Hints from Phil Steele, Rich Rod, College Football 26 Point to WVU’s Potential O-Line

Originally posted on West Virginia Mountaineers on SI
By Schuyler Callihan | Last updated Jul 14, 2025 11:23 AM ET

There are so many unknowns with the WVU football team heading into the 2025 season, including what the unit up front will look like on the offensive side of the ball.

The Mountaineers will replace all five starters along the offensive line and a good portion of the two-deep. With so many new faces, there's no telling where each guy will play and who will start. Well, maybe we do know now.

I'm not saying we should lock it in, but the College Football 26 video game and college football expert Phil Steele have nearly the exact starting offensive line.

Should we trust a video game? No, not really, but let's be honest, they have to get some intel to make the game as realistic as possible. And Phil Steele, well, that man knows his stuff and talked with Rich Rodriguez before publishing his college football preview magazine.

Steele and the video game have three of the same starters, and we can make an assumption on the starting center, one of the two spots where they differ.

LT Malik Agbo

Agbo transfers in from Texas after having appeared in 32 career games with the Longhorns. He mainly saw the field in jumbo sets, special teams, or as a rotational piece. Coming out of high school, he was a four-star recruit who held offers from Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, BYU, Cal, Colorado, Florida, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, Tennessee, USC, Utah, Vanderbilt, Washington, Washington State, and a few others.

LG Walter Young Bear

Walter Young Bear - the best name in college football? It just might be. The Tulsa transfer was a Third Team All-AAC selection last season. There could be others in the mix, but Young Bear feels locked in.

C Landen Livingston

College Football 26 has Carson Lee rated higher, but we're leaning into Steele's projection here and the fact that Livingston was one of the three players Rich Rod took with him to Big 12 media days. He even called him a "key piece" to what the Mountaineers are going to do.

RG Kimo Makane'ole

The video game has Ayden Bussell rated higher, but Steele has the Tennessee transfer listed at tackle. Makane'ole was here for spring ball and has been around the game for quite a while. There could be some uncertainty here at right guard, especially considering Makane'ole made the switch to defense last season.

RT Ty'Kieast Crawford

Crawford will likely get first crack at the starting job but don't be surprised to see Xavier Bausley or someone else replace him if there are early struggles. Crawford appeared in 33 games and made six starts for Arkansas over the past four years.