A Little Know-Howe: Could Time in Slot Hurt Crest's Development - WVU's Quarterback of the Future?
By Brad Howe on May 02, 2015
There wasn't much news coming out of West Virginia's spring football practice for nearly a month. No major injuries, no real significant storylines.
That all changed on the opening possession of the Gold-Blue game last Saturday.
The news wasn't that heralded redshirt freshman William Crest was on the field with the first-team offense. Crest has been hailed as the 
next great West Virginia quarterback. Most expected to see him on the field with the first-team offense sooner rather than later.
next great West Virginia quarterback. Most expected to see him on the field with the first-team offense sooner rather than later.
However, as the team took the field and Crest trotted into position, the story became apparent. William Crest lined up, not in the shotgun as the quarterback, but in the slot as a receiver.
We've been hearing about and waiting for William Crest to take the field for what seems like a decade. He's been on West Virginia's radar for years and his signing was met with excitement both inside and outside of the program.
After getting a brief glimpse of Crest under center last year during the Towson game, he then was relegated to the bench, taking a redshirt year after sustaining a shoulder injury. Dana Holgorsen used the words "jacked up" to describe Crest's injury.
After the year Clint Trickett had in 2014, especially through the first seven games, Crest red-shirting seemed like a good move.
Give him a year to learn the system. A year to take reps without the pressure of having to bring it to the playing field as a true freshman.
The conventional wisdom was that Crest would be ready to take the reins in 2015.
Well, apparently conventional wisdom doesn't count for much. Without so much as a hint of a possible position change, there was Crest lined up in the slot with the first team offense to start the scrimmage.
We know West Virginia is in serious need of replacements for Kevin White and Mario Alford. Those two combined for 21 of west Virginia's 26 receiving touchdowns last year.
We heard Dana Holgorsen tell us two weeks ago that Skyler Howard was the "clear cut number one guy" at quarterback.
That said, seeing the quarterback of the future change positions before we even get to summer camp was shocking.
I get the rational. Crest appears to be a terrific athlete. In fact, I was surprised how comfortable he looked at receiver. Holgorsen explained after the scrimmage that if Crest was going to be the backup quarterback, it just made sense to find a way to get him on the field, rather than sit on the sideline.
On the surface that makes sense. Especially when West Virginia seems to be in need of playmakers. If Crest can be one from the receiver position or out of the backfield as we saw on Saturday, great. Turn him loose.
Here's the flip side though ... coaches tell us all the time how important reps are to a players development. If Crest is going to play receiver, it stands to reason his reps at quarterback will decrease significantly. Holgorsen says he will still spend time in the quarterback room, but obviously not as much as he would if he were ONLY a quarterback.
Can Crest blossom into an all-time great at quarterback while playing receiver? That seems unlikely, at best. I guess you could argue Trevone Boykin at TCU has done pretty well bouncing between receiver and quarterback over the past few years.
Outside of Boykin, no one else comes to mind. I can't think of a player that switched his position for a year, then went back to his original position and became a great player. We've seen guys switch positions and go on to be productive. Jerry Porter played multiple positions at West Virginia, ended up being drafted as a receiver and turned in a solid nine year NFL career.
If you can think of someone I'm missing, send me a tweet: @bradhowe07 or leave a comment below. I'm looking for a skill position player that left his original position only to return to that position and become a highly productive player.
If Crest isn't the quarterback of the future, what's next for the Mountaineers? Will freshmen David Sills or Chris Chuganov blossom into multi-year starters, all-conference type performers?
There's no question the lack of a program defining quarterback has been a blemish on Holgorsen's resume since arriving in Morgantown. For a guy that made his name on the offensive side of the ball and given all of the success from the quarterback position at Holgorsen's previous stops, one has to wonder why West Virginia hasn't landed a game changer at the position yet.
Paul Millard never materialized as a starter. Ford Childress was talked up, had one good game (albeit against a terrible Georgia State team), got injured and left the program. And now the much ballyhooed recruit from Baltimore, William Crest is playing receiver.
The spring started with no significant news. It sure didn't end that way.
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