Is Garrett Greene Being Overlooked Nationally or Are WVU Fans Missing His Flaws?

Is Garrett Greene actually being overlooked by many around the country? At least one college football writer firmly believes that’s the case, but he’s also not the first to bring up the debate.

Brett Gibbons, who covers college football and focuses on betting for The Lines, detailed why Greene may actually be underrated heading into the 2024 season.

Here is what Gibbons posted on social media about Greene on Monday: “The college football world isn’t talking enough about WVU QB Garrett Greene. His completion rate wasn’t great (and a bunch of drops didn’t help), but he’s one of the better dual threat QBs in the country.”

The college football world isn’t talking enough about WVU QB Garrett Greene. His completion rate wasn’t great (and a bunch of drops didn’t help), but he’s one of the better dual threat QBs in the country.

– 10.4% big time throw rate (best in the country!)
– 15:4 TD:INT
– 5.5%…

— Brett Gibbons (@roadtocfb) May 7, 2024

Most aware of Greene surely know he’s a great dual threat quarterback, but his accuracy is something that even his coaches view as a weakness. While the drops were real and fair to bring up, WVU head coach Neal Brown and quarterbacks coach Tyler Allen discussed how Greene must increase his completion percentage and be more accurate for the Mountaineers’ offense to get where it wants to be in 2024.

“For Garrett, it’s all about accuracy and working on some things we couldn’t fix each week during last season,” said Brown. He also compared Greene to Bo Nix in terms of how he can make a big jump in his completion percentage.

“He’s been getting a lot of PFF hype and a lot talk on Twitter, but he has a lot he needs to work on,” said Allen about the hype surrounding Greene throughout the offseason. It’s possible Allen just said this to keep his quarterback in check, but based on Greene’s own honest evaluation of his game, he fully understands he still has a long way to go.

Greene completed only 52.9% of his passes in 2023, a number below the bar for most elite quarterbacks. Speaking honestly, Greene echoed what his coaches said about what he needs to improve upon during spring practice.

Being more accurate also means playing smarter for Greene. When asked what playing smarter, something Brown has often brought up, means to him, Greene said he can’t try to do too much and must look to check downs more. Greene knows another season for Jahiem White and even the return of CJ Donaldson offer him talented weapons out of the backfield who can extend plays on their own if no one is open down field.

To put the “is he overrated or underrated?” question in further context, PFF ranked Greene as among the best returning quarterbacks in the nation. So while some are looking at Greene’s flaws, there are evaluators and journalists agreeing with WVU fans that he’s an elite player and a big reason why West Virginia will contend for the Big 12 title.

Count a familiar national analyst among those who fully believes in Greene. Eric Froton of NBC Sports raved about Greene to WV Sports Now’s Mike Asti at the NFL Combine.

“What’s stands out to me about Garrett is his true dual-threat skill set. Many athletic signal callers tend to rely on their legs when they need to make a play. Greene can fire a crisp 12-yard out on the field-side to Kole Taylor on 3rd and 10, or he can call a RPO and rip the defense for an explosive play on the ground,” Froton explained.

NBC Sports Analyst Explains Love of WVU QB Garrett Greene

Greene threw for 2,406 yards, posted a 16/4 touchdown to interception ratio as a passer, ran for an extra 772 yards and accounted for a total of 29 touchdowns despite missing some time with an injury. Most of the hype stems from a more experienced Greene building on a strong first full season as a starter and having a more seasoned group of receivers at his disposal.

While Greene will be able to rely on many of his key skill players from 2023 being back again in 2024, he does have a new wide receiver in transfer Jaden Bray. And Greene already can tell Bray will be an asset.

No matter what happens, one thing is for certain – the Mountaineers will only go as far as Garrett Greene takes them.