A good deal of movement in our latest power ranking of the WVU newcomers.
. It was based purely on the tape I had available to me, analytics, while mixing in a hint of projection. Now that spring ball is in the books, I have a better idea as to where each transfer is at and have gathered enough info to shake up those initial rankings.
No. 31: TE Josh Sapp No. 27: OL Cam Griffin No. 23: P Bryan Hansen No. 19: S Kamari Wilson No. 15: EDGE David Afogho No. 11: WR John Neider Casady is a rock steady presence that has a lot of starts under his belt, coming in from UConn. He's primarily played right tackle, but will almost certainly flip over to the left side, paving the way for freshman Kevin Brown to be the guy on the right side.
Holloman knows how to get after the passer and will be one of the guys Zac Alley counts on heavily to get home. His drop isn't necessarily a product of his spring, but more so how well the others did who jumped up the board. I grossly misrated Powdrell. He'll fit in just fine in this defense and has the ability to play all over, thanks to his speed.
They started him at nickel/sam, but are trending toward moving him to safety. He played corner at UNLV, so that's an option as well, if needed. This kid can flat-out make things happen with the ball in his hands. The most explosive game-ready receiver West Virginia has right now.
Epps has top-end speed, but is also super shifty. He'll be one of the most consistent playmakers, at least from what I'm hearing. The Jax State transfer is slotted to start at right guard, and I don't see that changing, even when K-State transfer Devin Vass gets fully healthy and gets more reps under his belt. Grayson knows this offense like the back of his hand and was an All-CUSA performer last season.
Zac Alley is in search of some dogs, but he knows he definitely has one in Geimere Latimer. He packs a punch and has familiarity with this defensive scheme, having spent a year with Alley at Jax State. A freak of nature that the rest of the college football world is about to get really familiar with. Strachan has true WR1 ability, and over the next two years could develop into one of the better pass catchers in the league.
Durham-Campbell is probably the most reliable player along the West Virginia defensive front at this point. He's experienced, proven, and a complete player in that he can play just as much of a factor in the run game as he can in getting after the quarterback. I'm not sure where some folks are getting this "fierce QB competition" talk. There's a reason why WVU brought Hawkins to Morgantown, and by all accounts, he did not disappoint in the spring.
As a matter of fact, he exceeded the staff's expectations. The staff was careful with the nation's leading rusher's workload in the spring, and rightfully so. They know what he's capable of, and he proved he can do it in the Big 12 a couple of years ago when he was with TCU. He will be the focal point of the offense.
Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendationsSchuyler Callihan is the publisher of West Virginia On SI and has been a trusted source covering the Mountaineers since 2016. He is the host of Between The Eers, The Walk Thru Game Day Show, and In the Gun Podcast. The Wheeling, WV native moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2020 to cover the Charlotte Hornets and Carolina Panthers.
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