2019 NFL Draft Prospects: Quarterbacks - Will Grier, West Virginia

After throwing for a nation-leading 77(!) touchdowns with almost 5000 yards through the air and over 1200 on the ground with 13 more scores, Grier decided to join Florida as a highly sought-after recruit. He redshirted his first year with the Gators and won all five games he started the following season. However, he was suspended by the NCAA in 2015 for taking performance-enhancing substitutes and after feeling unwanted by the team’s coaches, he transferred to West Virginia.

He immediately was successful in the Big XII, throwing 34 touchdowns compared to twelve 12 INTs on 317.3 passing yards per game. Last season he was a second-team all-conference selection only behind Heisman trophy winner Kyler Murray, as Grier was long considered a finalist for the award due to 3864 passing yards for 38 touchdowns compared to eight interceptions.

Grier can fling it all over the field and led one of the most high-powered offenses in the country after transferring to WVU. He feels comfortable spreading defenses out and having space to operate, with receiver-stacks or trips-formations into the boundary. He has the precision to fit the ball in-between defenders as well as being able to put the necessary air under it to drop it right into the bucket for his receivers, as they can put their arms out in front and not break stride at all.

Grier understands when to drive or lob throws, the necessary arc and when to put it to the back-shoulder. He has learned how to work with a big-bodied receiver in David Sills, putting the ball high and away from trailing defenders and into spots where only that guy could catch it. Those two had an incredible connection leading to almost 2000 yards and 33 touchdowns since the start of 2017.

Grier finished 2018 with 9.7 yards per attempt, showcasing his ability to stretch the field, as he led the nation with yards (2850), touchdown (36) and big-time throws (54) on passes that travelled at least 20 yards through the air.

I would call Grier a calculated gunslinger for the most part, showing adequate aggressiveness to make plays downfield and he delivers some beautiful balls in the vertical game. You see him bouncing on his heels constantly and his eyes are trained to stay downfield. He excels on deep over and skinny post routes and he can really take advantage of the seams against single-high safety alignments, plus he excels at looking off safeties to clear space for the receiver to come down with the ball.

Grier can also speed up the throwing process under immediate pressure and not really have his accuracy suffer a lot on check-downs. The former Mountaineer has better mobility than he gets credit for. He shows a good feel for the pocket and how to maximize his space within it, but he can also be creative on the move and pick up crucial yards with his feet. He shows the ability to throw the ball down the field off platform and lay it over the top of somebody.

Grier is a gamer, who will step up in his team’s most important matchups. In a showoff of top-20 teams versus Texas he delivered a perfect strike to Gary Jennings and scored the game-winning two-point conversion on a quarterback draw. Overall he won 20 of 28 starts for the Gators and Mountaineers.

As much as I like the mental process with Grier overall, I think he also attempts too many ill-advised throws off his back-foot with the rush in his face. He made some highly questionable decisions versus Kansas last season and turned the ball over three times at the goal-line. At times I would like to see him not play hero-ball and just live for another down.

Grier benefitted a lot from lay-ups and screen passes in Dana Holgerson’s Air-Raid offense and on some routes he needed to see receivers actually be open before letting the ball go. If he waits for somebody to come back to him on a curl route in the NFL it will already be too late and there’s a good chance a defensive back is taking it the other way.

Grier simply lacks NFL size and has limited athleticism to escape the rush, being caught down low on several occasions. He also waves the ball around way too much as a scrambler and needs to learn how to avoid big hits in the open field. Altogether he fumbled 14 times in twice as many games. I thought struggled to find consistent accuracy early on in Senior Bowl team drills.

Grier was an interesting evaluation for me. With these Big XII guys who you see sling it all over the field against poor defenses, you are often very skeptical. There are certainly some decisions that shouldn’t have been made and I think Grier presents something rather average physically, but he is a better prospect than he gets credit for. His dropbacks are smooth, he is slippery within the pocket and definitely not afraid to push the ball down the field.

Grade: Early Third