Can an Improved Jarret Doege Lead WVU to the Top of the Big 12?

Jarret Doege has shown flashes over the past couple of seasons of being a quarterback capable of leading the Mountaineers to the top of the Big 12. However, there have been plenty of other moments of Doege just playing average football that has held back the WVU offense from being potent. Of course, he needs better production from his receivers and offensive line but there's a lot of it that he can control.

This offseason, Doege really honed in on improving his overall body composition and getting in much better shape.

"Jarret has changed his body," head coach Neal Brown said. "He's close to the same weight but the makeup is totally different. He's down under 10% body fat which has been a huge improvement for him."

Not only has Doege made a lot of progress in the weight room but on the field as well. Offensive coordinator Gerad Parker has been pleased with how the first week of practice has gone a lot of it can be attributed to Doege's leadership and on-field performance.

"He threw it clean. It's coming out on time for the most part. We connected downfield on some stuff yesterday that was encouraging on some concepts that we really wanted to improve on. He's worked on his game both physically and mentally and his body. He's owned himself, he's become a leader. I think he's made great strides, we really do as a staff as well."

When you look around at what West Virginia returns from 2020, you have to believe that the Mountaineers have the ability to finish in the top half of the Big 12. Anything less would be considered a disappointing year in my opinion. You have a workhorse running back in Leddie Brown, four starters on the offensive line are back, pretty much everyone returns at receiver and tight end and essentially seven starters (if you found Akheem Mesidor) return on defense. This is a team that has experience and depth on both sides of the ball. Neal Brown spoke on this subject Tuesday.

"Offensive line-wise it's night and day. The receiver room, we have more quality players - a lot of them are the same guys it's just over two years your body changes a lot and those guys had to play before they were ready. Our tight end room is totally different. We really struggled at that position in year one. Running back, last year we were thin in that and I think it's better now but we had some depth there at that position in year one. Defense, I think the first and second levels are definitely much improved. Third level, we have numbers but we have really old guys and really young guys. So, I like that talent in that third level in the secondary but there's a lot of inexperience there."

The formula for success is there for West Virginia and as always, it's going to come down to quarterback play. Can Doege make that big jump and get this offense humming? If so, the Mountaineers should be within the top three or four of the league and possibly playing for more depending on how much better he really is. If it's a slightly improved Doege, you'll see WVU finish in the neighborhood of 6-7 wins. Wins and losses don't necessarily come down to one player but Doege just so happens to be playing the most important position on the field and his play could be the difference in West Virginia being in the mix for a spot in the Big 12 championship game or just barely getting bowl eligible.

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