We’re back again today with another edition of our 2017 Mountaineer football profile series. Today, we’ll take a look at Dravon Askew-Henry, a Safety who wants and needs to show that he’s back.
Dravon Askew-Henry, S, No. 6
Year: R-Jr
Height: 6’0
Weight: 200
Hometown: Aliquippa, Pa
High School: Aliquippa HS
How he got to Morgantown
Dravon was a four-star recruit on both sides of the ball out of Aliquippa in 2013. He was a big get for the Mountaineers. He proved it as a starter his freshman year, as he was named ESPN.com True-Freshman All-American, despite all anti-WVU bias.
Career Highlight
2017 Prospectus
Dravon started both as a Freshman and a Sophomore, showing that he was exactly the kind of athletic and, when needed, physical safety that DC Tony Gibson wants. When he went down prior to the 2016 season, everyone thought that it would be absolutely debilitating to the defense.
While 2016 proved to be a good year, it also showed to most watching how much better it may have been with Dravon over the top of the defense. He has shown the ability to give Gibson, the maestro, freedom to disguise coverages and bring even more pressure than normal. This year Dravon is back, and should be better and more hungry than ever.
Despite the unexpected time off, Dravon is one of the most used WVU players returning on either side of the ball. He has played over 2,100 snaps (965 as freshman and 1,105 as a sophomore). His sophomore total of 59 tackles was better than both his current teammate Kyzir White and former WVU safety Karl Joseph (in their best seasons).
Dravon is a natural talent who knows where he’s supposed to be, both instinctively and in the 3-3-5. He’s been clocked under 4.5 seconds in the 40, which puts him in elite territory for safeties. He will range the back end of Gibby’s defense and punish quarterbacks for thinking that they have open windows. Pairing him with a truly physical beast in Kyzir is absolutely ideal.
Long story short, he knows the defense, he knows where to be, and he should give everyone else on the Mountaineer defense more confidence to do their jobs, because they can trust Dravon has their back.
Dream Season
Injury? What Injury? Dravon kills it. He still has about 60 tackles, but ups his number of pass breakups, and shows that he has NFL ball skills by actually catching more than one or two INT’s. Honestly, the fewer number of tackles that Dravon has to make, the better for the Mountaineers. One of the best on paper WVU safety groups in the 3-3-5 era lives up to their promise, and helps WVU win the Big 12.
Up Next
We begin to finish our look at the likely WVU defensive backfield starters.