How Many Games Can West Virginia Win in 2026 if Scotty Fox Jr. is QB1?

There are a bunch of changes coming to the West Virginia football roster with the transfer portal set to open next week on January 2nd.

As of today, soon-to-be sophomore quarterback Scotty Fox Jr. plans to stick with the Mountaineers in hopes of being the answer at the position in 2026 and beyond after winning the job midway through the '25 campaign.

Without knowing who will transfer in and transfer out, it's nearly impossible to accurately predict how much WVU will improve in the win-loss column next fall. But let's say the Mountaineers patch up the offensive line to where it's a middle-of-the-Big-12 unit and they are able to get an additional year out of wide receiver Jaden Bray.

This is the bare minimum and very reasonable to expect, in my opinion. Anything beyond that is getting way too deep into hypotheticals. Rich Rodriguez is going to do everything within his power to get the offensive line straightened out, and I have a hard time imagining Bray wouldn't get this past season back.

So with those two things being in place, how much better would WVU be in '26 with Fox?

West Virginia University quarterback Scotty Fox Jr. | Christopher Hall – West Virginia on SI

Considering what he did behind a matador offensive line unit as a true freshman, I'd say that one fix up front should at the very least lift you to bowl eligibility. It also helps that you're not playing an extremely difficult out-of-conference schedule, with the only Power Four matchup coming against a Virginia team that will have to reload at key positions on offense.

This is why I'm a big believer in not spending a ton of cash in the portal at quarterback. Why do that when you can invest in other positions and build around a young, more affordable option? He's shown he is capable of not only running this offense, but doing it at a high level with very little help and experience.

The goal every year should be to contend for the Big 12 title, but realistically speaking, WVU just needs to be competitive in all 12 games and get to a bowl game in year two. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake.

Is the ceiling that much higher with a more expensive quarterback who has no experience in the system? Also, keep in mind that even paying for a "tier two" QB in the portal is going to take away from how much you can spend at other positions.

This roster isn't just a quarterback away from contention. To use a baseball metric, WAR (wins above replacement), how many more wins would a tier two portal quarterback bring you over Fox — one, maybe? Two at most? Is that worth the extra cash in the quarterback room? That’s something only Rich Rod can answer.

I do believe West Virginia needs to add a quarterback to push Fox and compete with him for the starting job, but it can't be a position where they overspend.

So with those two things being in place, how much better would WVU be in '26 with Fox?

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