Since West Virginia hired Head Coach Rich Rodriguez to return to the Mountain State, he has been busy evaluating the roster and coaching staff. Ahead of Spring camp, which is set to begin on February 25, we look at the efforts made in remaking the Mountaineers’ roster this offseason. In this article, we look at the offense.
Remaking the Mountaineers’ Roster on Offense
After the Mountaineers fired Neal Brown, many fans worried that West Virginia would enter Spring camp with a thin roster. At first, that seemed to be true. Between graduations, retirements, and transfers, the Mountaineers lost 35 of the 64 position players who took snaps last season. This does not include depth players and special teams contributors. In total, the Mountaineers lost 26 players to the transfer portal after Brown’s departure.
By position, the breakdown of losses looks even worse. The Mountaineers return just 18% of their quarterback snaps from last season. They return 33% of their wide receiver snaps, 8% of their tight end snaps, and just 2% of their offensive line snaps. They are best at running back, where they return nearly half of their snaps despite losing CJ Donaldson to Ohio State.
On defense, the Mountaineers fare just a little better. They return 36% of their defensive line snaps and 26% of their safety snaps. On the other hand, they return just 17% of their linebacker snaps and 10% of their cornerback snaps. For the secondary, plenty would argue that the losses represent addition by subtraction, as the Mountaineers’ pass defense was among the worst in the Power Conferences last season. Still, this represents a lot of bodies to bring in when remaking the Mountaineers’ roster.
Offensive Skill Players
The Mountaineers lose their starting quarterback Garrett Greene, but they retain veteran Nicco Marchiol and redshirt freshman Khalil Wilkins. Rodriguez brought in Texas A&M transfer Jaylen Henderson and former Florida quarterback Max Brown to compete with Marchiol and Wilkins for the starting spot. Heading into 2025, the Mountaineers certainly have enough bodies (five, with an additional walk-on) in the room. The question remains who will rise to the challenge and emerge atop the depth chart?
At running back, West Virginia loses Donaldson to Ohio State and also loses Jaylen Anderson to the transfer portal. Otherwise, they return talented junior Jahiem White along with a pair of redshirt freshmen in Diore Hubbard and Trae’von Dunbar. Rodriguez also brought in big-bodied Tye Edwards from Northern Iowa and shifty LJ Turner from Catawba to fill out the room. White should shine in the spread offense, while Edwards adds the bigger body that Rodriguez likes to rely on to run his offense.
At tight end, the Mountaineers return Greg Genross, who will presumably fill in as the team’s lead receiving tight end, along with Jack Sammarco and Noah Braham. They brought in true freshman Jackson Accuardi as an early enrollee. Rodriguez also added Jacob Barrick from Jacksonville State and Johnny Pascuzzi from Iowa through the transfer portal. Pascuzzi looks like the prototypical blocking tight end who should thrive in the spread offense.
Wide Receiver Wide Open
Finally, among the skill players, we saw the coaching staff putting in plenty of work in remaking the Mountaineers’ roster in the wide receiver room. West Virginia loses plenty of production here, from the surprising loss of Hudson Clement to the early retirement of Preston Fox. They also lose Traylon Ray and DayDay Farmer to the portal. Replacing that production will prove challenging, but Rodriguez and his staff brought in plenty of new faces to compete. Jaden Bray, Rodney Gallagher, Jarel Williams, and TJ Johnson return. Redshirt freshmen Brandon Rehmann and Dom Collins also return. The staff brought in three true freshmen to join them.
They also brought in a pair of Jacksonville State receivers in Jarod Bowie and Cam Vaughn, the latter of whom led the Gamecocks in receiving yards as a redshirt freshman last season. Joining that group are Oran Singleton from Eastern Michigan, Jeffrey Weimer from Idaho State, and Cyrus Trough from Youngstown State. Weimer has had impressive productivity in his college career, surpassing 1,000 receiving yards in three of his four seasons across multiple levels.
In total, the Mountaineers’ roster features 14 wideouts, and 11 of those players will participate in Spring camp. Given the expectations of those receivers to block downfield in the spread offense Rodriguez brings back to Morgantown, we expect the staff focused on building a well-rounded room instead of trying to replace the lost production yard for yard.
Completely Rebuilding the Offensive Line
Without a doubt, the biggest losses the Mountaineers face this offseason came on the offensive line. Brandon Yates, Ja’Quay Hubbard, and Wyatt Milum all graduated. Tomas Rimac and Johnny Williams left through the transfer portal. Those losses decimated both the starting group and the anticipated depth pieces who were being groomed to replace the seniors.
As soon as Rodriguez touched down in Morgantown, however, he got to work recruiting replacements. In total, he and his staff brought in six transfers and five true freshmen. In terms of numbers, the room looks healthy with 16 linemen in the fray. Given that offensive linemen in college perform best later in their careers on average, the staff prioritized adding and retaining veteran bodies. Indeed, four of the six incoming transfers are fifth-year seniors, all from the FBS level. We presume three of those names–Ty’kieast Crawford from Arkansas, Kimo Makane’ole from LSU, and Walter Young Bear from Tulsa–will start next season. Juniors Xavier Bausley (who earned a spot on the Freshman All American team under Rodriguez) and Landen Livingston should represent the other two starters.
Notably, the staff also brought NC State transfer Robby Martin back home to West Virginia. Martin was the top-ranked in-state recruit just a year ago, and he committed to the Wolfpack. He redshirted last season, so he has four years of eligibility remaining.
Given the significant differences between Brown’s offense and the spread offense Rodriguez runs, we certainly expected a significant overhaul on this side of the ball. Rodriguez places a premium on speed, quickness, and toughness at all levels. Offensive linemen need to hold blocks and move to block at the second level more often in the spread offense. This places less of a premium on sheer size in favor of athleticism up front. Thus, while the new additions may not offer perfect replacements for the losses to this room, they should offer more of what Rodriguez is looking for in remaking the Mountaineers’ roster.
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