Eight games into the season, we now know which transfer additions are hits, misses, and who needs a little more time to truly know.
Since it's the bye week, I figured now would be a good time to rank every one of WVU's 38 transfers and put them into five separate tiers.
Note: This list does not include junior college transfers.
Sep 27, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Utah Utes running back NaQuari Rogers (21) runs the ball and shakes a tackle from West Virginia Mountaineers safety Israel Boyce (7) during the first quarter at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
No. 38: K Peter Notaro
No. 37: LB Malachi Hood
No. 36: RB NaQuari Rogers
No. 35: OL Cam Griffin
No. 34: OL Devin Vass
No. 33: EDGE Tobi Haastrup
No. 32: LB Tyler Stolsky
No. 31: WR TaRon Francis
No. 30: TE Cam Ball
No. 29: FB Kayden Luke
The biggest surprise here, by far, is Malachi Hood. He was in the linebacker rotation last year at Illinois and played fairly well. Not sniffing the field on a defense that just had an awful four-game stretch is a head-scratcher for me.
Running back NaQuari Rogers has been on the team for a handful of weeks now, but has yet to make his debut. With Cam Cook being one of the nation's best and Amari Latimer steadily growing, will he ever crack the rotation? It'll be interesting to see.
Sep 5, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia University safety Kamari Wilson (8) sits on the bench during the fourth quarter against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
No. 28: S Kamari Wilson
No. 27: TE Josh Sapp
No. 26: N/S Maliek Hawkins
No. 25: CB Jaire Rawlison
No. 24: S Da'Mare Williams
No. 23: DL Will LeBlanc
No. 22: S Jacob Bradford
No. 21: S Karmeron Reddic
No. 20: DL Emerson Joy
No. 19: DB Andrew Powdrell
No. 18: CB Chams Diagne
No. 17: S JaCorey Thomas
Kamari Wilson had a decent start to the season, but he has struggled mightily since Big 12 play began, particularly in pass coverage. According to the data on PFF, he has allowed 20 receptions for 295 yards this year. He desperately needs to step up and play much better football in the final month of
Two guys who saw their roles expand in the win over TCU, DL Will LeBlanc and S Jacob Bradford, made the most of their opportunities. Both made plays and figure to be in line to see more snaps over the next four weeks. They were used seldomly beforehand, but each has a chance to climb into Tier 3 before the end of the year.
Chams Diagne is one of the few corners that Zac Alley trusts, and that showed in the win over TCU, where he logged a season-high 83 snaps. He has been okay, but WVU needs more than okay. They need him to be more of a physical presence.
Sep 19, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers defensive end David Afogho (99) celebrates after sacking Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Beau Pribula (7) during the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
No. 16: P Bryan Hansen
No. 15: EDGE David Afogho
No. 14: WR John Neider
No. 13: K Jack Cassidy
No. 12: RT Carsten Casady
No. 11: LB Jason Hall Jr.
No. 10: DL Zeke Durham-Campbell
No. 9: LB Isaiah Patterson
David Afogho was responsible for the strip sack of Jaden Craig to help the Mountaineers seal the deal against the Frogs. He's come up with some big plays throughout the season; it just hasn't been consistent enough. His best football is ahead of him.
Isaiah Patterson has been one of the biggest surprises out of the portal. I know no one has played particularly well on defense, but he is far from being the reason for WVU's struggles on that side of the ball. It's not that he's been great in any one area; he's just rock solid all the way around.
West Virginia University receiver DJ Epps | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI
No. 8: EDGE Harper Holloman
No. 7: WR Prince Strachan
No. 6: RG Amare Grayson
No. 5: C Wes King
No. 4: WR DJ Epps
No. 3: N/S Geimere Latimer
Quietly, Harper Holloman is doing exactly what West Virginia brought him to Morgantown to do - get after the passer. He is already up to 21 pressures on the season, which is just three shy of last year's team leaders in that category, Devin Grant and Reid Carrico.
How about DJ Epps? We saw the explosiveness and twitchiness back in the spring, but I'm not sure I expected him to be one of the top receivers in the nation when it comes to creating big plays. After eight weeks, Epps leads the entire country in yards per reception (25.3) and has landed himself a spot on the Biletnikoff Award watch list .
Sep 5, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. (3) hands the ball off to West Virginia Mountaineers running back Cam Cook (4) during the first quarter against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
No. 2: RB Cam Cook No. 1: QB Mike Hawkins Jr.
Everyone dreamed that this duo would be Pat White/Steve Slaton reincarnated, but I don't think many expected it to actually happen. Well, here we are, eight games into the season, and Cook has the third-most rushing yards in the country (923), and Hawkins leads the nation in rushing touchdowns (16), while also throwing for 1,598 yards and 11 touchdowns to just two picks. I firmly believe that if WVU were 6-2 or better, Hawkins would be getting some Heisman talk right about now. And heck, Cam Cook, too.
Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter for the latest news and updates on the West Virginia Mountaineers
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/westvirginia as Ranking Every WVU Football Transfer: Who's Delivered and Who Hasn't? .
