With Wilkins Likely to Start for WVU, Here’s What Rich Rod Must Do to Help Him

Friday night, West Virginia will start its third different quarterback in six games, following the news that Jaylen Henderson has been ruled out for this week's contest versus BYU. Charlotte transfer Max Brown is questionable, but should be available, according to head coach Rich Rodriguez.

In all likelihood, this will end up being redshirt freshman Khalil Wilkins' first career start, which just happens to come against a team that's ranked in the top 15 of many key statistical categories, on the road, on a short week — not exactly the most ideal situation you would draw up for the youngster, but hey, it is what it is.

Assuming it is Wilkins who gets the starting nod, what can Rich Rod do to help him out?

No. 1: Max Protect/More 12 Personnel

When you have a young quarterback *potentially* making his first start, you need to make sure that he's not rushing his decisions or begins to panic due to a collapsed pocket. Fortunately, Wilkins can run away from pressure, but he can't be running for his life all night. I'd expect Rodriguez to use two tight end sets as much as possible to help in protection, whether it's to sit and anchor or chips and releases out for a route. WVU's offensive line has not played up to par this season, and even if new faces begin to populate that group up front, it doesn't guarantee a fix. If Malik Agbo is in the game at right tackle, you definitely need a tight end attached or Tye Edwards setting up shop on pass pro to help out, given his lack of size, which is Rodriguez's biggest concern. So far this season, WVU has used 12 personnel just 13% of the time, compared to being in 11 personnel for 84% of its snaps.

No. 2: Heavy RPO/Quick Game

It's a very small sample size, and with last week's game being virtually out of hand when he entered, it probably doesn't paint a good picture as to what the offense will look like with Wilkins taking the opening snap, but five of his six pass attempts travel 10 yards or more. They took some shots, hoping to generate some explosive plays, and connected on a couple with gains of 19 and 39 (touchdown pass to Cam Vaughn). Those will still need to exist, but setting up a bunch of easy completions early will feed him confidence and settle him into the game without having to make elaborate reads. Wilkins, for the most part, made the right read on RPOs last week, and defenses now have to honor the QB run game with him steering the ship. Bubbles, slants, quick hitches, drags, screens, quick outs, etc. Be calculated with taking shots downfield.

No. 3: Get Him On the Move

Rodriguez tried to do this with Nicco Marchiol to help cover up some of the pass protection issues, and while it does work to help move the defense, it shuts off half of the field. For a pocket passing quarterback, that's the only drawback. When routes are covered up, there's nowhere to go with the football. That's not the case for Wilkins. Getting him on the move will force the defense to pick their poison. Do they bail and crash hard, making him throw it? Or do they invite him to run it and trust their tacklers to make a play in space? It's a whole new dynamic for this offense that hadn't previously existed. Yes, you'll want to operate out of the pocket too, but the more you can stress the defense, the better.