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The West Virginia Mountaineers football program has added another piece to the offensive line with a commitment from North Alabama offensive tackle Mickel Clay.
Clay, 6-foot-5, 278-pounds, started his career at the junior college level but has spent the past three seasons with the Lions where he appeared in a total of 29 games.
The Cincinnati native played in nine games during his first year, before playing in eight games in his second where he started three of those. But last season, Clay started all 12 games at right tackle.
Clay has one season of eligibility remaining and becomes the latest transfer addition for West Virginia along the offensive line joining Princeton offensive tackle Will Reed, Tulsa offensive guard Walter Young Bear, LSU offensive guard Kimo Makane’ole, North Carolina State offensive lineman Robby Martin, Arkansas offensive tackle Ty’kieast Crawford and Youngstown State offensive lineman Wyatt Minor.
The Mountaineers are in the process of remaking that unit and Clay is an experienced offensive tackle that will help in that department.
WVSports.com breaks down the transfer of Clay and what it means to the West Virginia Mountaineers football program both now and in the future.
The data:
Clay played a total of 792 snaps last season at North Alabama which would make him one of the most experienced on the newly constructed West Virginia offensive line. The offensive tackle graded out at 77.0 overall according to Pro Football Focus and had strong marks in both run blocking (74.0) and pass blocking (73.0). Over the course of last year, Clay permitted only three sacks while blocking and allowed just 14 hurries while sporting a pass blocking efficiency number of 98.0
Over his career, that efficiency number is 97.8 and he has a total of 1,138 snaps to his credit.
Fitting the program:
West Virginia needed to further address the offensive line and Clay is an experienced option that has had success during his time at North Alabama. With one season of eligibility remaining, Clay is going to be expected to come in and compete immediately at the tackle position in a room that is still open after the spring. Clay will join Will Reed as tackle options that weren’t with the program in the spring and could provide the Mountaineers with some much needed competition at the position.
Clay has experience that the program needs and being a native of Cincinnati should be familiar with the Mountaineers football program and how he can fit into things.
Recruiting the position:
West Virginia was always going to add more offensive linemen in the late transfer portal window and even with Clay in the fold that likely doesn’t spell an end to what the coaches have planned. Securing an experienced right tackle will help matters, but expect the coaching staff to continue to dip their toes into looking into other options both on the edge and the interior to get older and create more competition.
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