During a 45-3 win over the FCS program Robert Morris, the West Virginia Mountaineers featured four quarterbacks during the game. Come this week, three of those signal callers were among the top rated at their position in the Big 12.
Three WVU football quarterbacks ranked in the top four spots of PFF’s grades for Big 12 Conference quarterbacks after Week 1. Starting quarterback and redshirt junior Nicco Marchiol was the second name on the list of graded quarterbacks in the Big 12 after Week 1, with a 93.6 rating. But surpassing him and taking the top spot was true freshman Scotty Fox Jr., who showcased why he might be the future quarterback in head coach Rich Rodriguez’s offense. With the caveat being that Fox took limited snaps, true freshman received a rating of 97.5 from PFF in his first collegiate game. The last Mountaineer on the list was Texas A&M transfer Jaylen Henderson, with a 92.0 rating in limited action according to PFF.
The snap counts of course vary widely but fun to look at the highest graded Big 12 QBs per PFF right now.
— Jed Drenning (@TheSignalCaller) August 31, 2025
1) 97.5 Scotty Fox, WVU
2) 93.6 Nicco Marchiol, WVU
3) 92.0 Jaylen Henderson, WVU
4) 90.5 Jalon Daniels, Kansas pic.twitter.com/Zw8nX1w6s8
Depth at the QB position is not a bad thing at all
Going into the first game of the season, five quarterbacks were in the mix for the starting job. Marchiol was finally announced as the winner of the competition right before gametime and proved why he earned his starting gig. Although Marchiol earned his starting role, that did not mean that there was not serious talent in the quarterback room. The Week 1 win over Robert Morris proved that claim, with three of the four QBs who saw playing time earning very high PFF grades.
As we have seen in the past for WVU football (and all of college football), injuries are unpredictable and affect every college program. Marchiol benefited by receiving playing last season because of a Garrett Greene injury that gave Marchiol a chance to get his feet wet as a starting quarterback. So, depth at the quarterback is a very nice luxury to have, no matter who you are. Look at powerful college football programs such as Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Texas, Clemson, and others—a lot of those top-tier programs have options behind their starting quarterbacks.
Henderson and Fox Jr. can provide that much-needed depth at quarterback. Henderson is a proven college quarterback, racking up 768 passing yards, six passing touchdowns, 210 rushing yards, and two rushing touchdowns in his 11 career games at Fresno State, Texas A&M, and now WVU.
As for Fox Jr., he was a highly touted dual-threat quarterback coming out of high school. Fox Jr. was rated a four-star prospect by Rivals, listed as the 13th-best player in Ohio and the number eight dual-threat quarterback in the nation by Rivals.
The old saying that says “if you have multiple quarterbacks, that means you don’t have any” may not be as accurate as many believe it to be. Look at some Alabama quarterback rooms that also had competition. There was a time when Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa were battling for a starting quarterback job. Flash forward some years, and they are both talented starting quarterbacks in the NFL.
Now, let’s be clear, I am not comparing the WVU quarterback room to the Alabama quarterback room with Hurts and Tagovailoa. But what I am saying is that you can have options at the QB position and still have someone that you believe in.