Quick Study
June 30, 2008 08:53 AM | General
June 30, 2008
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| Starks |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – While Bradley Starks will be the first to tell you that he would prefer to be throwing the passes rather than catching them, the Unionville, Va., native plans to take full advantage of his opportunity to get on the field at wide receiver this fall.
With a team that was short on playmaking receivers and deep at quarterback, new Head Coach Bill Stewart decided to move his third-string quarterback to wide receiver in the spring. The results were encouraging with Starks making a flurry of catches and athletic plays.
The 6-foot-3-inch, 185-pound redshirt freshman presents an appealing target for Pat White. With his size and leaping ability (he was a state qualifier in the high jump at Orange County High), he has the ability to go up and get the ball and he gives the quarterback some room for error in his throws.
“I’ve got to get that trust factor down with Pat where he knows that any time he needs me I’m there,” Starks said. “He needs to be able to count on me for big plays.”
That’s why the summer is so important for guys like Starks. After only playing receiver for a couple of months, he will use the summer to work on seven-on-seven drills with the quarterbacks and receivers to make sure everyone is on the same page when fall camp opens in August. The drills are not supervised but they do provide an opportunity for the players to work together.
“Chemistry is very important for us this summer. We’ve got to get the offense down because it’s new,” Starks said. “Every chance we have to get out there and work we need to do it to try and get better.”
Starks is a quick study. In terms of learning the offense, he contends that he has all the plays and routes down and now it is simply a matter of practice and repetition.
“I can say I pretty much know all of it. It’s an easy, fun offense to pick up so once you learn it you can’t lose it,” Starks said.
The former all-state quarterback explains that the offense is easy to pick up because the players genuinely enjoy it and there are multiple looks to the same plays.
“You are not going to know where it’s coming from depending on how we line up and where we motion in to and what we motion out of,” Starks said. “Those are going to be big things to look forward to in this season coming up. You can run one play out of five or six different formations that we have.”
With the West Virginia offense expected to be more balanced this year, Starks has noticed that all the wide receivers are excited about the opportunities being presented in 2008.
“We’re doing a lot more passing. There is more motivation as a receiver now because you know you’re going to get the ball,” Starks said. “It’s going to be in the air this year. Things are changing.”
West Virginia worked tirelessly this spring trying to attack the middle of the field in the passing game, something that Mountaineer fans haven’t seen in recent years. From now on if the middle of the field is wide open, offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen plans to take full advantage.
“We learned where to get to at certain times and how to get to the middle and that deep middle area and expose the defense,” Starks said. “We want to always be able to take what the defense is giving us.”
Some fans fear that increasing the number of passes thrown this year could lead to turnovers and make the Mountaineers’ vaunted running attack less dominate than in years past. Starks doesn’t see it that way. He salivates at the thought of an offense that will now be able to force defenses to defend the entire field.
“The Big East has not really seen West Virginia and its throwing ability. I think this year it’s really going to surprise a lot of people,” Starks said. “If you add play action to this running game it could be scary.”
Coming from the quarterback spot, Starks has enjoyed an inherent advantage with his understanding of defenses and coverages already established.
“I can tell what a defense is in before they even try to disguise it,” Starks said. “I can be in that right spot where I know Pat wants me to be because from playing quarterback myself, I know where I want a receiver to be.”
Of course the change from quarterback to reciever hasn’t been without its challenges for Starks. At just 185 pounds he is trying to add weight this summer while nailing down the finer points of run blocking from the receiver position.
“I’ve been in the weight room trying to put on pounds. I think I need to just get stronger with my blocking and be more physical at the line in trying to get off the defenders,” Starks said. “The jams were never really too hard to get off, it is just a matter of being more physical as a blocker when we’re running the ball.”
As for one day throwing the passes again rather than catching them, Starks doesn’t hesitate when asked if he hopes to return to quarterback next year and in the years to come.
“Absolutely,” he said
While he may be behind center in the years ahead, look for Bradley Starks to be the catcher rather than the pitcher in 2008.
