True Freshman Kevin Brown is Making a Serious Push For a Starting Spot at WVU

Rich Rodriguez has been pleased with what he has seen from his young offensive lineman.

WVU Athletics Communications

It comes as no surprise that West Virginia's top-rated recruit from the 2026 class, offensive lineman Kevin Brown, is positioning himself to start Week 1 against Coastal Carolina. There are still a few weeks for that job to be won, but it's there for the taking.

Brown arrived in Morgantown looking like a three-year veteran who was well on path to playing in the NFL. Obviously, there is a ton of room for him to grow, but physically speaking, he is a freak.

His father, former WVU offensive lineman Tim Brown, has prepared him for this opportunity his entire life, using some of the things he learned when he was a Mountaineer to teach his son.

WVU Athletics Communications

Kevin posted solid numbers in the weight room and did more than just hold his own during spring ball. He looked the part, generated push, and anchored pass rushers, not letting them get anywhere closer to the quarterbacks more often than not.

That strong first impression has now carried over to the first few days of fall camp, earning some praise from WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez, who briefly discussed his shot at getting the starting nod.

"Kevin’s got a chance to start. He’s physically ready, but more than anything, he’s got a certain level of maturity, football maturity, that you don’t typically see in a true freshman. I kind of knew that when we signed him, and then he’s been what we thought he would be, and he’ll keep getting better too.”

Rodriguez did not go into detail as to which side of the line he is battling for or who he is in competition with, but o-line coach Rick Trickett tipped the hand a little by saying that Brown and Nick Krahe are working on one side together and Amare Grayson and Carsten Casady are working together on the other side.

Krahe is sliding to left guard, and Grayson played right guard at Jax State, while Casady was a right tackle at UConn. Assuming everything holds and Brown wins out, he'll play left tackle.

"Ya'll throw that word around 'great' an awful lot. I think he's got a chance to be a good player right now," Trickett said of Kevin Brown. "And then hopefully, in another year or so, he's going to be a really good player. But he's a competitive guy; I love his attitude. First guy out (to the field), first guy up for everything; he's one of the first guys in the building every day. But again, he's a freshman, so he's got a lot of things to learn, and the defense is throwing a lot of things at him.