Submitted photo Arizona State running back Kanye Udoh recently visited WVU. He had 240 yards and two touchdowns last year, and had 1,000 yards at Army the year before.

MORGANTOWN — Since the transfer portal opened on Jan. 2, it’s been nothing but fireworks for the Mountaineers. Fireworks meaning every day since it’s opened, WVU’s added at least one player from the portal.

There have been some ooh and ah fireworks, though. Rich Rodriguez and his staff landed the nation’s leading rusher in 2025, Cam Cook, and picked up young LSU wide receiver TaRon Francis, who was a 4-star out of high school and the 21st WR in his class.

There have also been some small additions that should fill holes. They weren’t major additions at the time, but might be brought up towards the end of the season as really good pick-ups.

Now, players are moving into dorms, and the 2026 roster is officially online, accumulating players every day. But, this means the portal will close in the next couple of days on Jan. 16.

The fireworks have slowly faded, and the Mountaineers’ rush of two to three commitments a day is now just one a day. It’s slowing down. But just because the portal is closing, doesn’t mean WVU can’t add a couple of more players.

And they should because there are still some positions that need help, and here they are.

Defensive line

The defense was off to a flying start in 2025 at creating pressure on the quarterback. The Mountaineers were top 5 in the nation in sacks at one point. Then, it fizzled out once Big 12 play started and competition ramped up.

WVU also lost two of its best defensive linemen, either to the portal or graduation. Devin Grant had three sacks and has run out of eligibility, and Hammond Russell, who had two sacks, is now a Wisconsin Badger.

The Mountaineers have picked up some defensive linemen in the portal. WVU added Division II lineman Will LeBlanc and pass rushers Bowling Green’s David Afogho and Western Kentucky’s Harper Holloman. Those are nice additions, but LeBlanc is the only real interior defensive lineman, and he doesn’t have a lot of experience at the Power Four level, let alone the Division I level.

WVU needs to add another interior defensive lineman in the portal. There wasn’t much production from the defensive line in 2025, and with the departures, it won’t get any better and probably could get worse.

There are a lot of pass rushers visiting, so maybe Rodriguez is planning to slide some of them to the inside to beef up the interior.

Safety

WVU’s secondary was hit pretty hard with graduations, and there were some transfers out. The Mountaineers lost do-it-all safety Fred Perry to graduation and Darrian Lewis and Kekoura Tarnue, too. Safety Israel Boyce and Chris Fileppo were expected to step up, but Boyce is at Southern Florida now, and Fileppo traveled up north and is now with Penn State.

The Mountaineers have some true freshman safeties coming in, including 4-star Matt Sieg and 3-star Emory Snyder, but neither of them is expected to be a Day 1 starter. Sieg should have a role, but it’s crazy to think he’ll march out there on Sept. 5 against Coastal Carolina.

WVU has added just one safety in the portal. The Mountaineers signed Memphis’ Kamari Wilson. Wilson is a veteran in the secondary and played for the Tigers and in the Big 12 for Arizona State. He played in 38 games and started in 12 in 2025.

Wilson is a good addition, but he shouldn’t be the only pickup at the position. There’s still more time to add a safety, and there have been some that’ve visited, but nothing major. WVU was eying Iowa’s Koen Entringer, but he committed to Louisville.

Running back

Running back might be a surprise after WVU’s biggest pickup was at running back with Cook. But there needs to be at least one more addition for the room.

Other than the wide receiver room, the running back room was the most decimated position by the transfer portal. The 2024 leading rusher, Jahiem White, is at North Texas with Neal Brown, 2025 leading rusher Diore Hubbard is in the portal looking for an opportunity and third-string Cyncir Bowers is at UConn. Big pass rusher turned running back Curtis Jones is also in the portal, and so are Clay Ash and Tyler Jacklich. The only remaining running back on the roster was Andre Devine, who didn’t register a stat in 2025.

The Mountaineers have Cook coming in, who is definitely the starting back, and there are some true freshmen. 4-star Amari Latimer is coming and so is 3-star SirPaul Cheeks, along with a couple of others. There’s a chance Cook and Latimer make a nice one-two punch, but there’s just not enough experience in the room.

Cook and Devine are the only two running backs in the room who have been on a college roster. The Mountaineers need to add another experienced back to be a backup to Cook for the first couple of games or the entire season if it takes Latimer time to get adjusted to the next level.

WVU is fielding some options. Arizona State running back Kanye Udoh had visited. He had 240 yards and two touchdowns last year, and had 1,000 yards at Army the year before. Udoh would fix that problem.