WVU Players, Coaches and Opponents Praise JT Daniels’ Accuracy

A few minutes prior to Neal Brown announcing JT Daniels as his quarterback, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi decided to make the announcement himself in his press conference up north on I-79.

“JT Daniels will be the (WVU) starting quarterback,” said Narduzzi. “If they haven’t made that announcement, I’ll make it for them.”

It’s been long expected by more people than just Narduzzi that Daniels would end up as the starting quarterback for West Virginia. The general thought process being that a team wouldn’t bring in a quarterback of Daniels’ pedigree just to be a back-up, nor would someone of his pedigree be comfortable with a decision like that after transferring.

But by all accounts, Daniels had to earn his job this past training camp. In a competition with Will Crowder, Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol, Daniels stood out due to his decision making  and accuracy. The latter trait eliciting praise from Narduzzi, who claims to have seen almost all of his throws.

“I’ve watched, I think, the 238 throws he’s made in the last couple of years, and he’s very, very capable,” Narduzzi said. “I can see why he’s the starter…

“He can make every throw, and he’s really, really talented, so we’ll have our hands cut out for us on that end.”

The numbers of Daniels suggest a strength in accuracy. In 21 games across four seasons, he’s completed 63.8% of his passes and has thrown 32 touchdowns to 16 interceptions, but 10 of those came his very first season.

It’s a trait that is echoed by Brown. Brown’s offense this year will be run by offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, who has experience coaching Daniels at USC in 2019, granted Daniels was hurt for almost all of that season.

“He’s really accurate with the football,” Brown said. “He’s thrown the ball down the field with a high completion percentage during camp. He does a really good job from a run-pass decision he’s got to make.”

But if the coaches haven’t convinced you of Daniels accuracy, his teammates chimed in as well. Wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton said Daniels was the best quarterback he’s ever played with while cornerback Charles Woods thinks Daniels can put a deep ball into really tight windows.

“He puts it in a place where we have a chance to make a play on it every time,” Ford-Wheaton said.

“He’s very accurate,” Woods said. “He can squeeze a ball in 50-60 yards down the field between two opponents, so that’s something I see instantly from him.”

Daniels will have a chance to show off his accuracy in a highly anticipated renewal of the Backyard Brawl this Thursday at 7:00 p.m.