The Starting Point for WVU's Offensive Line is Staggering

Many things went sideways for the Mountaineers' offense in 2025, but the offensive line was in disarray from the jump and when they struggled to get push against Robert Morris and Ohio in the first two weeks of the season, you knew it was going to be an uphill battle.

I've already discussed how that unit is going to be in much better shape this season, mainly because of the Rick Trickett factor. What I'm going to show you today is the stark difference in the caliber of players that will make up the starting five.

Experience matters in college football, and maybe now more than ever. Get old, stay old. That's the goal for most coaches around the country: knowing the more experience you have on the roster, the better shot you give yourself to compete for a conference championship and then some.

Last year's starting five featured three players who had never been full-time starters, and it shows in their respective career snap counts. By a quick glance, you can quickly figure out who those cats are.

The 2025 bunch

LT Nick Krahe - 30 snaps
LG Walter Young Bear - 1,116 snaps
C Landen Livingston - 119 snaps
RG Kimo Makane’ole - 49 snaps
RT Ty’Kieast Crawford - 634 snaps

Total snaps - 1,948 snaps

To take it a step further, Young Bear was a former walk-on at Tulsa and was never selected to an All-Conference USA team in the three years he saw the field.

Makane'ole began his collegiate career on the offensive side of the ball, but after not seeing a lick of action, he flipped over to defense for a year, seeing minimal playing time. Yes, WVU's starting right guard played defense the season before he came to Morgantown, and it showed.

Crawford passed up Power Four opportunities out of high school to play at Charlotte and then transferred to Arkansas, where he was primarily a backup.

And then Krahe and Livingston, well, they were two young guys who had been at WVU for a couple of years and earned the opportunity to start. It wasn't all peachy in their first year as full-time starters, but they were by far the most consistent.

My 2026 projected starters

Kevin Brown — WVU Athletics Communications

LT Carsten Casady - 1,094 snaps (3,547% increase)
LG Nick Krahe - 865 snaps (22.5.% decrease)
C Landen Livingston - 873 snaps (633.6% increase)
RG Bubba Grayson - 1,365 snaps (2,685.71% increase)
RT Kevin Brown - 0 snaps (100% decrease)

Total snaps - 4,197 snaps (115.5% increase)

This is really insane if you think about it. I'm projecting true freshman Kevin Brown to start at right tackle in Week 1, and yet the four others have logged 2,249 more snaps than last year's group had entering the season. As an entire group, West Virginia will have one of the most experienced offensive lines in 2026.

Now, the caliber of player...

Casady and Grayson may come from the Group of Six ranks, but they played for good football teams and played extremely well. Casday has not allowed a single sack in 654 pass blocking opportunities, and Grayson was named an All-Conference USA selection last season, giving up just a single sack over the last two years.

Krahe and Livingston now not only have a year of starting under their belts, but over a year in Rich Rodriguez's offense. They know what to expect and what is expected of them. That will make a huge difference in year two.

And then, of course, Kevin Brown. The highly-rated four-star recruit who WVU pounced on when James Franklin got canned at Penn State. He has the potential to be special and join the likes of Zach Frazier and Wyatt Milum as some of the best freshman linemen to ever play for the Mountaineers.

Just because you have a bunch of dudes who have played a lot of football doesn't necessarily mean all of your problems will be solved. But when you blend experienced, productive players who are going to be coached by one of the best to ever do it, you have to assume things will look night and day from what they did a year ago.

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