West Virginia head coach Neal Brown expressed in his press conference Monday how this week is the toughest and most important week of development in this season but it's also where the separation begins to happen between players.

With less than three weeks until a harrowed matchup against Penn State and only two days until the beginning of classes for many of these student athletes, there are still many positions up in the air, and some important ones at that.

On Monday, Brown noted a gap between recievers and getting them prepared for the season, or as he says, "Some guys are ready and then there are those guys that we are getting ready." Whether that gap begins with the transfer tenured wide receivers on the roster, Brown says theres a group of guys who need get ready and make strides as the season inches closer.

However, Brown stated that many of these players that could be considered in that "second group," made some impressive plays in the most recent practice.

"Traylon Ray, true freshman receiver, was our leading receiver in the scrimmage and he's doing some good things and he'll be in the mix. Preston [Fox] and Hudson Clement did some nice things."

Gaining this insight on the wide receiver room, which definitely has pressure to replicate it's previous production, is crucial, you can't forget about arguably the most important position on the field and the most talked about battle throughout this offseason for the Mountaineers, and that is at quarterback.

Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol are still duking it out of the position and Brown had things to say about them both on Monday, especially in their situational decision making.

"We did some situational work, and Nicco [Marchiol] had a really good two minute session but struggled with some decision making early, and I thought Garrett [Greene] was really solid, he ran around and made some scramble plays but was really solid in his decision making."

With Greene being the elder of the two signal-callers, the position is not yet a done deal. It's clear that Brown sees something in both players and it's important to make a solid choice on the leader of your program.

When Nicco brings that clutch factor for two-minute drill situations, and Greene is excelling as a scrambler and in his thought process, it really opens up an avenue for both of these guys to take over the spot.

On defense, Brown was adamant about the development of his players as tacklers and in contact situations, but also acknowledged where some ground was being made by certain players.

Will linebacker Trey Lathan had a great step forward on Saturday and a great practice on Monday, but he needs repetitions. His progress is pleasing to the coaching staff, but in a group full of inexperience at linebacker, he "needs to get ready fast."

In regards to the defensive front however, it's going to by committee and just naturally that will create some fluid position battles as the season goes on. Brown said he wants nine to 11 guys getting snaps in that group and that everyone will contribute. It seems like that philosophy will definitely foster some separation between these players and create a competitive edge.

Although the season opener is over 15 days away, the coaching staff will need to keep an eye out at these battles, because as they compete in practice and in scrimmages, the best will separate themselves.

Brown says it's up to the coaching staff to continue to challenge the players to get better as they start to get comfortable again, but hopefully that'll be a beneficial byproduct of these battles shaping up as the new season grows closer.

----------

• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.

• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.

• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel

• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan

•Like us on Facebook