Over the last couple of weeks, Jed Drenning has been working through West Virginia’s quarterback room on the In The Gun Podcast, breaking down Michael Hawkins Jr. and Scotty Fox Jr. both as passers and as runners.
This time, he shifted back to the Mountaineer backfield and started a three-part film study on Cam Cook, with the first installment focused on one trait above all else: vision.
That’s the same quality head coach Rich Rodriguez pointed to earlier in the week when he compared Cook to Avon Cobourne. Drenning says he shares that view, and notes that the Cook episode was recorded before Rodriguez made his own comparison to the school’s all-time leading rusher.
“Imagine if Quincy Wilson programmed an Adrian Murrell robot to build an Avon Cobourne replica. The result might look like, or at least play a lot like, the 5-foot-9 dynamo who will be toting the rock in a No. 4 jersey at Mountaineer Field this fall," Drenning said.
Drenning framed Cook’s vision as the trait that makes the rest of his game go. He compared it to accuracy for a quarterback, saying a runner can have speed or power, but won’t reach his ceiling if he keeps running into traffic instead of spotting open space.
That ability has helped Cook rank among the nation’s best at forcing missed tackles. And while he does create separation with elusiveness, Drenning said a big part of that success comes from the way Cook reads the play unfold.
The fit at West Virginia, in Drenning’s view, was easy to see once Cook committed out of the transfer portal. Rodriguez has long been a coach who wants to run the ball, and when his offense gets the ground game rolling, it usually leads to a lot of wins.
Drenning said the scheme itself should bring out the best in Cook, especially the zone-heavy approach built into Rodriguez’s power spread.
“Within the design or zone blocking schemes, which Cook was executing on about 75% of his carries at Jax State and which West Virginia leans into so heavily in Coach Rod’s power spread, it can be especially lethal. Instead of just trying to physically overwhelm a defender, zone concepts forge running lanes dynamically.
Empowering an offensive line to flush a defense toward its own instinctive reactions, and in turn, use those reactions against it. Zone blocking prioritizes movement over physically dominating one spot.
Putting a runner with great vision like Cam Cook in position to seize on multiple creases or bounce options on any given play. It’s literally the perfect system to weaponize Cam Cook’s skill set.”
In Other News...
Rich Rodriguez Sees Promise In WVU QBs But One Concern Remains
Fall camp has given Rich Rodriguez enough time to get a read on West Virginias quarterback room, and the early impression is mostly encouraging. The Mountaineers coach said the group has been generally solid as it works through the usual August wrinkles, even if there are still moments where the ball is held a little too long or a passer locks in on a target for too long.
What Rodriguez wants most is cleaner processing, with quarterbacks scanning the field the right way and making faster decisions before the defense can close in. He also plans to keep the live contact to a minimum in preseason, a sign he trusts the groups toughness while still trying to protect it. The talent and development are there, but the final layer of consistency is still the thing he is watching closest. [Read more 🡒]
Former Mountaineer Jordan Harrison Just Took A Huge Step In Portland
Jordan Harrisons path in Portland has already taken a few twists this season, and the former Mountaineer is still finding ways to stick. After arriving following a tryout, she got into four games, was cut, then worked her way back onto the roster on a developmental deal. For a player trying to turn opportunity into something more permanent, every minute has mattered.
Her latest showing gave the Fire another reason to keep her around. Harrison logged a season-high 28 minutes against Seattle and filled the box score with 13 points, seven rebounds, six assists and a steal, the kind of all-around effort that can change how a team views a guard fighting for a spot. It also left Portland with a decision to make about what comes next for a player whose upward climb is getting harder to ignore. [Read more 🡒]