PFF high on the returning talent on West Virginia's offense
West Virginia football knows they will be returning a lot of talent this fall, and that belief is being driven more by Pro Football Focus and their ratings for the Mountaineers.
PFF has multiple players ranked as some of the best in the Big 12, solidifying the thought of the Mountaineers possibly competing for a Big 12 title, due in large part to how much they return on the offensive side of the ball.
Offensive Line
West Virginia's offensive line has been slowly and steadily built into one of the biggest strengths of the team over Neal Brown's tenure. Last season it was anchored by center and second-round pick Zach Frazier, and this year it could deliver another high pick in the NFL Draft.
Wyatt Milum has started for all three of his seasons in Morgantown, being a force at left tackle for the Mountaineers this past season. He is the second-highest-graded returning offensive tackle in the Big 12, after having a really solid 2023 campaign.
PFF gives Milum an 82.0 pass-blocking grade, and a 74.8 run-blocking grade. In addition, Milum was ranked the fifth-best returning tackle in all of college football by PFF in their top-10 returning offensive tackles.
Running Back
There has been a lot of hype surrounding WVU's running back room, especially towards the end of last season.
A two-back machine in CJ Donaldson and Jahiem White, the Mountaineers are hoping to get similar production from this group just like they did last season.
White came on in the back half of the season for WVU, and was used in both the running game and pass game.
White rushed for a team-high 842 yards as well as having three scores on the ground last season. Through the air, White caught only five passes but turned it into 125 yards and two touchdowns. White's quick speed and smaller frame was beneficial to him during his true freshman season.
Donaldson was used as the power runner, scoring 11 touchdowns and rushing for 798 yards. In addition, he caught nine passes for 59 yards on the season, despite only playing despite missing the bowl game and playing fewer than 20 snaps in two of WVU's games this past season.
PFF ranked Donaldson as WVU's third-best player on offense last season, while White was ranked as WVU's best overall player on offense.
This led to WVU's running back room being ranked as the 10th-best in the country. In the top ten include other Big 12 teams UCF (2nd), Kansas (8th), and Kansas State (9th).
Wide Receiver
While the WVU wide receiver room was one of the youngest last season, they are hoping to take a collective step forward in 2024.
Hudson Clement burst onto the scene with a three-touchdown performance against Duquesne in the second game of the season last year for the Mountaineers and he sustained that success throughout 2023.
Clement finished with 22 catches for 480 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 21.8 yards per catch.
PFF ranks him as the sixth-best returning wide receiver in the league, as he finished as the seventh-best player on WVU's offense.
Tight End
Last offseason, West Virginia went into the transfer portal and grabbed Kole Taylor from LSU.
Taylor, a lengthy and athletic tight end was brought in to try and revitalize what had been an underperforming part of WVU's offense through the first four years of Brown's tenure.
Taylor did just what he was expected to do and added another dynamic to the Mountaineers on offense and in the pass game as well as the run game. Taylor caught a team-high 35 passes for 444 yards and four touchdowns.
Taylor was rated as the second-best returning tight end in the Big 12, as he also played the fifth-most snaps out of anyone on WVU's offense last season. Taylor is graded a 75.5 entering 2024 by PFF.
Quarterback
Last but certainly not least is the guy who ties all of these pieces together and that is quarterback Garrett Greene.
Greene was in his first year starting for the Mountaineers this past season, and he was explosive through the air and on the ground. Greene really only played in 11 games last season, but he was productive throughout 2023.
He passed for 2,406 yards and 16 touchdowns, while throwing only four interceptions. He also rushed for 772 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was graded as the third-best passer in the Big 12 last season, as well as being graded the best runner among all non-running backs in the league.
Greene was ranked the Big 12's best-returning quarterback, ahead of Shedeur Sanders of Colorado and Sam Huard of Utah.
PFF analyst Dalton Wasserman is sold on Greene, "He is one of the best big play machines in the country right now".
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