After coming back home to Morgantown, head coach Rich Rodriguez will have his first recruiting class under his leadership for 2026, and so far, it has been a very exciting class.
An ESPN article posted on Thursday ranked the top 50 programs by their recruiting class for 2026. The top of the list was no surprise, with program names like USC, Georgia, Texas A&M, Texas, and Notre Dame all in the top five, respectively. But if a reader scrolls towards the bottom of the list, they might be surprised to see WVU coming in at number 41 on the list of top 50 recruiting classes.
ESPN listed running back Jett Walker and defensive back Vincent Smith as the best offensive and defensive recruits that the Mountaineers have landed. Walker was arguably the top running back that WVU landed, but he is joined by fellow running backs Christopher Talley and Sir Paul Cheeks.
Walker is a Texas recruit who can be a key piece in the future backfield for the Mountaineers, who has reached ballcarrier speed of 21.2 mph on tape, and Talley is an explosive runner from Memphis, Tennessee. Lastly, Cheeks is an all-purpose threat who can be dangerous in the passing game as well as running the ball.
On the defensive side of the ball, defensive back recruit Smith is a playmaker in the backend of the defense. Smith has the ability to stay attached to the wider receiver and get his hands on passes. He struggles with turning those deflections into interceptions, but that is a relatively easy thing for the WVU coaching staff to work on once Smith arrives on campus.
For the rest of ESPN’s rankings, seven Big 12 teams finished ahead of WVU in the class rankings, including three Big 12 programs in the top 27. A total of 10 Big 12 teams were ranked in the top 50. In rankings, leading the Big 12, BYU has the 19th-ranked recruiting class. Big 12 programs behind BYU are Texas Tech (24th-ranked), Baylor (27th-ranked), Kansas (36th-ranked), Arizona (38th-ranked), Houston (39th-ranked), TCU (40th-ranked), Arizona State (47th-ranked), and Utah (50th-ranked).
It might be a little concerning to see so many Big 12 teams ahead of WVU in the rankings, but the 2024 conference champions, Arizona State, are the next-to-last Big 12 team that made the rankings. So just making the top 50 list is a big deal and should give hope for this class of 2026 recruiting class for the Mountaineers.