At this point, I think it's fair to say that West Virginia has one of the nation's most talented in quarterbacks in Mike Hawkins Jr. You can probably count on one hand who are playing at a higher level than him right now, and to be honest, you may not even get a full hand's worth of players. He has been legit.
But the future for the Mountaineers at the position is also extremely intriguing. Hawkins still has two more years of eligibility remaining, and if all goes according to plan, it will give true freshman Jyron Hughley time to develop and potentially take over as the starter after Hawkins departs.
WVU QB coach Rhett Rodriguez was asked about Hughley's development earlier this week on the coach's show and said some very encouraging things about the Belle Glade, FL product.
"I think he's really special with the ball in his hands. He might be one of the fastest guys on the team, period," Rodriguez stated. "So I know once he gets out there, he's a true freshman, so there's still some room to grow, especially in his footwork and mechanics as a passer, but he's got what you can't teach, which is just a dynamic athlete out there running. And I have no doubt that once he gets another year in the system too that he can be pretty scary to defend."
You would think that with Hughley being the third-string quarterback and someone who probably isn't going to see the field unless a bunch of bad injury luck happens, he'd be down on the scout team logging a ton of reps and giving the defense a look. That hasn't really been the case, which goes to show how much they believe in his future.
"He's still with the offense," Rodriguez said. "We kind of went back and forth between is it better for him to go down there and get some scout team reps or is it better for him to kind of watch and see Mike (Hawkins) and Scotty (Fox) get some of those reps. He's been mainly down with the offense, and he'll still get some reps too as well. We try to rotate some guys in there, obviously not quite as much as Mike and Scotty, but I think it's been a great year for him to kind of watch and see what it's supposed to look like."
Hughley is a dynamic runner, but still has some room to grow as a passer despite connecting on 67% of his pass attempts as a senior. Consistency in the throw game is the big thing for him, but he has plenty of time to develop and become a complete quarterback. It's a great situation that he is in, learning behind one of the best QBs in the country.
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