WKU Football: Insight on Jarret Doege From The Smoking Musket
West Virginia’s SB Nation site answered some questions we had about WKU’s new quarterback
The Tops just picked up a massive transfer from West Virginia but if you’re like me, you might not keep up with or know a whole lot about the Mountaineers or Big XII football in general.
Stats on paper (or on a screen) can only say so much so we got the help of Jordan Pinto at The Smoking Musket, WVU’s SB Nation affiliate, to answer some questions we had about Jarret Doege. Be sure to check out The Smoking Musket’s website as well as their Twitter account (they are an A+ follow) so be sure to go check out Jordan’s work there as well as his personal Twitter account.
Let’s see what he has to say about Doege.
The Towel Rack: Looking at the last three seasons that Doege was at WVU, how would you say his career as a Mountaineer went? Good? Bad? Just average?
Jordan Pinto: Doege's Mountaineer career was just average, but it was average in the way that a rollercoaster has an average height, if that makes sense. There was some good, some bad, and some blah in the middle. I will say that his highs were undoubtedly high, but his lows cancelled a lot of that out in the eyes of the fans.
TTR: With the way that the 2021 season ended for WVU, how surprised were the people in Morgantown that Doege announced he was transferring?
JP: I don't think folks were all that surprised, especially after Doege laid his second consecutive egg in a bowl game. It would be interesting to see what the sentiment would've been if he'd come out and lit Minnesota on fire in Phoenix, but ultimately I think it was a good time for both parties to turn the page. Mountaineer Nation had just soured on the offense after two years of up and down performances and as the quarterback Doege shouldered a lot of the blame for that.
TTR: What would you say Doege’s strengths are in the pocket? His weaknesses?
JP: The term "arm talent" gets thrown around a bit much for my taste, but it's clear that Doege is good at throwing footballs when he's given time to set his feet and assess the situation. His 87.1 PFF passing grade when kept clean ranked 43rd nationally among FBS quarterbacks with at least 250 dropbacks and he put in some very good performances for us when our offensive line was on its game. The problems come when he's pressured and that pass grade drops to 29.4, good for 132nd among the same set of QBs. The issue there is that he's not at all mobile and is keenly aware of it, and when teams were able to get to him early his eyes would drop and he'd start looking for the pass rush instead of going through his reads.
TTR: WKU just had one of the top passing offenses in college football this season. How could you see him fitting into the system that head coach Tyson Helton has established in Bowling Green?
JP: I actually think Doege's going to do really well at Western. First off, your pass protection numbers are ridiculous - literally the best team in the country in terms of sack and pressure percentage (17 sacks and 91 pressures in 730 dropbacks?!? Seems fake). Bailey Zappe also had one of the fastest times to throw in America, and I think Doege was at his best when the ball was coming out quickly and in rhythm. You would know better than I which of those numbers represents the chicken and which is the egg, but either way it seems like your offense it set up to mitigate Doege's weaknesses and bring out the best version of him.
TTR: Fill in the blank: Doege will flourish at WKU if he can _______.
JP: Get comfortable behind the Hilltopper offensive line. I don't know how many guys you're bringing back up front from this year's group, but if Doege's not worried about getting hit then I think you'll be happy with his production.
We’re thankful for Jordan’s time to answer some of our questions so we can learn more about Jarret Doege! Be sure to go check out The Smoking Musket.