2019 NFL Draft: Will Grier’s stock on the rise after big opener
Though the 2019 NFL Draft quarterback class isn’t as renowned as 2018, Will Grier appears on his way to becoming a starter for some NFL team very soon.
The 2018 NFL Draft class had five first-round quarterbacks, and that’s obviously going to be very tough for the class of 2019 to live up to. West Virginia’s Will Grier is trying to make sure he establishes himself as one first-round player at the position eligible for next year’s draft.
Though the 2019 class is not as loaded as 2018, Grier could really prove himself to be a gem.
He looked the part against Tennessee in week one of the college football season.
Grier completed 73.5 percent of his passes for 429 yards and five touchdowns.
More importantly, he didn’t throw any interceptions.
Grier looked uncomfortable in the pocket at times and made some overthrows in this game, but for the most part, you couldn’t ask for much more from him in terms of what he provided as a playmaker at the position.
Grier is efficient and effective in Dana Holgorson’s offense, but it’s clear in watching him play that he’s not simply a product of it. Some players are products of the college system in which they play, but other players enhance the system because of their talent.
That should be obvious, but it’s one of the main reasons guys like Baker Mayfield were vastly underrated as NFL prospects until his senior season. Many felt like Mayfield was simply the product of a great college system. The same was true for Patrick Mahomes who was considered the next in a long line of ‘just another Texas Tech’ quarterbacks.
There’s a stigma with college quarterbacks in certain systems, but Grier is very clearly a player who elevates the system he’s operating.
That, and having three or four NFL-caliber wide receivers helps a lot.
I fully expect Grier to put up Heisman numbers all season long. He has completed over 65 percent of his passes between his one season at Florida and one at West Virginia, and he is accurate to every level of the field.
One of the best attributes Grier brings to the table is his ability to turn on and off the ‘backyard QB’ switch. There are times when Grier will abandon the structure of a play, but only when he absolutely needs to. We saw that a couple of times in this game against Tennessee where he finds his way out of trouble with the pocket collapsing.
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Most of the time, however, Grier isn’t looking to make those types of ‘backyard’ plays. He operates the offense and reads the defense exceptionally well. He consistently makes the correct read and understands when to put zip on the ball and when to put air under it.
He will be heavily scrutinized over the course of this season, but Grier has displayed qualities of a first-round quarterback with moxie, arm talent, mobility, and accuracy.