West Virginia needed to remake the wide receiver room this off-season and the coaching staff has taken some major steps toward making that a reality.
The Mountaineers have lost four of the top five pass catchers from a season ago either due to graduation, retirement or the transfer portal which meant that the position was a focus.
Gone with the departures of Hudson Clement to Illinois, Traylon Ray to the transfer portal, Justin Robinson to graduation and Preston Fox to retirement were a combined 107 catches, 1,542 yards and 12 touchdowns. Out of the top five in terms of production, only Rodney Gallagher was set to return to Morgantown, and he totaled 26 catches for 288 yards and 3 scores last season.
That meant getting to work securing pass-catching options and so far so good on that front.
West Virginia has been able to add four wide receivers from the transfer portal with Jacksonville State transfer Cam Vaughn, Youngstown State transfer Cyrus Traugh, Eastern Michigan transfer Oran Singleton, and Jacksonville State transfer Jarod Bowie.
Vaughn, 6-foot-2, 191-pounds, was the leading receiver for Jacksonville State in 2024 where he hauled in 49 catches for 804 yards and 5 touchdowns. The redshirt freshman started his career as a quarterback but made the move to wide receiver and appeared in three games in his first year before taking off in his second.
The Georgia native follows his head coach Rich Rodriguez to Morgantown where he brings a big, athletic skill set to the wide receiver room where he has proven the ability to make contested catches and make people miss as well as get yards after the catch.
Traugh, 6-foot-0, 180-pounds, is a Parkersburg native and former Parkersburg South standout, who spent two seasons at Youngstown State. He appeared in only two games during his first year with the program and redshirted but then appeared in 12 games and hauled in 36 catches for 409 yards and 5 touchdowns while earning FCS freshman all-American honors.
Traugh has three years of eligibility remaining in his career and returns home to the Mountain State where he will look to take advantage of the opportunity. He could play outside or in the slot.
Singleton, 5-foot-9, 164-pounds, is a different type of wide receiver as a slot body that hauled in 64 catches for 639 yards and a pair of touchdowns last season. He also had 23 rushing yards on 6 carries.
The Florida native started his career at Akron but also spent time at Hutchinson C.C. He has one year of eligibility remaining in his career and should be able to factor in from the jump.
Finally, Bowie, 5-foot-9, 160-pounds, is another former in-state product that brings speed to the unit. Bowie was a standout wide receiver at Martinsburg and out of high school committed to Concord.
There he would put together a massive season in 2022 where he hauled in 102 catches for 1,773 yards and 18 touchdowns and was a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy. Bowie then moved onto Jacksonville State where he spent two seasons and appeared in 17 games. This past season, Bowie appeared in all 14 games and recorded 13 catches for 209 yards. He has two years remaining.
But the work isn’t done yet. The Mountaineers are still targeting a number of talented options from the transfer portal such as Clemson wide receiver Troy Stellato who is expected to visit soon. Stellato spent four seasons at Clemson but battled injuries throughout that time. He hauled in 65 catches for 600 yards and 2 touchdowns in his career and will have two seasons of eligibility left.
The Florida native is considered one of the best options available in the transfer market this cycle.
West Virginia also is recruiting Butler C.C. wide receiver Daveon Walker who started his career at Vanderbilt before moving onto the junior college level. There he caught 19 passes for 331 yards this past season and has already been offered by the program.
The new coaching staff inherited a wide receiver room in flux, but has already addressed the position aggressively, and the work there isn’t done quite yet.
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