MORGANTOWN — Saturday afternoon, West Virginia received news that top wide receiver Cam Vaughn plans on entering the transfer portal when it opens on Jan. 2. It was a shock to most fans following the team because just a few days before, he went on Instagram Live and said he’d be a Mountaineer for life. In this era of college football, anything can happen at any time and nothing is out of the picture.

Vaughn was WVU’s leading receiver in yards, touchdowns and catches, and the most reliable option on the team. When in doubt, on third and long, chuck it up to Vaughn, and he’d either come down with it or draw a 15-yard pass interference penalty. And being a redshirt sophomore, it was even more impressive.

Without Vaughn, the Mountaineers’ wide receiver room looks bare, especially after recent transfers and players leaving because they ran out of eligibility. WVU’s WR2 was redshirt senior Jeff Weimer, who broke out at the end of the season, and he’s most likely out of eligibility because he was one of the players fighting to play this season in court. It took Weimer a little to get rolling because he missed most of the preseason.

“If that did end up being an option, I would look into it,” Weimer said after the final game of the season. “But, I have no idea how that’ll play out.”

If you scroll down the list of WVU’s receiver leaders this year, two out of seven receivers have a sure-fire chance of returning. Tight end Grayson Barnes is out of eligibility, running back Diore Hubbard transferred, along with Justin Smith-Brown, recently.

The only two from that top 7 list that should be back are running back Cyncir Bowers and long-time receiver Rodney Gallagher. Gallagher is the only listed receiver, but he plays primarily in the slot.

Jaden Bray is at the 8th-slot, and he was ready for a big year before leaving in the second game of the season with a season-ending injury. There’s no telling how he’ll be when he comes back. Jarod Bowie should be back, but he’s a slot receiver, so players like Christian Hamilton will have to have a bigger role.

WVU does have a lot of receivers coming in through the 2026 recruiting class. The Mountaineers signed two JUCO wide receivers, Keon Hutchins and Kedrick Triplett, who are the top two receivers in WVU’s class and are the best and third-ranked wideouts in JUCO. Those two, especially Hutchins, should have a role in 2026, having a little more experience than a true freshman, like West Virginia native Malachi Thompson or Greg Wilfred from New Orleans.

Most likely, after Vaughn’s departure, WVU will have to use the portal to add an experienced wide receiver to help quarterback Scotty Fox Jr., or whoever is the quarterback in 2026. There’s no shortage of wide receivers who are planning on entering the portal. The bigger schools will probably have first dibs at the top receivers, but if you scroll down the list, WVU should find one or two that can have an impact next year.

Luckily, Rich Rodriguez and his staff have talked about how the offense is easy to learn, so getting acclimated shouldn’t be an issue, and with just one portal period, there won’t be as many players added late in the spring who don’t have a lot of time to learn the playbook.

It’ll be interesting to see how much Rodriguez is willing to spend on a portal receiver. He already mentioned how WVU won’t add too many transfers this cycle, but five to seven players to fill in gaps. Without Vaughn, receiver should be a position to add.