With fall camp just around the corner and the 2026 season creeping closer, West Virginia’s roster is starting to take shape. The Mountaineers have plenty of new faces, a few proven veterans, and more than a handful of position battles still to sort out. But if you’re trying to project who sits atop each room right now, there are some pretty clear answers.
At quarterback, the edge goes to Michael Hawkins Jr. The Oklahoma transfer still has work to do as a passer, but the athletic upside is obvious.
In two seasons with the Sooners, he threw for 950 yards and 6 touchdowns against 2 interceptions while completing nearly 62 percent of his passes. He also added 374 sack-adjusted rushing yards and 2 more scores.
It was close, but Hawkins looks like the best bet to win the job in week one, and his game seems tailor-made for Rich Rodriguez.
Running back is the easiest call on the board: Cam Cook. He’s set to be the bell cow for West Virginia and could end up being the best player on the roster.
Per ProFootballFocus, Cook led the nation in rushing yards and missed tackles forced in 2025, and he already has experience being coached by Rick Trickett at Jacksonville State. There’s real reason to think he could be one of the most productive backs in the country this fall.
The receiver room belongs to Jaden Bray, at least if he can finally stay on the field. Bray has about 700 receiving yards across three years at Oklahoma State, and he once led that team in receiving midway through the 2023 season before injury slowed him down.
He transferred to West Virginia after that season, then missed nearly all of 2024 with an injury. He remained with the program through the coaching change and was trending toward being a top target through the Ohio game last year before another season-ending injury cut things short.
Rich Rodriguez has praised him all offseason and has made it clear Bray is the guy in this room. Health is the only real question.
Tight end is another straightforward pick. Ryan Ward emerged in 2025 after transferring from North Carolina, and the redshirt freshman made steady progress as the season went on.
The 6-foot-4, 248-pound tight end finished with 6 catches for 41 yards and a touchdown, with 5 of those receptions coming over the final 5 games. He also showed a growing grasp of the blocking scheme and logged 213 total offensive snaps.
He returns as the clear leader in the room and should be the top option on the depth chart.
Up front, Nick Krahe gets the nod on the offensive line. The 6-foot-6, 316-pound lineman started all 12 games at left tackle last season and played 816 snaps, earning a 63.5 ProFootballFocus grade.
This year, he’s moving inside to guard to make room for Kevin Brown at tackle. Krahe was once called an NFL talent by Matt Moore and Neal Brown, and that label still carries weight.
In a deep line group, he looks like the best of the bunch.
On the defensive line, the choice is Nate Gabriel. Western Kentucky transfer Harper Holloman may be the top EDGE, but Gabriel is the one I’d point to inside.
There was plenty of preseason buzz around him back in 2024 when he was a true freshman, and he’s quietly become a steady interior piece over his first two seasons at West Virginia. Last year, he played 287 snaps, finished with 13 tackles and 5 solo stops, and posted a 68.7 run-stopping grade from ProFootballFocus.
He enters 2026 as a breakout candidate and a key presence up front.
At linebacker, Malachi Hood stands out in what might be the most open room on the roster. Hood arrives with starting experience in the Big Ten, and that matters for a defense that needs players to step forward.
In 2025, he recorded 39 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a fumble recovery, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. He played in 13 games and started 8, helping Illinois become one of the better rushing defenses in the country while also earning Academic All-Big Ten honors.
He’ll be in the mix in the middle, though he’ll have to compete with Ben Cutter, Cam Torbor, Tyler Stolsky and Ashton Woods for snaps.
The cornerback room goes to Nick Taylor. West Virginia’s corner group isn’t the strongest unit overall, but Taylor has the best case to be CB1.
He played in 11 games last season and finished with 17 tackles and an interception in just his second year of college football. Before that, he spent his true freshman season at App State, where he played under current WVU cornerbacks coach Rod West.
Taylor had some rough patches last year, but he also flashed real toughness and hard-hitting ability.
At safety, Kamari Wilson gets the call. Andrew Powdrell has buzz, but Wilson’s résumé is hard to ignore.
The former blue-chip recruit started at Florida, where he played 311 snaps as a true freshman in 2022, then moved on to Arizona State and Memphis. With the Tigers last season, he was a major producer: 74 tackles, 16 solo stops, 2 forced fumbles, 2 interceptions and 5 passes broken up.
ProFootballFocus credited him with allowing an NFL Passer Rating of just 77.5 when targeted, and he played 801 snaps while lining up all over the field. He was one of the biggest transfer additions of the offseason for a reason.
In Other News...
WVU Fall Camp Could Reshape The Offense Faster Than Expected
Fall camp is the point in the summer when West Virginias offense starts to sort itself out, and this year the backup picture might matter almost as much as the starters. The Mountaineers have a handful of reserve linemen and skill players who are not just there to fill space on the depth chart, but to push for real roles once the season begins. That makes the next few weeks especially important for a unit that still has several spots worth watching.
The most intriguing part is how many of those battles feel open-ended. Devin Vass has the look of a lineman who could force his way into the conversation, Malik Agbo has drawn attention with his progress, and the receiving group has its own wild card in TaRon Francis. Add in the tight end competition and the possibility that John Neider could become a useful option sooner rather than later, and it is easy to see why this camp could reshape the offense faster than expected. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Just Made A Rare 2027 Football Schedule Change
West Virginias 2027 football calendar picked up a notable tweak this week when athletic director Wren Baker announced that the home game against Ohio at Milan Puskar Stadium has been moved up from Sept. 18 to Aug. 28. The adjustment gives the Mountaineers a rare spot on the opening weekend of the college football season and marks the first time the program will play in Week 0.
The change stands out even more because no other schedule moves have been announced, leaving the rest of the 2027 slate intact for now. West Virginia is still set to open that season against Southern Miss on Sept. 4 and VMI on Sept. 11, while the Ohio series remains part of a longer arrangement that will bring the teams back together again down the road. [Read more 🡒]