Rick Trickett is Back — and So Are Big Expectations for WVU's O-Line

The offensive line was a nightmare to watch in 2025. Rich Rodriguez completely revamped that room this offseason, including swapping out Jack Bicknell Jr. for Rick Trickett, who is one of the most respected offensive line coaches in all of football.

When he and Rodriguez are together, the run game is a thing of beauty. Here are the numbers from those nine seasons, thanks to Jed Drenning for chipping in.

Winning percentage: .693
Yards per attempt: 5.3
Wins per season: 8.6
Rush attempts per season: 590
Rush yards per season: 3,111
Rushing TDs per season: 34
Rushing attempts per game: 48
Rushing yards per game: 252
Rushing TDs per game: 2.7

Projected depth chart (top 11)

Offensive line coach — Rick Trickett

LT: R-Jr. Carsten Casady (6'6", 310 lbs); R-Sr. Deshawn Woods (6'5", 300 lbs)

LG: R-Jr. Nick Krahe (6'6", 312 lbs); SR Cam Griffin (6'2", 305 lbs)

C: R-Sr. Wes King (6'3", 309 lbs); R-Sr. Landen Livingston (6'4", 296 lbs)

RG: JR Amare Grayson (6'1", 306 lbs); R-Jr. Devin Vass (6'6", 306 lbs), R-So. Josh Aisosa (6'3", 320 lbs)

RT: FR Kevin Brown (6'6", 294 lbs); R-Sr. Malik Agbo (6'4", 301 lbs)

Carsten Casady

Career snaps: 1,094

After splitting time at center and right guard in 2024 at UConn, Casady played exclusively at right tackle in 2025, allowing just 27 pressures and zero sacks. Given that he has some experience at this level, I'm putting him at left tackle to protect Mike Hawkins Jr.'s blindside, although it wouldn't surprise me to see WVU roll with the freshman here and leave Casady on the right side. This should be a smooth transition for him, considering he played in a zone-heavy run scheme (75% of runs in 2025).

Nick Krahe

Career snaps: 903

The leader up front. The breakout candidate. The possible All-Big 12 selection. Regardless of how you want to label Nick Krahe, he is going to play a massive role in the improved play of this unit this fall. Despite being thrown into the fire a year ago as the starting left tackle with just 30 in-game reps to his name, Krahe was the most productive and reliable lineman the Mountaineers had. Improving in the run game will be the focus for him this season, but from everything I've heard, he's made massive strides.

Wes King

Dec 30, 2023; Tucson, AZ, USA; Wyoming Cowboys guard Wes King (78) against the Toledo Rockets during the Arizona Bowl at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Career snaps: 1,717

Another elite pass protector. During his three years as a starter, he allowed just 31 pressures and zero sacks. That will help shore up the interior, which allowed a ton of leakage in 2025. During that time, he has only been flagged 12 times and was penalized more than once just twice. He is technically sound, understands fronts, and gets consistent push. While I do believe last year's starter, Landen Livingston, is still in the mix, I expect King will ultimately win the job.

Amare Grayson

Career snaps: 1,365

Grayson knows just about as much as any returner from last year's team, simply because of his history with Rick Trickett, who is now leading the group and coached in a similar offense at Jax State. Grayson may be among the new guys on the block, but he doesn't feel like it. He can finish Trickett's sentences and be an extension of his on the field during games, holding guys accountable, communicating, and helping them out pre-snap. He's a little undersized at 6'1", but it doesn't really show up in his play.

Kevin Brown

Career snaps: 0

A freak of nature. That's what Kevin Brown is. He is built to play from day one, and I mentioned at the time of his commitment that if West Virginia had a game the week after he signed, physically speaking, he would be able to go in there and hold his own. The list of true freshmen who have started on the offensive line in the history of West Virginia football is pretty short, but Brown will almost certainly be included among that exclusive club come September 5th.

The next guys up

Cameron Griffin — Jacksonville State Athletics

Cam Griffin

Every offensive line coach would love to have someone like Griffin — a seasoned veteran who can play multiple spots and do it at a high level. I don't see him in the starting lineup, so having him as your "sixth man" is a nice luxury to have. Throughout his career, he has played all five positions, seeing 540 snaps at left guard, 314 at left tackle, 155 at right guard, 124 at right tackle, and 85 at center.

Landen Livingston

Although WVU struggled in the pass game last year, it wasn't because of Livingston's efforts in pass pro. He was the highest-graded lineman in pass pro, allowing just five pressures, three hurries, one QB hit, and a sack. Regardless of who wins the center job, WVU has to feel good knowing they have seven linemen it can count on.

Malik Agbo

Agbo came from Texas at 300 pounds and had to do a bunch of work to get in shape. He trimmed down to 275, which was too light for the coaching staff to throw him in there for heavy snaps. This offseason, he bulked back up to a healthy 301 lbs, putting himself in a position to see the field.

Devin Vass

Stop me if you have heard this before — another lineman who did not give up a sack last season. The Kansas State transfer did a solid job in his first year as a starter, but he did have a few rough games in Big 12 play, allowing a combined eight pressures against Baylor, Texas Tech, and TCU.

Deshawn Woods

Woods spent the first two years of his career at Wyoming before making the move to Butler CC (JUCO). He is pretty consistent in pass protection and with Trickett coaching him up, he'll be improved in the run game. Woods is up 20 pounds since the start of last season.

Josh Aisosa

The Oklahoma transfer only played in 47 snaps last season, 18 of which came in the blowout win over Robert Morris, 14 in the blowout loss to Utah, and 10 in the beatdown Texas Tech handed to the Mountaineers. It'll be interesting to see if he can play his way into a backup guard spot this fall.

Other offensive linemen on the roster

R-Fr. Trevor Bigelow (6’3”, 273 lbs) — Fairmont, WV
R-So. Raymond Kovalesky (6’3”, 278 lbs) — Wheeling, WV
R-So Andreas Hunter (6’4”, 300 lbs) — Glen Dale, WV
FR Lamarcus Dillard (6’1”, 297 lbs) — Glenarden, MD
FR Camden Goforth (6’4”, 306 lbs) — Athens, TN
FR Rhett Morris (6’2”, 308 lbs) — Ridgewood, NJ
FR Aidan Woods (6’5”, 310 lbs) — Abingdon, VA
FR Jonas Muya (6’7”, 293 lbs) — Fort Wayne, IN

Add us as a preferred source on Google