West Virginia RB situation strong heading into 2024
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There will be some changes in the West Virginia backfield, but the key players return.
The Mountaineers will welcome back both sophomore Jahiem White and junior CJ Donaldson who were the top two rushers for the program during the 2023 season.
White led West Virginia with 842 rushing yards but a total of 657 or 78-percent of that came over the final six games of the season when he took on a much larger role down the stretch during his true freshman season.
The Pennsylvania native only scored four rushing touchdowns but flashed some nice burst and big play ability in the backfield averaging 7.7 yards per rush to complement his thunder counterpart Donaldson to form quite the impressive running back duo.
While White stands just 5-foot-7, Donaldson is a very different option as a physical runner that has plus size at 6-foot-1, 238-pounder. The former tight end has settled in as a running back and in his second season rushed for 798 yards and 11 touchdowns across a dozen games.
Donaldson missed the bowl game to repair a shoulder injury but was a reliable option for the Mountaineers after breaking onto the scene as a true freshman with 526 yards and 8 touchdowns across eight games. Both are set to reprise their roles in the backfield this coming fall.
But behind those two there will need to be some other options emerge. Senior Justin Johnson entered his name into the transfer portal after rushing for 150 yards and a score across 9 games, while freshmen DJ Oliver also left the program for an option closer to home after showing promise.
The Mountaineers will return Jaylen Anderson, but the redshirt junior will need to build on a very up and down 2023 where he rushed for 147 yards and a score, but struggled with consistency.
Outside Anderson, West Virginia will have a pair of freshmen in the mix this season competing for snaps in Diore Hubbard and Traevon Dunbar.
Hubbard, 5-foot-11, 185-pounds, was a two-time Central District Ohio Player of the Year and all-state selection. During his senior year, Hubbard rushed for 1,883 yards with 28 touchdowns after posting 2,365 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns the previous season.
Dunbar had a prolific senior season where he became only the second player in South Carolina history to eclipse 3,000-yards in a single year. He finished with 3,062 rushing yards and 42 scores while earning Class AAAA All-State First-Team honors and Region IV 4A Offensive Player of the Year.
West Virginia has options in the backfield that will need to emerge but the talent and foundation are certainly there to build upon heading into the 2024 campaign.
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