Oh No! New WVU WR TaRon Francis Appears to Have Suffered an Injury

With spring ball just around the corner, it appears one of West Virginia's newcomers could be on the shelf when practice begins.

LSU wide receiver transfer TaRon Francis posted a picture on his Instagram story on Thursday night of himself on a knee bike, which likely means he sustained some foot or leg injury.

We will dig into the matter to see if we can get confirmation of what the injury is and the timeline of his recovery. For now, it's all speculation as to how serious it is.

I would not anticipate seeing TaRon Francis this spring for the Mountaineers pic.twitter.com/t1xBnatVLN
— The Collective (@247_Collective) February 13, 2026

Francis (6'1", 207 lbs) transferred to West Virginia after just one season at LSU, where he did not appear in any games and was able to take a redshirt, meaning he still has all four years of eligibility remaining.

Coming out of high school, he was considered a four-star, top-300 prospect who also reeled in offers from the likes of Florida State, Georgia Tech, Marshall, Michigan, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Troy, and several others.

Francis is expected to compete for legitimate playing time and perhaps even a starting job this fall. In our offensive depth chart projection last month, I had him listed as the No. 2 option at the 'X' receiver spot right behind USC transfer Prince Strachan. UConn transfer John Neider will be a name to watch in spring ball, especially if Francis is sidelined for a period of time, and maybe even JUCO product Keon Hutchins and Troy transfer DJ Epps, who may rep some there, although I see them more at the 'Z'.

Back in December, West Virginia signed a pair of Francis' high school teammates at Edna Karr (LA) in QB John Johnson III and fellow wide receiver Greg Wilfred. Securing commitments from those two likely had a hand in being able to reel in Francis out of the portal.

If this isn't a long-term injury that impacts the 2026 season directly, he could emerge as one of the top playmakers in the passing game for the Mountaineers.

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