Five Legit Options? Rodriguez Sees Something Rare with This Year's WVU QB Room

Originally posted on West Virginia Mountaineers on SI
By Schuyler Callihan | Last updated Aug 11, 2025 3:21 PM ET

A five-man quarterback battle? Who would've thunk it?

While there may not be five guys who legitimately have a chance to win the starting job, West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez is letting this thing play out and plans to continue repping all five — Nicco Marchiol, Jaylen Henderson, Max Brown, Khalil Wilkins, and Scott Fox Jr. — until someone stick their foot in the ground and declares they are the guy.

“All of our quarterbacks can really throw the ball. We’re repping five guys — all five can really throw it. I’ve never had that many that could throw it that well, as far as arm strength goes, and all that," Rodriguez said on Monday. "There’s not really a pass play or route package that is out there that we’re like, well, we can’t do that because we don’t have the arm strength to make that throw. That’s kind of a neat deal. Every quarterback for every route package can make every throw. So now we just need to see which ones we can be the most accurate with.”

I understand the back-and-forth of trying to figure out who QB1 is going to be, but the reality is, the depth of the room is what's more important. When the Mountaineers take the field on August 30th against Robert Morris, we're likely to see two or three quarterbacks anyway. If not, well, then quarterback play isn't the only thing the staff needs to solve.

What matters is getting two, possibly three guys, game-ready by the time the Backyard Brawl rolls around on September 13th. Surprisingly, Rodriguez has been very complimentary of all five guys to this point, both in the pass game and with what they can do with their legs. I figured by now he would essentially have written off the two youngsters (Fox and Wilkins), but as of Monday, they're still in this thing. It may not last much longer, but that alone should provide some relief that they have capable throwers in that room.