A Look Into the Future: Early Reports on New QBs Ryder Burton & Khalil Wilkins

The West Virginia quarterback room appears to be in great shape.

West Virginia has not only found an answer at quarterback in Garrett Greene, but they have a plan in place for the torch to be passed to Nicco Marchiol, who has been groomed and developed to be the guy in 2025.

Assuming all goes to plan, Marchiol will lead the Mountaineer offense through the 2026 season, allowing the WVU coaching staff to get the next guy ready to step in and hit the ground running. The candidate to be Marchiol's successor? Well, WVU has two of them at the moment in BYU transfer Ryder Burton and freshman Khalil Wilkins.

According to WVU quarterbacks coach Tyler Allen, both guys have a lot of upside but need some time before they are ready to compete for playing time or even a backup role for that matter. Earlier this week, Allen gave a mini evaluation on each of them after the first two plus weeks of fall camp.

Early thoughts on Ryder Burton

“He’s a really smart kid. He probably learned the whole offense in two weeks which is really hard to do. He’s a really smart kid. He’s up here all the time and he’s got really good arm talent. I think he’s going to be a guy that can improve through his career here and have a chance later down the road.”

Early thoughts on Khalil Wilkins

“Khalil’s got a lot of talent. It’s going to be a long process for him because he’s never had to do anything like this before. Coming from high school there’s a lot of different things that we do and it’s a huge transition for him. But he’s got a lot of talent and he shows that in practice. The last three days he’s made some really good throws, he can run the ball. We’re really excited about him in the future.”

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI

Garrett Greene Showing 'Significant Improvement' in Key Area

WVU WR Hudson Clement was at 'Another Level' This Summer

Ranking the Top 10 Offensive Players in the Big 12

WVU OC: "When in Doubt, Find the Fox'