Garrett Greene Projections for 2024 Predict Massive Improvement

West Virginia's starting quarterback is expected to make a huge jump this fall.

Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

In order for the West Virginia Mountaineers to take the next step and be a contender for the Big 12 title in 2024, they need starting quarterback Garrett Greene to go from good to great. He doesn't need to be a top three quarterback in the country or break all sorts of records to achieve that status, but he does have to complete more passes and score more touchdowns in the red zone.

The completion percentage is something we've all discussed since the beginning of last season. If you just look at it without diving into why it was so low, you're probably thinking Greene has massive leaps to make. The coaching staff doesn't believe that to be the case and I share that opinion. Yes, of course, he missed several layups in the underneath game but for every one of those misses, he connected on a deep ball or tough throw further down the field.

Quartbacks coach Tyler Allen noted last week that he's made "significant progress" in terms of overall completion percentage numbers when comparing this fall camp to last year's. Does that mean it will translate over to the season? Not necessarily, but I'd be willing to bet it does to some extent.

My stat projections for Garrett Greene

Passing: 188/305 (61.6%), 2,857 yards, 24 TDs, 5 INTs.

Rushing: 97 carries for 640 yards and 10 TDs.

Why am I so confident that Greene will make the jump from good to great?

Full year of starting under his belt

Experience is everything in college football, especially at the quarterback position. There were times last year, mainly early on, where you could see that Greene still had some room to grow. He didn't pick up some things the defenses were presenting and on a few occasions would get too amped up, leading to those missed underneath throws. Having logged over a dozen career starts, those jitters or whatever you want to call them start to go away. He's going to look more relaxed and even-keeled while still playing with an edge. That alone should help him relax and deliver in the short game.

Chemistry is built

The more I think about it, Greene was really at a disadvantage from the jump in the passing game. Two of the team's presumed top four receivers, Cortez Braham Jr. and Jeremiah Aaron, left the team not even a month into the season which caused WVU to turn to former walk-on Hudson Clement, NC State transfer Devin Carter, LSU transfer Kole Taylor, and a couple of other young pups in Traylon Ray and Rodney Gallagher III.

This time a year ago, Nicco Marchiol received some first team reps as the two were in a battle for the starting job. Because of that, it took away more opportunities for Greene to gain chemistry with the pass catchers and it showed early on. Greene has now worked with the ones for a full year now and won't be learning the bulk of his receiving corps on the fly as he did in 2023.

Rave reviews

Take it for what it's worth, but everything I've been told is that Greene has taken a noticeable step in the passing game. I believe those inside sources to be true in their evaluation when I hear similar things coming out of the Manning Passing Academy and then from head coach Neal Brown and QBs coach Tyler Allen. And in all honesty, it shouldn't be surprising. This kid works his tail off and is determined to improve.

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