Completion percentage is still the primary focus for Greene entering 2024
It was a similar message from West Virginia quarterback Garrett Greene.
Since the conclusion of the 2023 season, completion percentage has been the focus for Greene as well as head coach Neal Brown. Greene was one of the most dynamic players at his position last season, but the one thing that held him back was his 53 percent completion percentage, by far the worst in the Big 12.
"First of all, he’s an elite runner. Averaged over six yards per carry and he’s extremely fast. He throws the deep ball probably better than anybody I’ve coached. He has great touch. The problem with him last year was we were home run or incompletion," Brown said.
"He’s got to be a more efficient passer so when you look at him, he was 53 percent last year, I think he could really make a big jump. That’s something we’ve worked on since January, I think he could make a jump upwards of being in the low 60’s (completion percentage). If he does that, we’re going to be better on third down, we’re going to be better in the red zone and so I really feel even though he had a great year last year, there’s a significant opportunity for him to make huge improvement going into the [2024] season."
Greene is the first to admit his numbers weren't where they needed to be last season as far as completing passes. The ones that hurt Greene the most were the shorter throws, as in the back half of the season, a majority of WVU's pass plays ended up being downfield throws.
"I think the big one was the short and intermediate throws. My misses on those wasn’t an arm thing, it was just my feet," Greene said. "Really the last two, three months, working a lot with David Morris down in QB country, really honing in on my feet, kind of the small mechanics that lead to big jumps."
Those mechanical adjustments will hopefully elevate Greene and the offense along with it.
"I think along with the mechanics side of it, just not making dumb throws whether you’re forcing it, taking a check down because they all count to the same," Greene said.
For Greene, the ideal number is 65 in terms of completion percentage. As far as last season, a 65 percent completion percentage would've ranked Greene in the top three in the conference, but even a 63-64 completion percentage would rank him in the top five.
"This year I want to be above 65 percent completion percentage. That’s where I’d love to be and then keep the running the same," Greene said.
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