Greene Needs to Show One Thing Before Taking Over as WVU's QB1
West Virginia's offense has been in flux over the past three seasons and a large part of that can be attributed to average quarterback play, at best. Austin Kendall was just alright but he didn't come into a situation that he was going to thrive in. He had young backs, young receivers, and a really young offensive line. On top of that, he played most of the 2019 season with an injured hand.
Since Neal Brown awarded Jarret Doege the keys to the offense, not much has changed. Turnovers, bad decisions, and a lack of points are holding this team back from being in the top half of the Big 12 Conference. At this point, the offense is what it is under Doege. I mean, let's face it, he's a fifth-year senior and hasn't shown much in terms of improvement. Actually, you could argue that he is regressing with each start he claims under his belt. However, Brown doesn't plan on passing the torch to the young redshirt freshman, Garrett Greene, anytime soon.
Why you may ask? Well, it's pretty simple, Brown needs Greene to be more than just an athletic quarterback. It's easy to sit back and say just throw him in and let him develop but it's not the way Brown operates. Although the 2-4 record may indicate that the season is lost, this coaching staff is focused on getting back on track with the goal to win every game they have remaining on the schedule. Whether it happens or not, more than likely not, that is the goal of this coaching staff - to win every game. If Brown feels like Greene is not capable of running the show as the full-time starter, he's not going to throw him to the wolves and "see what happens". He is going to make decisions that he feels will give the team the best chance to win and right now, that is to start Jarret Doege.
"He's going to play," Brown said in regards to the plan for Garrett Greene this Saturday. "A lot of it is how he goes about this week. There are some opportunities. I thought he is coming off one of his better games against Baylor. Garrett's got to continue to grow. The deal with Garrett is, our receivers have been our most productive piece of our offense and Garrett's got to continue to get them the ball. That's where he's got to show the most growth."
For weeks, Brown has indicated that Greene is still in the developmental stage of his career, mostly learning how to read coverages and go through his progressions - something he had to do very little of in high school. When he does get inserted into the game, Brown says his internal clock is operating too fast. He's not even going to his 2nd read and he's already taking off with the football. To be a complete quarterback, Greene has to be able to throw the football efficiently and know when it's time to pull it down and run.
Should Greene show those things over the course of the next couple of weeks, there will be a legitimate case to be made that he is deserving of the starting job.
West Virginia and TCU kickoff this Saturday at 7:30 on ESPNU.
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