MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Could there be a bootleg in Paul Millard’s future? Or a QB draw? How about a scramble for any sort of positive yardage?
The senior quarterback—heckled by coaches and even himself for his lack of acceleration—said he’s aiming to lose another 10 pounds in order to help his quickness. Maybe enough to better his career per-carry average of minus-3.3 yards.
“I definitely want to lose some more weight, so I can move better,” said Millard, who’s listed at 6-2, 219 pounds. “But it’s going to be a tough road for me. It’s a bad genetic thing. I don’t want to blame my parents, but, shoot—it’s rough.”
As a straight pocket passer, Millard suddenly is the odd man out in West Virginia’s quarterback battle. Clint Trickett has decent enough quickness to extend plays, and junior-college transfer Skyler Howard was elusive enough to warrant tailback reps at Stephen F. Austin. Summertime enrollee William Crest was among the nation’s top-rated dual-threat quarterbacks in the 2014 recruiting class.
Primarily Millard seeks better mobility to dodge blitzers, but he joked that fans might be surprised by what they see from his sleeker version.
“You know, running for touchdowns,” he said. “I did it in high school. Haven’t done it in college yet, but this could be the year.”
Watch Millard’s complete post-practice interview above.