Don’t get me wrong, I love every single player that puts on the Old Gold and Blue. Once they are a Mountaineer, they are a Mountaineer for life. However, I am not naive, so I know when there is a problem it needs addressed, and WVU’s receiving corps has a lot of problems right now.
To put it simply, they just cannot hold onto the football. Last time out against Texas Tech, this issue literally cost the Mountaineers the game. This absolutely cannot happen moving forward. If these struggles continue within this corps, it may be time to give some of the younger guys an opportunity to prove themselves.
True freshmen Sam Brown and Reese Smith have both seen playing time early for the Mountaineers, but let’s be real, they are not used extensively right now. Despite this, both Smith and Brown have shown flashes. West Virginia also has a promising true freshman in Devell Washington that received a plethora of praise coming into Morgantown. Talent and depth are not the problem right now. Though inexperience looms large with a change, the guys that have been in the program the longest are just not getting the job done.
If we see a wave of dropped passes once again against Kansas State, there is no other solution other than giving these younger guys an opportunity. It is not likely to be a quick fix, but you truly never know what these receivers bring to the table until you give them an opportunity. Should the team continue on the same path, and the primary corps continue to drop passes and sputter out the offense, chances are we will not win another game.
Something has to change, and the Mountaineers have the depth to do so.
