WVU Football Fall Camp Notebook: Day 2
Morgantown, WV - The West Virginia University football program held day two of fall camp Tuesday morning, and I spent my time following the offense.
All eyes are on the quarterbacks, especially Georgia transfer JT Daniels. The redshirt junior has started at USC and Georgia throughout his career but in both cases, lost the starting job due to season-ending injuries.
Head coach Neal Brown stated on Monday following the first day of camp the timing was off, which is to be expected at the start of fall camp and it rolled into Tuesday.
The first impression of Daniels is he looks the part of a Power Five quarterback. He has a nice touch on the ball, crisp passes to the outside and a strong arm. These are drills however, and to summarize offensive coordinator Graham Harrell's comments on Tuesday, it's easy to make those passes when there's no pass rush. However, the game film is out there, the young man can play.
Garrett Greene continues to get stronger, and he's getting the ball to the outside quicker and with better accuracy. I'd still like to see his progression in live action. He improved on keeping his eyes downfield in the spring but still instinctively peeled off to the outside instead of moving up in the pocket. It was an improvement to keep the play alive rather than tucking the ball and taking off downfield.
The early days of camp involve a heavy dose of fundamentals which are split into position groups.
West Virginia receivers, quarterbacks, and tight ends receiving instruction from offensive coordinator Graham Harrell.
Julia Mellett - Sports Illustrated: FanNation - Mountaineers Now
Offensively, the receivers and quarterbacks were getting as many reps as possible. Using all five quarterbacks, they went through their progressions until they got to their assigned receiver. Then, they moved down a spot a ran the same play until every receiver and quarterback went through their progression or route on the play. That should clear up some of the early timing issues.
Bryce Ford-Wheaton has put himself in a spot to have a great year within the Air Raid, continuing to take care of his body in the offseason. He is a big target on the field and appears to have continued to work on his craft between the lines as well. Graham stated on Tuesday Wheaton was the receiver making explosive plays downfield in practice thus far, an area the team has lacked since Brown's arrival. It's a good sign in the early going Wheaton is making these plays.
Kaden Prather has molded himself as a big target as well. His biggest hurdle right now is consistently making routine catches. He's shown he can go up and get the ball and make plays downfield but like so many young talented receivers, they tend to look up field before hauling the ball in when wide open on underneath routes. He can have a solid sophomore season with a strong fall camp.
Running back Tony Mathis Jr. looks like he can run through two brick walls on the way to the endzone. He continues to take in running back coach Chad Scott's coaching and is showing leadership in the drills. The running backs appear to be hungry and focused in the early going.
The offensive line has shown growth physically. It's the most depth this unit has had since offensive line coach Matt Moore took over when Brown came in, albeit they are not where they need to be, and the staff will be the first ones to tell you that. However, guys sticking around in the program are starting to find their way among the two-deep.
This is how the two-deep looked on one occasion. Of course, this is not set in stone, and they run different groupings to prepare for the worst-case scenarios on game day, so they practice everyone.
Left tackle - Wyatt Milum, Nick Malone
Left guard - James Gmiter, Tomas Rimac
Center - Zach Frazier, Jordan White
Right guard - Doug Nester, Dylan Ray
Right tackle - Ja'Quay Hubbard, Brandon Yates
Of note, Tyler Connolly and Doug Nester worked at center during drills, along with Jordan White and Zach Frazier.
You can follow us for future coverage by following us on Facebook & Twitter:
Facebook - @WVUonSI
Twitter - @SI_WVU and Christopher Hall @WVHallBilly
