West Virginia’s offense has spent too much of recent memory looking scrambled and short on answers, but 2026 brings a very different setup. Mike Hawkins Jr. and Cam Cook are set to anchor the new-look unit, and Jaden Bray is expected to step into the WR1 role.
The projections for Hawkins point to a steady, productive season in Rich Rodriguez’s system: 208 completions on 332 attempts for a 62.6% completion rate, 2,575 passing yards, 20 passing touchdowns and seven interceptions. On the ground, he’s projected for 114 carries, 695 yards and seven rushing scores.
Those numbers might not scream headline-grabber at first glance, but in a year where so many pieces are coming together and Hawkins is learning a new system, that kind of output would count as a strong showing. The projection is described as conservative, too.
Hawkins’ football IQ and ability to create plays should help him handle the transition better than most first-year quarterbacks in a new offense. Depending on how Rodriguez builds the call sheet, Hawkins has the talent to get past 3,000 passing yards or push beyond 1,000 rushing yards.
The point isn’t that he’ll do both - just that either one is in play.
That uncertainty is why the projection stays balanced instead of leaning heavily toward one side of his game. Hawkins could end up among the league’s top passers or near the top of the rushing charts, but this is more of a foundation-setting season than a finished product. The comparison offered is Garrett Greene’s 2023 season, only with more accuracy and more production through the air.
Cook brings a different kind of resume. He already knows the Big 12 from his time at TCU, where he scored nine rushing touchdowns in his final season. Then at Jacksonville State last year, he showed he could carry a backfield by rushing for more yards than anyone else in the country.
That makes him a natural fit for this offense, even if the early part of the season takes some patience. The offensive line will need time to gel, and Cook will need to build that chemistry with the group in front of him. The run game may not hit full speed right away, which is why the projection remains conservative.
Still, Cook does not have to pile up 1,500 yards for West Virginia to get where it wants to go. Hawkins is expected to be part of the run game, and true freshman Amari Latimer is also drawing high expectations. Even with that shared workload, Cook remains a major piece of the offense.
Bray might be the player most ready to take off. The last two years have largely kept the game away from him, but this is his final college season, and he looks primed to make every snap count.
The coaching staff has made its expectations clear, and it’s easy to see why. Bray has a knack for hauling in tough catches in traffic, even when he’s tightly covered, and his connection with Hawkins has grown over the last several months.
Rich Rodriguez has already called him the alpha of the wide receiver room, and that’s the role he’s expected to embrace this fall.
In Other News...
WVU Suddenly Has A Troubling New Question At Receiver
Prince Strachan arrived at West Virginia with a track record that made him an intriguing addition to the receiver room, and his path to Morgantown already included a stop at USC after a season-ending injury. Before that, he spent two seasons at Boise State and showed enough big-play ability there to suggest he could give the Mountaineers a different kind of threat on the outside.
The problem is that his momentum has been interrupted again. Strachan had turned heads in spring practice and looked like a player who could factor into the offense right away, but another injury has complicated the picture and left West Virginia with a new concern at a position that was supposed to be getting deeper. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Fans Will Be Watching This Roster Update Very Closely
West Virginias annual roster refresh is one of those summer checkpoints that tells you a little more than just who showed up for camp. The updated July 24, 2026 measurements give a snapshot of how the Mountaineers have changed since the 2025 season, from offseason bulk to the way the staff is listing newcomers against their recruiting profiles. For a fan base that watches every detail of the roster, it is the kind of update that can spark a lot of conversation before a snap is even taken.
What jumps out most is how much the weight room seems to have mattered across the board, with several returners carrying noticeably more size into this year. At the same time, the height column tells its own story, because the usual summer trend did not really show up this time around. The numbers create a curious little wrinkle for WVU heading into the season, and the one exception in the height listings only makes the rest of the chart stand out more. [Read more 🡒]
Cam Cook Is Loving What Latimer And Boswell Bring To WVU's Backfield
Cam Cook has spent enough time around West Virginias backfield to know the Mountaineers have more than one option behind him, and he likes what he sees from both Amari Latimer and Martavious Boswell. Latimer, a true freshman, has already earned attention for the way he carries himself in workouts, while Boswell brings the kind of burst that can change the feel of a running back room in a hurry.
For Cook, the appeal is not just talent, but how the pieces fit together as WVU tries to build depth and keep everyone on the same page. Latimers early maturity and Boswells speed give the Mountaineers a different look in the backfield, and both figures figure to matter as the season takes shape. [Read more 🡒]