WKU Football: Maryland Grad Transfer QB Tyrrell Pigrome joins Hilltoppers
WKU’s pursuit of a grad transfer quarterback finally ended on Saturday afternoon as Maryland grad transfer quarterback Tyrrell (Piggy)…
WKU’s pursuit of a grad transfer quarterback finally ended on Saturday afternoon as Maryland grad transfer quarterback Tyrrell (Piggy) Pigrome announced that he’ll be joining the Hilltopper program
Pigrome is a 5'10 209 pound dual-threat quarterback that was a part-time starter (7 games) during four seasons for the Terrapins. Over those four seasons, Pigrome passed for 1777 yards, 9 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions while rushing for 630 yards and 8 touchdowns.
Pigrome is from Birmingham and was the 2015 Gatorade player of the year in Alabama as a senior. Maryland has struggled with quarterback injuries for the past half-decade and Pigrome has split time with other starters such as Perry Hills (2016), Kasim Hill (2018) & Josh Jackson (2019).
Despite the mediocre numbers above, Pigrome has had several big moments during his career. After winning the starting job in 2017 he led Maryland to a 51–41 win at #23 Texas where he accumulated 239 total yards and 3 touchdowns.
He tore his ACL in the victory and was lost for the season. He lost the starting job in 2018 to Hill but started the last three games after Hill got injured almost leading the Terps to an upset of #10 Ohio State.
Last season he got beat out for the starting job by the Virginia Tech transfer Jackson but appeared in 11 games (starting 3) going 1–2 as a starter. In games he didn’t start, he was used as a change of pace and run specialist. Here’s a big run he broke against Purdue.
With Jackson back, Pigrome decided to spend his last year of eligibility elsewhere. He will have to beat out returnees Davis Shanley & Kevaris Thomas for the starting job as well as newcomers Darius Ocean and Grady Robison.
Pigrome has a similar profile to last year's grad transfer Ty Storey who didn’t wow with his numbers at Arkansas (11 TDs & 10 Ints as a junior) but did show signs of being a good player at the P5 level. Pigrome will give WKU an added dimension of speed at the quarterback position. Ty Storey ran the ball a lot but didn’t have the home run potential that Pigrome has.
It’s not a given that he’ll beat out the aforementioned competition, without spring ball the quarterback position is a big question mark after Storey’s graduation and Steven Duncan’s unexpected departure. This situation reminds me a lot of last season when Helton brought in an experienced grad transfer to bring stability and depth to the position and push the returnees. Ty Storey didn’t beat Duncan during fall camp but did take over when he got hurt exceeding expectations to lead WKU to 8 wins in their last 10 games and win the CUSA Newcomer of the Year award.
Regardless of what happens during the quarterback competition, it is great to have Pigrome’s experience, playmaking abilities, and hopefully leadership on the depth chart. WKU has a loaded team back that should compete for the Conference USA title in 2020 if they figure out the quarterback position. It will be exciting to see what Piggy will do during his one season in Bowling Green.