When looking at the 2025 season for the West Virginia Mountaineers, there are plenty of things that you could peg as disappointing. But perhaps nothing about the team was as disappointing as the offensive line play.
The consensus that has formed is that the offensive line group last season was among the worst in recent history for the Mountaineers. And whether you look at the PFF grades, the tape, or even Rich Rodriguez's vocal frustrations with the unit, it was clear the that the effort being put forth wasn't good enough.
Rodriguez and his staff worked overtime to correct that issue during the offseason, signing one of the top offensive line recruits in the nation in Kevin Brown, and signing several players with starting experience in the transfer portal, including multiple all-conference players and one former Big 12 starter.
In addition, Rodriguez reunited with his long-time offensive line coach Rick Trickett, who has spent time with him at multiple different programs, and once won a national championship as a part of Florida State's staff. But when taking a deeper dive in the numbers, there's one clear reason that this team should be drastically improved along the offensive line that jumps off the page.
West Virginia significantly increases experience along OL
When you look at the amount of experience the Mountaineers brought to the table last season along the offensive line, it immediately gave lots of room for concern for just how well the Mountaineers would perform. Between the five players who ended up starting for West Virginia, they brought a combined 1,976 snaps into the season. Three of those five combined for less than 250 collegiate snaps.
WVU OL entering season
— Schuyler Callihan (@Callihan_) July 23, 2026
'25
Nick Krahe - 30
Walter Young Bear - 1,116
Landen Livingston - 124
Kimo Makane’ole - 63
Ty’Kieast Crawford - 643
1,976 snaps
'26 proj starters
Kevin Brown - 0
Nick Krahe - 890
Wes King - 1,750
Amare Grayson - 1,721
Carsten Casady - 1,167
5,528 snaps
Sports Illustrated's Schuyler Callihan projects a starting lineup of Kevin Brown, Nick Krahe, Wes King, Amare Grayson, and Casten Casady. And while Brown himself has no collegiate experience, the five combined have played 5,528 collegiate snaps. That's over 3,500 more than last year's starting five.
And even if this group doesn't pan out to be exact starting five, that still leaves Devin Vass, Cameron Griffin, and Landen Livingston as options with significant starting experience. And Malik Agbo also made it onto the field for 174 offensive snaps and one start last season. So there is more than plenty of in-game experience to go around.
It cannot be overstated how important this type of experience is along the offensive line, which may be the position more than any other where constant reps and multiple seasons dictate success on the field. And while it would be preferred if the players had all that experience playing alongside each other, the total number of snaps in this position room will no doubt result in a much improved offesnive line this season.
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