MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Head coach Rich Rodriguez hinted at a bold QBs strategy tonight during The Rich Rodriguez Show, confirming fans will see multiple quarterbacks rotating during every game this season.
“We will definitely play multiple quarterbacks on Saturday, and that will probably be the case every week. … I’m not opposed to playing multiple guys.”
— Rich Rodriguez
Rodriguez isn’t planning to yank QBs for mistakes. Rather, he wants to capitalize on each QB’s strengths. “There are certain plays that certain quarterbacks do better than others,” he explained. He’s already tried this approach in practice. “I did it during practice, and I purposefully did it during practice,” Rodriguez noted, signaling comfort with mid-drive changes.
Rodriguez confirmed he has used five quarterbacks throughout camp—including Nicco Marchiol, Jaylen Henderson, Max Brown, Scotty Fox, and Khalil Wilkins—with no hurry to pick a full-time starter. That said, we believe that Nicco Marchiol will be the starting quarterback when the Mountaineers take the field this weekend against Robert Morris, though it does appear that multiple quarterbacks will see time.
“Nicco has the most experience. He has the best understanding of the offense and he’s athletic and a willing runner. Jaylen is also really experienced, can make all the throws and is also a willing runner who is fast. Max Brown is probably the most athletic of all of them. Scotty Fox is a great athlete and has the fastest release of any quarterback I’ve ever coached. Khalil Wilkins missed some time with a shoulder injury, but he is a great kid and a tremendous athlete who is the fastest of any of the quarterbacks we have. We have 5 really good quarterbacks.”
When asked if it would be accurate to say that he will play all five quarterbacks at some time this season, Rodriguez said, “No, that would be totally accurate.” WVU fans are in for a unique quarterback-watching experience this fall.
