West Virginia is still in the process of sorting out exactly where all of the pieces fit in the wide receiver room.
The Mountaineers utilize four different spots in the offense, two out wide and two inside, and the focus has been on trying to see exactly where both the old and new pieces fit into the equation.
“Right now, our job as coaches, and specifically the receivers coaches, is figuring out where everyone fits because there are times where we’re going to have four wide receivers on the field. There’s times we’re going to have five. Sometimes we’ll have three. Sometimes we’ll have two so that’s been a big job of ours this spring is figuring out who are the best players to be in what positions,” receivers coach Ryan Garrett said.
Fortunately, the coaching staff was able to take a pair of wide receivers with them from Jacksonville State in Cam Vaughn and Jarod Bowie. Those two already know the system and have been able to set an example for some of the other players competing in the room.
“They’ve helped the other receivers kind of learn what they’re doing,” Garrett said.
The wide receivers coach believes that he inherited a good group and while the coaching staff asks a lot out of the position they have answered the call in spring practice.
But the biggest goal this spring is not just trying to fit the different players into the different spots but allowing them to learn every position.
“Because that’s going to be the quickest way on the field,” Garrett said. “But they’ve been learning each week and getting better and better so that’s been really good to see.”
Because of the tempo that West Virginia wants to play with that knowledge of multiple positions is critical especially when the ball moves hashes it could change their responsibilities.
But one thing that’s clear is that West Virginia wants their wide receivers to work hard and block.
“You won't see our receivers standing around and watching while you see us play,” he said.
Head Coach Rich Rodriguez is comfortable with the inside positions, but the outside spots are still pretty open and it’s going to be important to develop a two or three deep moving forward. That will put those options under a microscope when it comes to the evaluations that will occur.
“I still think we probably got to get some more competition there,” Rodriguez said.
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