The One Guy West Virginia Needs to Get More Involved on Offense

The veteran receiver has been super quiet through the first four games of the season.

Ben Queen-Imagn Images

All offseason long, West Virginia fans heard about the addition of Oklahoma State wide receiver Jaden Bray. He was making plays left and right, including some heavily contested catches, one of which made its rounds on social media.

I asked who’s going to make an impact on Saturday against Penn State. I’m seeing a ton of people mention wide receiver Jaden Bray.

Here’s why.pic.twitter.com/9XIzZoh5qv

— Jonathan Martin (@JonathanKMartin) August 27, 2024

"Jaden is really talented," WVU head coach Neal Brown said at Big 12 media days. "I thought he was slowed by injuries last year. He had a couple really big games. He’s a tremendous human being first of all. He’s been a great addition to our locker room. The type of character he has, the way he was raised. Those are all real positives. And he’s long, he can jump, and he can run. Now, for us, it’s about getting that production from a week-in, week-out perspective. I’m excited to coach him. He’s been a joy since he got there in January and I think he’s sitting on really not just one but two quality, high-production years.”

Through the first four games of the season, Bray has been extremely quiet hauling in just two receptions for a total of 88 yards. In the first three games, he averaged 24.6 snaps. Against Kansas, he only saw 17 snaps on offense. Now, some of that can be attributed to Hudson Clement having himself a big day and not wanting to take him off the field, but Preston Fox and Justin Robinson were dealing with injuries, meaning he should have seen an increase in snaps.

Unless there is some sort of injury that has not been made known to the public, he is being severely underutilized. An argument can be made that he hasn't played up to par in the snaps that he has received, but they are going to need him the deeper WVU gets in Big 12 play. Two catches in four games isn't going to cut it. They need more out of him.

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