West Virginia Football: Top 5 spring 2022 breakout candidates

These West Virginia football players are primed for a breakout season in 2022. Take a look at the players who are ready to make the leap.

Every college football season brings the opportunity for players to step up (or down). Their elevated play can contribute to their teams’ success or even break them out to become nationally known names.

West Virginia fans saw breakout performances last year from players like Sean Mahone, Josh Chandler-Semedo, and Winston Wright Jr., who, unfortunately, left for Tallahassee.

The offseason always shakes things up. Players leave to other schools, the pros or their eligibility ends. Players come in from the transfer portal or as freshmen. Coaching philosophy can change, or new coaches arrive or current ones depart.

During this past offseason, the Mountaineers went through all the growing pains of the sport. We lost several players to the transfer portal. Neal Brown decided to hand over the offensive play calling. We got a new (and exciting) offensive coordinator, and several new names joined the roster.

This list of five potential breakout players will benefit, in part, because of what I mentioned before (literally the paragraph above). Some will have expanded roles, some will be introduced to a friendlier scheme, and some will benefit from continued growth through the system. And heck, who knows, some might just breakout because they were always destined to, though that is harder to predict.

So, to get on with it, here is a look at the potential players to become future Mountaineer stars.