Rich Rod Drops Thoughts on Each WVU RB, Believes All of Them Could See the Field

Currently, the West Virginia backfield is crowded with a bunch of young, unproven talent. Jacksonville State transfer Cam Cook is the only one in the room who has played at this level (the FBS) and even the Power Four, having started his career at TCU.

WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez mentioned last week, "I wouldn’t mind getting another running back if there’s one possible. We’re still looking out there.” Options are rather thin at this point, but there are some guys who WVU can take a chance on or grab from the JUCO level to provide the room with more experience.

But perhaps one of the reasons West Virginia hasn't added another back as of yet is because they feel extremely confident with what the group and place are capable of doing.

“Amari Latimer is a big, 230-pound guy. He’s got great feet, and you know, obviously, I think he’s going to make an impact. I think all of them are going to play," Rodriguez told reporters last week. "Amari, (Martavious) Boswell is a fast guy, Chris Talley is a really fast guy, and Andre Devine has gotten better. And then we got two guys, SirPaul Cheeks and Lawrence Autry, they aren’t here yet. It’s a pretty competitive room. Cam will be the leader of it, but all those young guys will have a chance to play.”

While all backs are going to have an opportunity to see the field, it's really going to come down to who can push true freshman Amari Latimer for those secondary touches. Cam Cook will be the workhorse out of the backfield and should finish the season with well over 200 carries. The staff is extremely high on Latimer and rightfully so. He already looks the part physically and put up some monstrous numbers at Sandy Creek High School, rushing for 2,409 yards and 44 touchdowns.

Chris Talley is definitely going to be one to keep an eye on, considering he's probably the fastest of the group. Boswell, having some experience at the junior college level, should help patch up some of the concerns, but there is still a big transition that he's going through. Ideally, the staff is able to find two capable backs in addition to Cook before Big 12 play begins. Having Coastal Carolina and UT Martin on the schedule in the first two weeks should give them time to find some answers.