Fall camp in Morgantown is about to get rolling, and with August right around the corner, West Virginia is nearing the point where a lot of the guessing stops. There are still some hard truths already on the table, though, and a few more that feel pretty safe to assume.
Start with the backfield, because Cam Cook looks like the engine of this offense. What he showed at Jacksonville State last season wasn’t a one-off, and the belief inside the program is that he’s ready to do it again at the Power Four level. The expectations for him are sky-high.
Amari Latimer is drawing that same kind of buzz, and maybe even more. In nearly 11 years of covering this team, the level of praise around a freshman hasn’t sounded like this. The staff clearly believes he’s ready to matter right away.
The concerns are just as easy to spot, especially in the secondary. Cornerback has been the main worry all offseason, and Chams Diagne is the only one who feels like a sure thing to hold up consistently.
Nick Taylor moving back to corner makes sense on paper, but there’s still uncertainty around how that plays out. Rayshawn Reynolds Jr. and Da'Mun Allen bring length as JUCO additions, though both are a little lean.
Keyshawn Robinson also needs a real jump if he’s going to push for snaps. That group has the look of a possible weakness, even if nothing is set in stone yet.
Up front, the defensive line has its own question marks. West Virginia’s 16-man group averages 277.3 pounds, with Jaylen Thomas the only player above 300 at 316 and just six linemen weighing 290 or more.
That doesn’t automatically mean trouble against the run, but it’s not exactly an ideal profile. Rich Rod and defensive coordinator Zac Alley would probably love to add a couple more 300-pound bodies and get that average up into the mid-upper 280s.
The offensive line, on the other hand, comes with a very different kind of optimism. The projected starting five has 5,528 career snaps, and that experience matters even more with veteran line coach Rick Trickett now in the mix. He’s widely regarded as one of the best teachers in the game, and that combination points toward a major step forward.
Last year’s standard was low enough that improvement shouldn’t be hard to find. But plenty of people, myself included, think this line can do more than simply recover - it can become one of the better units in the Big 12.
The talent is there. The only real question is whether it all comes together smoothly, especially early.
At quarterback, the situation is being treated like a mystery in some corners, but it really isn’t. Mike Hawkins Jr. is the starter, and has been for a while.
If anyone keeps calling it a battle or a competition, they’re either going along with Rich Rodriguez’s silence or manufacturing drama where there isn’t any. That doesn’t mean Scotty Fox Jr. is being dismissed.
It just means the decision has already been made. For months now, it’s been the worst-kept secret in Morgantown.
And then there’s the receiver room, which is easy to overthink because the names keep stacking up. Prince Strachan, Jaden Bray, DJ Epps, John Neider, TaRon Francis, Kedrick Triplett, Keon Hutchins, Armoni Weaver-Bomar, and Cyrus Traugh give the Mountaineers a long list of options.
On paper, it’s tempting to believe there are eight or nine real answers there. But depth at receiver is never as simple as it looks, even for the best teams in the country.
The praise has been there for all of them. The bigger question is how many can actually be counted on.
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 🡒]