Size, length in pass catchers helps Greene, West Virginia
West Virginia wanted to get more size and length in their pass-catching units. Mission accomplished.
The Mountaineers added a pair of transfers to the wide receiver room in former Oklahoma State pass-catcher Jaden Bray and former Mississippi State pass-catcher Justin Robinson.
Bray, 6-foot-2, 205-pounds, spent the spring with the football program allowing him to work with senior quarterback Garrett Greene while Robinson, 6-foot-4, 218-pounds, arrived in the summer.
“They did a great job ever since they got here on finding time to either catch routes or run our plays and watch tape just so we can get on the same page,” Greene said.
Robinson stands out on his size alone and started his career at Georgia prior to transferring to play for the Bulldogs where he hauled in 53 receptions for 601 yards and four touchdowns over two seasons.
Meanwhile, Bray collected 48 grabs for 686 yards and four scores in his three years with the Cowboys.
And the connection with the two has built over time with Greene.
That’s on top of what the program already had in sophomores Traylon Ray and Hudson Clement who both stand at least 6-foot-1 and are just under 200-pounds.
“Those are guys with size and length. We’ve had one when Bryce (Ford-Wheaton) was here. Sean Ryan had that, but we haven’t had just a lot of size and length in that room,” head coach Neal Brown said.
And that doesn’t even include the tight end position where the Mountaineers leading returning pass-catcher senior Kole Taylor is back. Taylor, 6-foot-7, 255-pounds, finished last season with 35 catches for 444 yards and four touchdowns and should be primed for an even bigger role this coming season.
And that doesn’t even include other big bodies at the position such as junior college transfer Gregory Genross who stands 6-foot-6, 235-pounds or true freshman Jack Sammarco at 6-foot-5, 238-pounds.
The advantages of the bigger-bodied pass catchers are obvious as it allows for the quarterback to put the ball up and allow the size and athleticism to take over. It also helps in contested catch situations.
“You don’t have to be perfect. If I was throwing to myself out there, the quarterback would have to be pretty damn perfect. But throwing to guys like Kole, J-Rob, even Jaden Bray and Greg their catch radius is huge so you just kind of got to put it on them and they’ll come down with it,” Greene said.
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