West Virginia took the biggest hit of their offseason on Monday as sophomore wide receiver Kaden Prather decided to enter the transfer portal.
Prather, a sophomore from Maryland, decided to enter the transfer portal, leaving many more questions than answers for West Virginia head coach Neal Brown and offensive coordinator Graham Harrell.
The Mountaineers seemed to be surviving the initial way of the transfer portal, all until Prather decided to leave WVU on Monday. Prather caught 52 passes which was second-most on the team. Prather finished the season with 501 receiving yards and three touchdowns on the year.
Prather had elevated himself into the wide receiver two position and was likely to command the top wide receiver position at WVU next season, as Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Sam James decided to head to the NFL Draft.
Prather joins Reese Smith as receivers who entered their name into the portal, and is the biggest loss for the Mountaineers so far this offseason.
Between Ford-Wheaton, James, Prather, and Smith, along with tight end Mike O’Laughlin who entered the portal, the Mountaineers have lost the production of their top four wide receivers, along with their top tight end. West Virginia is also losing backup tight end Brian Polendey who is out of eligibility.
Those six players accounted for 2,228 yards, and 17 touchdowns this season. They accounted for 74.8% of all receptions for WVU this season, and 81.6% of the total receiving yards for WVU. The 17 touchdowns for the group is also 85% of the total receiving touchdowns for WVU this season.
West Virginia’s top returning receiver from this past season is Cortez Braham. Braham came to WVU last offseason from Hutchinson Community College. He 14 catches for 147 yards this season.
Braham will be joined by incoming true freshman and four-star recruit Rodney Gallagher, although the Mountaineers are going to have to hit the transfer portal hard in order to replace the production that is leaving this West Virginia offense.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
