Insider Look: Young WVU WR Transfer Showing 'Wow Factor' in Spring Practice

West Virginia made a ton of moves this offseason and essentially flipped its entire wide receiver room with four transfers, six high school signees, and two guys from the junior college ranks.

Among those newcomers is LSU transfer TaRon Francis, who was a consensus four-star recruit coming out of high school. The Mountaineers heavily pursued him, and thanks to his ties to the program, having played with 2026 signees QB John Johnson III and WR Greg Wilfred, they were able to land him. The trio was a part of what has become a dynasty at Edna Karr High School in New Orleans.

It's obviously still very early in his transition to WVU, but so far, he's delivered some excitement, according to Jed Drenning.

“The wild card is TaRon Francis," he said in our recent episode of the In the Gun podcast. "When I see what he can do in practice, yes, it’s there, it’s just a consistency piece. The wow factor is there. You see why he was recruited by LSU. You see why he was an SEC player and as highly regarded coming out of high school in Louisiana as he was. He is a potentially dynamic playmaker once he settles in, once he learns what’s going on. For a lot of these guys, things are just going to have to slow down. That’s just the nature of the process. We’ve talked about it with the running backs. It holds absolutely as true or more true at the receiver spot. TaRon Francis is potentially dynamic. It just has to slow down for him.”

Francis appeared in four games last season with the Tigers, but three of those opportunities (games vs. Alabama, Arkansas, and Oklahoma) came on special teams. He did not record any offensive stats, but he has the skillset to quickly become one of the most explosive players in WVU's offense. During his time at Edna Karr, he reeled in 76 catches for 1,383 yards and 14 touchdowns in an offense that likes to run the ball.

"TaRon just got back to practicing. He wasn’t practicing because he was hurt," WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez said in late March. "We’re playing him both in the slot and outside. He’s a big, physical guy and got great running skills, so we’ll try to find ways to get him the ball."

In my latest WVU depth chart projection, I have Francis as the No. 2 option at the X behind Prince Strachan, but I can see him getting reps at the Z as well.