One of the biggest question marks for WVU football as they opened fall camp on Wednesday is what the team's offensive line will look like during the season opener against Robert Morris.
The Mountaineers lost all five starters from their offensive line in 2024, and have brought in a large number of transfers with extensive college football experience – from the FCS level to the Group of 5 to the SEC – as well as an assortment of true freshman. Those new additions will intermingle with a number of returning depth pieces, mostly underclassmen, from last year's roster – including Landen Livingston and Nick Krahe, who saw plenty action in the rotation in 2024 as reserves.
It's clear the Mountaineers have the talent and experience to put together a cohesive unit, but who will end up in the starting five, who joins them in the rotation, and which positions along the line those players take the field at all seem to be a mystery right now. After the team's first preseason practice, head coach Rich Rodriguez talked about how he and his staff plan on handling the process of piecing together their offensive line – and at the moment, he believes that "teaching fundamentals" in the primary focal point.
There is likely no position battle more intriguing for WVU football – or more important, for that matter – than the one that will take place along the team’s offensive line. #HailWVhttps://t.co/mGd6veJjJQ
— #HailWV (@Hail_WV) July 25, 2025
"I'm not worried about whose going out with the first group or the second group because they're all getting reps right now. Eventually in about two or three weeks, we can't rep four groups with – you know, we got to get it down to two groups, or hopefully two and a half groups. But right now, that's part of coaching, you evaluate guys," he said. "We don't have a game for thirty days, you know...we're just teaching our stuff and trying to get better as football players."
Rodriguez did seem to indicate that he doesn't plan on being too stringent when it comes to keeping his assortment of lineman at primary position along the line where they've previously played, or even where they're most comfortable at. He encourages players to be able to shift between multiple positions, and plans on moving players around during the preseason to ensure the best players are in the best spots to help the team succeed.
"I want our o-lineman to be a bit more versatile from a standpoint if you right guard, you should be able to play left guard. If you play tackle, you should play both sides – if you play center, you can play guard," Rodriguez said. "And we're doing some of that intentionally, moving guys left and right. And I like to have some guys that can play guard and tackle."