West Virginia has depth, looks for it to show at wide receiver

West Virginia played 76 total offensive snaps in the season opener.

But at the wide receiver position that was split between only five different options. Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Sam James each played 70-snaps a piece, while Kaden Prather was next in line with 45.

Behind the expected starting trio, the snaps were distributed with Reese Smith playing 32 and Cortez Braham playing only 13 snaps over the course of the contest.

The tree narrowed even further in terms of receptions with only Ford-Wheaton and James hauling in more than two passes and only four total receivers catching a ball.

Ford-Wheaton led the way with 9 receptions on a 16 total targets resulting in 97 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while James hauled in 5 passes for 50 yards. Ford-Wheaton, a redshirt junior, operated as the clear top option in the passing game and that only reinforces how he’s played in practice.

While his performance was obviously somewhat marred with the drop that resulted in an interception on the next to last drive, he consistently fought for the ball in contested situations and made almost as many in that category against Pittsburgh (5) than he had all of last season (6).

“He’s been a different guy as far as work ethic and the level of play has increased,” he said.

The other two that snagged balls combined for only 4 catches for 31 yards leaving some questions about what the offense has at the position.

Some of that has to come from James and Prather, who struggled to make a major impact. But the group as a whole dealt with drops and inconsistency.

“We’ve got to get them some more opportunities and they can do a better job getting open as well,” Brown said.

But the rest must come from other options on the roster such as Braham who was able to see limited snaps and junior college addition Jeremiah Aaron who didn’t see the field. He battled an injury during fall camp which limited his development but Brown believes he can factor into the rotation which would be a plus given his overall athleticism and speed at the position.

Still, even with the short list of options, Brown believes that the room is talented enough to become more of a factor moving forward outside of just the top targets.

“We’ve got enough guys. We’re talented enough in that room we just have to be more consistent making plays which we believe we will,” he said.

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