By: Justin Walker | WV Sports Chat
This offseason, Rich Rodriguez and his WVU football staff made it a point to get a lot of players with multiple years of eligibility. Rodriguez felt this was important in building the program for future years, especially after losing 40 seniors from the 2025 team.
While most WVU fans knew this 2026 team would be younger, I’m not sure we knew how young. So, how young are they you ask? I’ll answer. According to a recent article at buffaloeswire.com, the average age of the 2026 West Virginia football team is 20.19 years old. That makes the Mountaineers the most youthful team in the Big 12. Nationally, they are ranked number 91 out of 138 FBS teams.
Experience vs. Youth
This may come as a surprise to some since Rodriguez has often talked about the experience level of the team increasing from a year ago. However, both things can be true. When you have to replace over 80 players, it’s possible to get a mix of both youth and experience. Rodriguez did just that.
By bringing in over 40 high school and JUCO players, WVU is building for future years. If the Mountaineers are able to retain most of those players, that provides a great foundation for 2027 and beyond.
At the same time, Rodriguez also wants to win now. To do that, he needed players with experience, especially on the offensive line. That unit was graded as one of the worst in the FBS last season. There is one major reason for that. According to Rodriguez, in 2025 they had zero guys at the position who had started games at the college level. This season, they have nine. As a bonus, five of them have at least two years of eligibility remaining should they choose to use them.
A Cause for Concern?
While I am more optimistic about the Mountaineers in 2026 than most in the national media, I do understand where this youth could create a challenge. The biggest reason it could be a concern is depth. There are several positions where young players with little to no experience could be relied upon if a starter goes down with an injury. Most of these are on the defensive side of the ball.
Two positions that come to mind: defensive back and linebacker. Zac Alley’s defense made a point to get players with more length and speed out of the transfer portal. However, inexperienced players like Nick Taylor, Keyshawn Robinson. Matt Sieg and Vincent Smith may be leaned on in the secondary. Meanwhile, underclassmen Ashton Woods and Cam Torbor could get a lot of snaps at the linebacker spot. While the talent level of these players is high, it’s fair to be concerned about their lack of experience. In the case of Sieg, Smith and Torbor, they have no experience at the D1 level. Though they are both four-star recruits, Sieg and Smith are both true freshmen. Torbor is a redshirt freshman.
Running back is one position on offense where young players could be leaned on. After senior Cam Cook, the running back room is loaded with freshmen and redshirt freshmen. That group of young talent is led by another four-star in Amari Latimer. While only a true freshman, the former Wisconsin commit will likely be the number two back heading into the season. Freshmen Chris Talley and Lawrence Autry, along with JUCO transfer Martavious Boswell will help fill out the room. There’s also redshirt sophomores Darius Morant and Andre Devine. Besides Cook, the only other upper class-men is junior fullback transfer, Kayden Luke.
Future is Bright
So, I’ll let you decide how you feel about the overall youth of this Mountaineer team. Me personally, I think it’s a great sign that the program is heading in the right direction. How will it play out in 2026? We will all find out together. One thing is for certain, though. This WVU football team needs the injury bug to stay on the sidelines for 2026.
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
