With Week 1 right around the corner, WVU’s preseason stock report is starting to take shape, and a handful of names have clearly moved themselves into bigger conversations. Some players are climbing fast, others are suddenly staring at more competition than they had a few weeks ago, and a few are simply making it hard for the staff to keep them off the field.
At quarterback, there’s no mystery about who sits at the top. Hawkins was never really a name I planned to spotlight here because it already feels settled that he’s the guy.
Still, it’s worth saying plainly for anyone who still thinks of him as just a run-first option: he’s doing more than fine throwing the football. He can hit every level, create some wow moments, and he showed that again last week.
Just as important, he looks in command of the offense and doesn’t play like someone learning the system for the first time. That said, there will be moments this season where the first-year-in-the-system stuff shows up.
That’s part of the deal at quarterback.
Traugh has been a familiar name in these preseason updates all offseason, and he’s earned that attention. He keeps stacking strong days, and the highlight reel stuff has been real - especially on heavily contested catches. The Parkersburg native looks nothing like the player who arrived a year ago from Youngstown State, and there’s no doubt he’ll be part of the Mountaineers’ rotation.
On the offensive line, Aisosa has been one of the more interesting movers. The staff likes his athleticism and has bounced him around throughout the offseason, with most of his work coming at guard and some recent reps at center. The feeling inside the building is that he’s one of those players who are “good enough to win with,” and he’s pushing the guys ahead of him for a job.
Livingston finds himself in a trickier spot, but not because of poor play. He started every game last season at center and handled it pretty well given the circumstances.
The issue now is depth and competition. Wes King, Josh Aisosa, and Cam Griffin have all gotten work at center, and one of them is going to win that starting job.
Livingston can still be part of the mix at guard, but there he’s battling Griffin, Devin Vass, Nick Krahe, and Bubba Grayson. The staff still believes in him, though.
It’s the kind of competition coaches want to have.
Cutter is in a similar situation. He knows the system and understands what’s being asked of him, but the room around him has changed.
Redshirt freshman Cam Torbor has emerged, and Illinois transfer Malachi Hood is now in the picture too. Cutter will play and he’ll get snaps every week, but the bigger question is how much of a role he’ll actually have.
He averaged 25.9 snaps per game last year, and there’s no reason to think that number is going up.
At edge, Haastrup is starting to look more comfortable. Early on, this had the feel of a slower build, and he still has plenty of development left, but the game is beginning to slow down for him.
That’s letting him play faster and make more plays. There’s real competition behind Harper Holloman, but from what I’ve gathered, Haastrup is the top backup right now.
That could still change before Week 1, but the upside is obvious and the staff likes it.
In the secondary, the Kent State transfer has been drawing plenty of positive buzz over the last few weeks. His exact role isn’t fully clear yet, but it seems safe to say he’ll be a defensive contributor and someone Zac Alley feels comfortable putting on the field at corner, even with his 5-foot-9 frame. He’s also the most experienced corner in the room.
Another corner who has helped his case is the Mississippi State transfer, who had a strong spring and seemed to catch just about everything thrown his way. Ryan Ward and Josh Sapp appear to have separated themselves, and that was before Ball suffered an injury that now leaves him questionable for the season opener. Ward and Sapp look like the top two options there, and when Ball comes back, the expectation is that he’ll have a specialized red-zone role.
In Other News...
West Virginia Has A New Noel Devine Recruiting Battle To Watch
Noel Devine Jr. wasted little time making his name a recruiting storyline to follow, and West Virginia is already in the mix. The freshman at Cape Coral in Florida scored two touchdowns in his first varsity game, then came away with a scholarship offer from Florida to go with the ones he already held from Miami, South Florida and the Mountaineers.
For West Virginia, it is another early look at a player whose recruitment figures to keep growing as he moves through the 2030 class. With Power Four programs likely to keep piling on as he develops, the Mountaineers are at the start of what could become a long pursuit for a prospect with a familiar name and an increasingly busy offer sheet. [Read more 🡒]
West Virginia's Breakthrough Hopes May Hinge On One Unsettled Battle
West Virginias offseason has brought a noticeable jolt of optimism, and a lot of that starts in the backfield. Transfer running back Cam Cook arrives after a strong college season on the ground, while true freshman Amari Latimer brings another promising option to a room that already has some intrigue. Add in a set of returning and new offensive pieces around them, and the Mountaineers have at least the outline of an attack that could be more balanced and more dangerous than last years version.
The bigger question is still sitting at quarterback, where Michael Hawkins Jr. is among the leading candidates to take hold of the job. For a team that faces a Big 12 slate with several tricky road trips and seven home games on the schedule, that battle matters as much as any personnel upgrade. If West Virginia gets stability at the position, the rest of the roster has a chance to make good on the kind of breakthrough buzz that has followed the program through the offseason. [Read more 🡒]
WVUs Rotation Battle Just Got More Interesting Before The Opener
West Virginia has wrapped up its preseason scrimmages and is shifting into the final stretch of prep for the season opener against Coastal Carolina. Rich Rodriguez used the last look to give the upperclassmen a break and let younger players pile up reps, a move that also doubled as a chance for those players to compete for spots on the scout team while the staff kept evaluating the roster.
The depth chart still isnt locked in, and Rodriguez said he expects to settle it by game week, which keeps the focus on every practice between now and kickoff. For a team still sorting out roles, that means the opener is doing more than starting the season. It is also serving as the first real answer to who has earned a place in the rotation and who still has work to do. [Read more 🡒]