WVU's Nickel/SAM Position Enters 2026 With Plenty of Intrigue

We are past the midpoint of August and are past halfway through our positional previews on the defensive side of the football.

Today, we zero in on one of the most important positions in Zac Alley's defense — the nickel/sam. Five players are listed there on the official roster, but others could make their way into the mix, and we'll discuss one of those after we introduce the top two options at the position.

Offensive previews

Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Wide Receivers | Tight Ends | Offensive Line

Defensive previews

Edge Rushers | Defensive Line | Linebackers

Projected depth chart

SR Geimere Latimer (5'9", 188 lbs) — Fairburn, GA
R-Fr. Maliek Hawkins (6'0", 192 lbs) — Dallas, TX
FR Miles Khatri (6'0", 208 lbs) — Montgomery, AL
FR Emory Snyder (6'3", 211 lbs) — Bixby, OK
Fr Jayden Ballard (6'0", 187 lbs) — Chesterfield, VA

Starter: Geimere Latimer

Latimer has played a bunch of football throughout his career, having played two years at Jacksonville State for Rich Rodriguez (one with Zac Alley), and one season at Wisconsin.

He's smaller than Fred Perry, but can be trusted to hold up at a much higher rate in pass coverage, which will make this defense much more effective covering the slot. Although he's 5'9", 188 lbs, he doesn't play like it. He packs a punch and matches the physicality of someone much longer and bigger. During his lone season in Alley's scheme, he allowed just six catches for 54 yards, limiting quarterbacks to a 46.2% completion percentage when throwing the ball his way.

Latimer does have a ton of game reps at corner and could even go back to safety in a pinch as well.

Backup: Maliek Hawkins

Hawkins, the younger brother of WVU quarterback Mike Hawkins, enters the 2026 season in a great situation. He can be used situationally and not thrown into the wolves in his first year, when he'll see the field on defense.

The instincts and awareness are two things that really stand out when you watch his tape. He played a bunch of corner in high school, so he's used to going up against the opposing team's best receiver and being physical with them. That physicality will play well when it's an obvious passing situation, and they're facing a team that likes to feed the tight end. Also, you can expect Alley to use him quite a bit as a blitzer, to some degree similar to how they deployed Perry last year.

If everything goes right with his development, he will be a key piece to this defense and will be a starter, be it at nickel/sam or elsewhere.

The extra helper: Andrew Powdrell

The UNLV transfer will spend much of his time at free safety, but he could factor in here, too. He came to WVU initially thinking he would be playing nickel/sam, but the staff quickly realized that they needed to get him and Latimer on the field together, making the move to safety a no-brainer.

The young pack

The players: Emory Snyder, Miles Khatri, Jayden Ballard

Snyder has the ideal size already, but was a little banged up this offseason, causing him to miss some time. Once he gets caught up to speed and settled in, he could start to make a move, although I wouldn't expect him to carve out a role on defense this fall.

Khatri is a physical force, particularly in the run game and quick pass game. He'll need to improve his coverage skills, but there's a lot there to like.

And Ballard is an intriguing one to me because I'm not sure he sticks at this position. I feel like he would be a perfect fit at free safety, but time will tell.

For all three of these guys, it's going to be a year of development, on the field and in the weight room.

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