True Freshman Receivers Set To Debut This Weekend vs NC State

After two weeks of the Mountaineer offense struggling, head coach Neal Brown announced on Tuesday that some changes were to be made in the days leading up to this week’s game vs North Carolina State. Through the first two games, West Virginia has only thrown for 401 yards, 260 of which came in the season opener vs James Madison. To put things into perspective, Will Grier tossed for 429 yards in last year’s season opener alone vs Tennessee.

Heading into the season, there was no question that it was going to be a challenge. So much star power had exhausted their NCAA eligibility and moved onto the NFL and it was going to be a major hill to climb no matter who the new coach was.

The run game has been non-existent in the first two weeks, which doesn’t help matters, but there haven’t been many explosive plays through the air. Neal Brown has been extremely disappointed with the lack of production across the offense and wants to create competition for starting spots.

“We’re going to give some other guys opportunities,” stated Brown. “We’re going to let the young wide receivers have a chance. Winston Wright and Ali Jennings, they’ll play for the first time.”

Yesterday, a new updated depth chart showed that Winston Wright will start ahead of junior Tevin Bush at the (H) receiver spot and Ali Jennings is listed as a backup to Sean Ryan at the (X) receiver position.

Coach Brown also talked about the struggles of T.J. Simmons and the rest of the receiver group that is what’s leading to the changes.

“He’s [Simmons] got to play better, he’s got play faster, block better,” explained Brown. “He’s got to get open and just play better. I do foresee there being changes in the lineup. If there are changes, that means that those guys didn’t put good enough quality on tape or those guys got beat out. We’ve got to do a better job of working the middle of the field. Second thing is, we’ve got to get open.”

I know some of you may be thinking “If the true freshmen are getting a shot, this isn’t good.” Well, take it how you want, but something has to give. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

Will Wright and Jennings make the same mistakes? I’m sure they will, but why not throw them out there and see if they can create a spark or two?

PLAYER BREAKDOWN

Winston Wright Jr. – Wright is a playmaker and a make-you-miss in space type of receiver. Tremendous speed, acceleration and has the ability to change direction on the stop of a dime. Many compare parts of his game to Tavon Austin and yes – I’ll agree. He has similar traits, but those traits aren’t on a Tavon-type level, at least not at this stage of his career. If the offensive line can get it together and allow time for Austin Kendall to get the ball off, then Wright could make some noise in his true freshman season.

Ali Jennings– Jennings attacks the ball and can high point it really well. He’s a little bigger than Wright, which allows him to be a more physical receiver, but can also do his thing in space as well. His frame is not quite filled out yet as he only weighs roughly 180 pounds but I don’t see it being much of a problem. He runs tight routes and doesn’t drift on them like most young receivers do and also has some pretty good hands as well.

How much will Wright and Jennings play on Saturday? How much will they be a factor? That is to be determined, but I wouldn’t fully expect there to be a drastic improvement in the offense. There are many other issues that plague this offense and with two young freshmen being thrown into the fire, it doesn’t necessarily make it a smooth first game situation for the young guys. North Carolina State has yet to give up a touchdown through the first two games of the year, but they haven’t really been tested – their first two opponents were East Carolina and Western Carolina.

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