West Virginia’s 2026 football season will hinge on a handful of players, and the transfer portal has already delivered one of the more important names on the board: redshirt senior defensive end Zeke Durham-Campbell.
He lands at No. 14 in the Mountaineers’ list of most important players for 2026, a ranking based on impact rather than pure talent. And Durham-Campbell has a real case to matter right away. He arrives after a winding college path that started at Lenoir-Rhyne, moved to Louisiana Tech, and then took off at Coastal Carolina in 2025.
His production at Lenoir-Rhyne came early, when he posted 3.5 sacks and 8 tackles for loss as a true freshman. At Louisiana Tech, he spent two seasons there, one of them as a redshirt year, and recorded 14 tackles in 266 snaps.
Then came the breakout. At Coastal Carolina, Durham-Campbell put together a strong season with a 77.5 ProFootballFocus grade and a 79.8 mark in pass rushing.
He started all 13 games, finished with 42 tackles, 8 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks, and added two forced fumbles and pass breakups. That performance earned him third team All-Sun Belt honors.
At 6-foot-4 and 259 pounds, Durham-Campbell played mostly as a 5-tech or 9-wide EDGE, though he can also slide down to the 4-tech. That kind of flexibility should help him settle in as the starting defensive end in Zac Alley’s scheme. The one question is whether that success carries over to the power conference level, since that part of his resume remains untested.
The rest of the top 25 continues with DJ Epps at No. 15, Nate Gabriel at No.
16, Wes King at No. 17, Tyler Stolsky at No.
18, Ben Cutter at No. 19, Cam Griffin at No.
20, Amari Latimer at No. 21, Nick Taylor at No.
22, Malachi Hood at No. 23, Kameron Reddic at No. 24 and Prince Strachan at No.
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WVU Just Made A Money Move Fans Will Definitely Notice
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The deal goes beyond a logo on the uniform, too, with Antero Resources set to work with WVU players on branding and marketing efforts. For a department always balancing tradition with the modern realities of college athletics, it is another sign of how sponsorships are becoming part of the everyday look and business of the program. [Read more 🡒]