The West Virginia Mountaineers are looking to get back to the program's former winning way under head coach Rich Rodriguez, who just wrapped up his first season back in Morgantown after leading the school from 2001-2007 during one of WVU's golden ages.
Back then, Rodriguez had some incredible talent filtering through the program, with players such as Pat White, Pacman Jones, Steve Slaton, Quincy Wilson, Chris Henry, Owen Schmitt, and Pat McAfee all hearing their names called during the NFL Draft after filtering through the program. In recent years, it has not been the same story for the Mountaineers
West Virginia's draft day blues must be corrected
The NFL Draft wrapped up this past weekend, and while multiple WVU players have earned free agent opportunities or mini-camp invites, no player from last season's roster was drafted this year. That puts West Virginia among unfortunate company as one of just 10 Power 4 teams who saw no players drafted this year.
Power Four teams w/out a 2026 NFL Draft pick (2025 record)
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) April 27, 2026
Colorado (3-9)
North Carolina (4-8)
Oklahoma State (1-11)
Purdue (2-10)
Syracuse (3-9)
UCLA (3-9)
Virginia (11-3)
Virginia Tech (3-9)
West Virginia (4-8)
Wisconsin (4-8)
This isn't an unfamiliar trend for WVU in recent years, as they had just one player selected in each of the past three drafts, and also saw now players selected in the 2022 draft. And that lack of professional-caliber talent is a big reason why the program struggled so often during the final Neal Brown years and Rodriguez's return season.
But it's also a problem the Mountaineers appear to be working on, with the program signing 4-four stars in the Class of 2026 and already landing another in the Class of 2027. So before long, expect to see some representatives on the old-gold-and-blue back on an NFL Draft board in April.
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