tough to get these kind of players ready right away. But I do think this is going to be a player that West Virginia gets ready at some point. So be watching for Jalen Henderson as well, guys, as are not Jalen Henderson. I'm sorry, Jalen Thomas. This year on the nose, I think he'll be a player that you can definitely be proud of. And you may not always hear his name, but he's, he's going to be vitally important. The nose tackle on a 335 defenses.

20:36I can make a case where I'm being maybe one of the most important, just because of how the defense is structured. And if you can control the middle, just like chess, if you control the middle of the board, you're in a good spot. Same thing with football. One other player to note here, obviously, it all by the way, as far as I had some numbers on, let me go back here. Jalen Thomas, you know, so obviously six, three, three hundred and fifteen pounds. He was the number three ranked Juco defensive lineman. Two four set of it had a number four. He and KJ Henson are ranked literally right beside each other. So, you know, that's not surprising at all. His, his offers were big as well. He had Arkansas, Boise State, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State. Syracuse, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, like he had a long list of suitors because of his overall just size and strength.

21:38So, you know, 18 tackles, two and a half tackles for a loss, a sack last year, which is really good actually for a guy that plays the nose position. You just don't get a lot of. There's just not a lot of production to be had from that spot. He did have eight tackles, two and a half losses and a sack and a half in a game this past year. So, you know, is he a flashy player, not necessarily, but he is going to be a force, I promise you. And, and I really wish that more West Virginia fans would understand like, in my opinion, like how big of a deal. He's going to be as an interior piece for this defense. So, we'll just continue to monitor it. See if he gets into that starting lineup. I'm going to say that he does, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a backup role either. I think he's a starter though at some point this year. So, we'll keep our eye on that too. Last but not least, and this may be, you know, one of the most.

22:43I've studied more and more Jeremiah Johnson here lately. And I have to be honest, I haven't been talking about him enough. And now I see why Zach Alley mentions him. And, and he, he's got. I think he's got a real chance to start now that I've watched him more and Zach Alley was bringing him up in his press conference for a reason. As a guy that can really get after the pass rusher. There's no doubt about it. I mean, I don't know how I don't, I don't think I missed on his past rushing. But I certainly hadn't been talking about it as much as I should have been. I just haven't. So, you look at him, he's, you know, he's listed at six, three, six, four, two hundred and forty pounds plays that band at slash edge position. You know, he had Kansas State UCSA Colorado. Idaho, Hawaii, like, you know, he didn't have everybody in the world coming after him.

23:43But if you look at the film, it tells us some story for me. He's a dude that can just flat out fly around. Here we go. What you want to write side here? Just flying and look at that left hand just bumping a dude straight off his spot. Great job there. On the left side, totally different side back inside. That's what Curtis Jones Jr. did against pit earlier this year. You know, now here's chasing down a ball carrier at six, five, two hundred and forty pounds is just, you know, he moves so well. I mean, I love that play there. Oh God, that's his perfect bull rush getting up underneath the guys elbows like that. Such a great job, man. You know, he's a kid that can really get after it. And I think that West Virginia is all the better for now signing him. He's going to be in the rotation. I 100% do believe that because you look at him. He holds himself well in the run game.

24:45But he also gets after it as a pass rusher as well. And I think, you know, he's athletic as all get out. And I mean, you see him. He flies off the edge. Look at that speed coming off the edge. And his counter move to the speed is that inside move. And he does it quite often. And when he doesn't, you know, he's, he's just shown his overall athleticism along the defensive line. So I'm certainly in the camp that think, you know, he's going to make an impact this year. And we'll see what he does. And how he ends up fitting in at West Virginia. All right, guys, we're going to go to one more break here. When we come back, we'll talk a little bit more about the press conferences at a hole. As a whole and see what, you know, Rich Rodd said, Nick Cray said, et cetera. We'll be right back on locked on West Virginia stick around. All right, guys, we're talking about our friends from Mazda today and Mazda right now of Mazda. It's pretty cool stuff because, you know, they are exactly what you think they are.

25:50And there's one of the best car companies in the world. And this is the game moving forward. Mazda is moving it forward for those who know there's more to the score than what's on the screen. These are money, what is right like to really raise the bar. That's that extra work off the court dialing in every detail. Given that extra fire, that grit, not never quit. We put that same passion in every model highlights make the real. What it took to get there makes it count, right? So there's more to a Mazda because there's more to you. All right, we back, we back. So talk a little bit more about what these press conferences had to say. Man, it's a lot of information, right? And I think I've just kind of broken it down into a couple different topics that we're going to rush over here really quick. Number one, I think the rebuild is real as far as the body types being changed on this team.

26:51You can tell there are several players, including Nick Kray, which you look great at the podium. I mean, he looked perfectly bill at the podium. Has gained weight since last year. That's a big deal. Rich talked about weight room records and freshmen setting, the, you know, that has been in the eye test. That was pretty cool to hear Rich Rod say. So he's talking about Matt Sigg and Kevin Brown there. And obviously Zach Alley talked about needing more size and strength, especially in the back seven. If you look at Nick Kray, he talked about adding weight and getting stronger upfront as well. So all those things matter and, you know, it's not just the new players. This is West Virginia intentionally reshaping the roster so that they look and play like teams in the big 12 that they've been losing to. Rich Rodriguez has obviously talked about the freshmen. I love that they talk about Kevin Brown so much again, you know, they said he looked freakish. I mean, it was, it was, it was, it was, Kray said he was a monster and a freak of nature.

27:53You know, Kray has added almost 10 pounds. So I think that's important. Considering he was already a pretty big guy. The defense of Juco auditions probably are going to be some of the more impactful. And then obviously being bigger longer and more athletic than an, you know, being an actual offseason plan. You know, so it's like, it's actually something they implemented. So you've one thing to plan for it and a whole another thing to do it. Another big talking point was on Rick Trickett being back and how the offensive line room knows exactly what time it is right now. And I've heard from everybody that he is things have changed big in the offensive line room and just the small amount of time he's had to work with them. That's not a surprise. I think Rick MacKnell Jr., which is not a fit for West Virginia. That's as nice as I can say it. Kimo. Kimo Makinioli is also not a fit for West Virginia. But I'm welcome him back any day. But I'm just saying like on the field, right?

28:56So you know, I think Nick Kray, obviously talked about how Rick Trickett lived up to all the stories. He knows it's hard about him. But there's different terminology though that they're having to get used to different teaching style. There's a different level of detail. And you know, he kind of made it sound like it was a big difference between Matt Moore. Big nail and now coach Trickett. So Kray obviously having to adjust the offensive guard, which I told you guys on the show yesterday was what I did a show on yesterday. I found that to be extremely newsworthy because Kray was supposed to be our left tackle. Going into the air and I told you yesterday that Malik Agbo had been starting at left tackle. That's true. They didn't they didn't confirm that yesterday. But I'm telling you Malik Agbo been starting at left tackle. Nick Kray has been working a lot of guard and some tackle from what he said. So I mean, he's probably still working tackle no doubt. But I think they seem as a guard in this offense.

29:58Either way, it's going to be fine. You know, what else was there? All the players that have a thousand snaps on this team, you know, Nick Kray talked about that as well. If you want to talk about some other things, Zach Alley said there's a couple things. Size was the number one issue. The lack of length in the back seven specifically. He said they were getting beaten screens in space with perimeter tackling issues. So we got lost, you know, at one point. And so the need for longer corner of safety and linebackers was very evident. And they think they've addressed some of those issues. Cross-training bandits and ins for multiplicity is something as well. That they're experimenting with. I agree with that. I think you have to do it, especially in a rebuild situation. Like we're in and you got to get this most out of that defense as you can get. And so, I think that's what they're going to do. That's what I think. So, you know, I think the ballies in a kind of a.

31:00A year where a lot of fans may lose face if they don't. If faith if they don't play well this year. Which is probably not fair to Zach Alley, but it's just the truth. They talked about the early practice standards and how the loaves have been piling up. And they've much better yesterday. So that's good. And he said it's just overall bigger and more athletic across the board. So, lots of changes, lots of awesomeness as well on the West Virginia team right now going on. Definitely keep yourselves tuned in to lock on West Virginia as we dive into more of that and more of that and more of that. Because we'll be, we'll be following you like if you're, if you're like me. I follow every single second of spring to the point to where it's probably an unhealthy obsession, but it's also my job. So, I enjoy doing it. Hopefully you guys enjoy watching it. And I'll be back here later on this evening with the show. You know, I don't know what we're going to talk about tonight, but we'll figure something out. It depends on what happens, obviously. And let's, let's make sure we pray for those women to get a buy in the tournament.

32:02I think they will do it, but we won't know until I think Saturday. So, we'll find out what happens there on Sunday, maybe. But we'll find out what happens there soon. And it's going to be a good time as well. West Virginia men's play tomorrow. We'll cover that. And, and all that too. But other than that, I don't have a whole lot else for you guys. The lockdown every day or club is free right now. If you want to go to locked on West Virginia dot supercast dot com. You can get locked on West Virginia right now for a month for free. And that means you get on the, you know, members only discord. You get ad free audio. We're having a lot of conversations in there about a lot of intel and things like that. So, there's a lot to kind of digest with it. But it's definitely good stuff. So, check that out too. And I'll see you guys on the next one. Thanks for making us your first listen. Make sure you check out locked on college football next. And we'll see you later. I'm out.

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