Fall camp is in the books, and West Virginia is turning its full attention to Week 1 against Coastal Carolina.
With kickoff now exactly one week away, the biggest takeaway from August is simple: this team feels a lot different than it did a year ago. Last August was all nerves and frustration, with so many newcomers arriving after spring that the staff spent more time teaching than installing.
This time around, almost everyone has been in the building since winter, and the group is clearly farther ahead. That’s part of why Rich Rod hasn’t gone on nearly as many rants this camp.
More importantly, the team is doing the one thing he keeps demanding - playing hard.
That doesn’t mean the Mountaineers are finished product. They still have plenty of flaws.
But the effort has been there, and that alone separates this group from what was seen at any point in 2025. Once portal recruiting wrapped up, the talent on paper was obvious, with all of the experience and production those newcomers brought to Morgantown.
Still, spring ball and fall camp are where you find out what you really have.
Even now, the final answer won’t come until they line up against someone else. But Rick Trickett has been coaching for five decades, and he knows talent when he sees it.
He believes there are 11 or 12 linemen he can trust in a game, and that doesn’t sound like coachspeak. Kevin Brown, Nick Krahe, Wes King, Amare Grayson, Carsten Casady, Malik Agbo, Cam Griffin, Landen Livingston, Devin Vass, and Deshawn Woods already get you to ten, and Trickett also likes a couple of the younger players.
One thing that stands out about that group: they fire off the ball with purpose. That should be easy to spot right away.
At corner, the picture is still unsettled. Chams Diagne and Nick Taylor feel like the obvious starters for now, but that could look different by Week 3 or 4.
Rod West has plenty of bodies to work with, which is a good problem to have. The issue is less about finding options and more about sorting through them to get three or four corners ready to help win games.
That process is still ongoing.
If there’s a starting point for the rotation, Keyshawn Robinson and Kent State transfer Jaire Rawlison seem like the first two into the mix. ChaMarryus Bomar and Da'Mun Allen could be right there too. It’s been the toughest position to sort out, and whatever the setup looks like in Week 1, expect it to keep changing through non-conference play.
On offense, Epps has done nothing to cool off the excitement that built during spring. If anything, fall camp has only reinforced that he’s going to matter a lot.
Jaden Bray and Prince Strachan will draw plenty of attention on the outside, but Epps could end up leading the team in receptions or yards. He’s that good.
His value goes beyond just creating space. The shiftiness is obvious, and so is his ability to make defenders miss, but he’s also capable of winning contested catches and working the middle of the field.
Up front, Wes King is expected to start at center, though Josh Aisosa has been getting work there and has looked the part. The ideal setup is for King to anchor the spot this season and then pass the job to Aisosa in 2027.
There’s also some flexibility built into that interior group. If either guard - Krahe or Grayson - gets hurt, Aisosa could slide to center and King could move to guard.
Devin Vass and Cam Griffin are part of the backup guard picture too. Still, barring injury, the most likely starting interior is Krahe, King, and Grayson.
The defensive line brings a different kind of concern. West Virginia lacks overall size there, something Rich Rod has also pointed out. Over time, that should improve, but right now the group is going to have to lean on twitch and athleticism, especially against bigger, more physical offensive lines.
Experience is the other issue. Outside of Zeke Durham-Campbell, there are a lot of questions.
Nate Gabriel and Corey McIntyre Jr. have played, but not in full-time starting roles. Jaylen Thomas, Darius Wiley, and KJ Henson are all stepping up from JUCO, and several younger players are pushing for snaps.
That’s why the ceiling and floor of the group are still hard to pin down. It doesn’t mean they’ll be the weak link on defense. It just means there are a lot of unknowns.
At linebacker, Ben Cutter is back for year four and, because he knows the system so well, he looked like a safe bet to start. But redshirt freshman Cam Torbor has changed that conversation. Right now, Torbor looks like the projected starter, with Cutter and an Illinois transfer sharing backup duties.
All three are going to play, and Cutter could still get time at MIKE as well. But there’s also a real chance he ends up as the third name on the depth chart if and when West Virginia releases one.
In Other News...
Virginia Just Turned A West Virginia Rivalry Nerve Into Something Bigger
Virginias season opener against North Carolina State brought more than a win, because the postgame scene quickly drifted into familiar territory for anyone around the Mountaineers. Fans sang along to John Denvers Country Roads, the song forever tied to West Virginia in college sports culture, and with it came a reminder that this rivalry has long carried a strange mix of music, memory and misplaced claims.
The backdrop matters because the song has been at the center of previous flashpoints involving the University of Virginia, including past pep band references that crossed the line into derogatory shots at West Virginia and eventually prompted complaints and apologies. So even in a game that had nothing to do with the Mountaineers on the field, Virginia managed to reopen a nerve that still feels bigger than a one-night crowd singalong. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Frontcourt Uncertainty Is Putting Real Pressure On The 2026 Rotation
West Virginias frontcourt picture for 2026 is already looking shaky because Javan Buchanan and Brenen Lorient are still tied up in NCAA eligibility cases, with a ruling expected in September. Until that clears up, the Mountaineers are left planning for a rotation that may or may not include two players who could loom large in the middle of the roster, which makes the coming months feel especially important for a team trying to map out its next step.
For now, the uncertainty is forcing WVU to think through alternative paths, from potential starters to the depth behind them if those forwards are unavailable. It also leaves the staff with the option of dipping into the junior college market if the numbers in the frontcourt do not come together the way they need to, and that is the sort of roster pressure that can shape a season long before the first game is played. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Just Got An Early Read On A Few Future Threats
West Virginia got a useful midseason snapshot of whats coming next on the schedule, and some of the early signs are pretty clear. The recent games involving future opponents offered a little of everything, from sharp defensive outings to teams that were forced into grinding, uneven afternoons. For a Mountaineers staff trying to game-plan ahead, these results matter because they show not just who won, but how each team is trying to win right now.
Virginias latest outing stood out for how efficiently it handled business, while TCUs trip overseas offered a very different kind of reminder about how thin the margin can be against quality competition. Between those two games and the rest of the slate, West Virginia is getting a better feel for which upcoming opponents are thriving, which ones are still sorting things out, and where the most dangerous matchups may be hiding. [Read more 🡒]