MORGANTOWN — Everybody knew that there would be two wide receivers NFL scouts would want to see at WVU’s Pro Day this offseason, multi-year starters Sam James and Bryce Ford-Wheaton. The only thing people didn’t know was who would be throwing them the ball.
Then-offensive coordinator Graham Harrell served as Pro Day quarterback last season, but with him taking a new job at Purdue, the spot was open.
Luckily, there was someone available who James and Ford-Wheaton already had a connection with, former WVU signal-caller Jarret Doege.
“We were probably three weeks out from here and we needed a quarterback, we needed somebody to throw,” James said after the Pro Day Monday afternoon. “We thought of Doege and that was the perfect fit. We had already caught balls from him before, we had that connection with him.”
Doege spent three seasons at WVU, two as a full-time starter, after transferring from Bowling Green before the 2019 season. He played in 27 games for the Mountaineers, throwing for 6,453 yards and 40 touchdowns with a 64.8% completion percentage.
“It was good to be back, it was good to throw to Bryce and Sam again,” Doege said. “I put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this place and I’m just grateful that I got to do this pro day.
“I called Coach Mike (Joseph), Patrick (Johnston) and Coach (Neal) Brown and they allowed me to come up here and I’m grateful that they did.”
The existing chemistry between Doege and the receivers was obvious from the jump. Very few, if any, balls ended up hitting the ground when Doege was throwing James’ and Ford-Weathon’s way on Monday.
“It was fun, me and Doege had a connection for so long,” Ford-Wheaton said. “He came up here on Thursday and we threw Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We didn’t really need to do much else, we already knew we had the timing down because we played together for so long.”
Without any real in-house options, James said being able to bring in someone he and Ford-Wheaton already knew like Doege made a big difference.
“It would probably have been bad today if we just had a guy we didn’t know throw it,” he said. “It was great having him back here having him throw because Doege is a good quarterback and he has a good arm on him.”
Doege transferred again after the 2021 season, this time to Western Kentucky. After not winning the starting job there, Doege landed at Troy, where he threw for 575 yards and five touchdowns this past season. Now with an eye on the pros, Doege said he’s going to continue to play for as long as he can before following in his father’s and brother’s footsteps and becoming a coach.
“I’ve been through a lot of adversity in my career and learned a lot,” Doege said. “At the end of the day, I can look back and say that I’ve thrown for 11,000 yards, started 48 games and thrown 84 touchdowns and say it’s a pretty good career. I’m not done playing football right now, I’m going to continue to play for as long as I can before I jump into coaching when it’s time.”
Rasheed Marshall joins in full-time role
Prior to the Pro Day activities, WVU head coach Neal Brown announced that the team has hired former Mountaineer great Rasheed Marshall into a full-time role as the director of player relations.
“I got to know him over the last four years and he’s been involved in different aspects of our Fifth Quarter program,” Brown said. “When the job opened up, he expressed interest and I’m excited to bring him in-house.”
The position was previously held by former WVU player Osman Kamara, who recently took a job with the University of Oregon as the director of player development.
Marshall was a three-year starting quarterback for the Mountaineers from 2002-04, throwing for 5,098 yards with 42 touchdowns while running for 1,863 yards and 24 more scores. He was named Big East Offensive Player of the Year for his senior season in 2004, throwing for 1,426 yards, running for 684 and scoring 20 total touchdowns.
“He’s not only been a great player here, he’s done really well professionally,” Brown said. “He wanted to be a part of the program. He loves West Virginia and is passionate about developing young people.”
Big 12 Pro Day
Monday was the last time WVU will hold its Pro Day in Morgantown for the foreseeable future.
Starting in 2024, the Big 12 will host a combined Pro Day in Frisco, Texas. Every draft-eligible player from all member schools will be invited to attend.
“I think that’s going to make it a marquee event,” Brown said. “I think (Big 12 commissioner) Brett (Yormark) has brought some out-of-the-box ideas to our league and I think that can only help.”
Brown said the biggest advantage to the combined Pro Day will be the number of eyes that will be on the players.
“We’ve got 29 (NFL) teams here (Monday),” Brown said. “There’ll be 32 and there will be multiple people from each team be there (in Texas). It’s going to be copycatted, I have no doubt it’s going to be copycatted.”
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