Mike Hawkins Jr. Gets Massive Endorsement From Former Mountaineer: 'BALLER'

It's only a matter of time before Rich Rodriguez officially names Mike Hawkins Jr. as West Virginia's starting quarterback for the 2026 season. The Oklahoma transfer has done a tremendous job of picking up the playbook, forming relationships with his teammates, and taking on a leadership role.

The former four-star recruit was pursued heavily out of the transfer portal, including a handful of SEC teams hoping to land his services. Once he made the visit to WVU, he canceled those visits, knowing he wanted to be a Mountaineer. Since the day he arrived, he has been everything Rodriguez and the staff thought he would be, and then some.

Former WVU running back Eugene Napoleon is a big believer in Hawkins' ability, giving him a ton of praise on The Walk Thru Game Day Show preseason kickoff special.

“I’m just going to say in all-cap letters, BALLER. His dad the very best thing that you can do with a talent like that — you start ‘em early, you put him in the pressure cooker early, you knock all that stuff off where he really understands he can play under perceivably what people would say is ‘pressure’. Because to him, he’s playing this game and everything is already slow. I love the fact that the young man can make every throw. And when you have a young man that is truly a dual-threat…sometimes you say dual-threat, and he’s really not a dual-threat because one part of his game may not be as strong as the other part. No. He truly is a dual-threat. He can hurt you with his legs, but he will downright shred you with his arm. Then, the brain power. I love quarterbacks like him who really understand the football and the nuances of how do we want to attack this defense. What we want to do in 3rd and long, 3rd and short, 2nd and long, 2nd and short, first down — I love quarterbacks like him because you can do so much. The whole playbook is open. You ain’t got to scale it back. Just let him go play. So, BALLER.”

Hawkins is a true game-changer

It's important to keep in mind that Hawkins is still a young quarterback who will be the full-time guy for the first time in his collegiate career, so naturally, there will be some growing pains along the way. But the difference with him is how advanced he is in seeing the game, as Gene mentioned. He doesn't make the same mistake twice very often, and by going up against a complex Zac Alley defense every day in practice and seeing a similar system that Brent Venables runs at Oklahoma, he's seen it all.

Once he settles in and further develops chemistry with his receivers, he will be a treat to watch, and it may not take all that long for him to get there.

Add us as a preferred source on Google