Will The Redskins Try And Solve The Impossible Case Of Will Grier?

Hogs Haven takes a look at 2019 NFL Draft prospects who could contribute to the Redskins

Will Grier, QB
School: West Virginia | Conference: BIG 12
College Experience: RS Senior | Age: 24
Height / Weight: 6-2 / 217 lbs
Projected Draft Status: 2nd or 3rd Round
NFL Comparison: Garrett Grayson

College Statistics

Player Overview

Will Grier was a 4-star prospect from Davidson, North Carolina who originally committed to the Florida Gators. Grier was the best QB Florida had had since Tim Tebow and got off to a promising start in Gainesville before he was suspended for the rest of the season for testing positive for a banned substance. Accordion to Grier, the situation left him in the doghouse with then head coach Jim McElwain and McElwain no longer wanted him. Grier says he really wanted to return but that his coach had already picked Luke Del Rio to play the following season and was focused on landing Feleipe Franks in recruitment. Grier left and transferred to West Virginia. After sitting out a year due to transfer rules Grier restarted his college career at WVU. Grier had a prolific career at West Virginia. He is 3rd in school history in all time passing yardage. He is second in school history in passing touchdowns. He is the leader in passer rating in school history. Grier is a polarizing prospect. Whats on paper and what the analytics show are off the charts. But taking a deeper look you can see holes in his game. The big question? Can he improve? Can he learn how to play with more complex concepts and under pressure? Can he be an NFL quarterback? Some team will be wiling to spend a high round pick to find out.

Strengths

• Shows quick and accurate release. Timing of throws looks good so does touch. Makes a living on short one-read timed throws. Willing to take chances downfield when they present themselves. Sets feet and base and can deliver the ball accurately on those deep throws.
• Has the maturity to go to his second and third options when the first isn’t there. Decent innate ability to sense pressure and move up and around the pocket to find space to operate. When under pressure he keeps his eyes downfield. Well protected at WVU so he doesn’t have the yips. Willing to be patient and wait until routes develop and works with his receivers when they improvise.
• Arm strength and velocity is adequate. He’ll be able to make most of the key throws a starting caliber QB should. Shows decent mobility on the run and ball accuracy doesn’t suffer too much.
• Viewed a a mature leader who is willing to take ownership of mistakes and work to improve himself. Reportedly has good rallying presence in the locker room.

Weaknesses

• Benefited and took advantage of just about every opportunity (as he should have) Dana Holgerson’s scheme gave him. Offense was based on quick one read timing throws as well and working to get a man open downfield. Didn’t face much pressure and when he did more times than not he held onto the ball for too long.
• Anticipation must improve when his guys downfield are challenged in coverage. He tends to just chuck it up and most of the time his guys got enough separation to haul it in. That is not going to work in the NFL and if he doesn’t learn to read the cues of more capable defensive backs playing tight coverage he could be in for a lot of trouble in the way of turnovers.
• Mechanics are inconsistent especially on the rare occasions he was faced with pressure. At times he looked great other times his throwing motion changes launch point is loose and inconsistent. He has footwork issues and needs to be mindful of his backfoot lining up with the throw.
• Arm strength is just ok. He really has a cap at around 50 yards or so and definitely will be limited by scheme and situation in the NFL.
• Processing on delayed pressure is slow. 7 fumbles in his career.
• Older prospect at 24 years old.

Let’s see his work:

More Will Grier videos

CAR is strongly linked to WVU QB Will Grier. His EPA per drop back was 2nd in the draft class according to SIS.

Game on the line 4th quarter in Austin, Grier pulls off arguably his best throw in his career. pic.twitter.com/1EAodb2UJN

— Billy Marshall (@BillyM_91) April 13, 2019

Will Grier frequently makes plays like these:
- Processes defense quickly
- Reads DB-WR leverage
- Throws on-time, anticipating open window
- Feels rush, stands in to make the necessary throw
- Delivers a strike 35 yards downfield pic.twitter.com/nlg1RWtGPb

— J Moyer (@JMoyerFB) April 13, 2019

West Virginia QB Will Grier going through his progressions to complete a pass over the middle in a muddy pocket #WVU #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/QZ0vMnb3DS

— Brian Johannes (@Draft_Brian) July 23, 2018

Matt Waldman’s RSP Film Room No.134: QB Will Grier (West Virginia) with @MarkSchofield https://t.co/9ExWjhTd1Z pic.twitter.com/FNKX9BTnoH

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) March 15, 2019

Grade

Size (out of 10) | Not just height/weight. Russell Wilson and Baker Mayfield would be a 6 or 7 here because they’re thickly built and take hits well.

Grade: 6.5 | Grier has decent size but isn’t physically imposing on the field and doesn’t have much musculature.

Arm Talent (out of 10) | Arm Talent is mostly raw strength of the arm, but also ability to throw different types of balls (bullets, touch passes, etc.) and from different angles/platforms. Mahomes is a god at this -- 9 or 10 raw strength but also a magician from different arm angles. Pennington couldn’t throw 40 yards.

Grade: 6.5 | Grier gets this grade because I am considering his touch. His arm strength is pretty limited and I don’t think I’ve seen him chuck it more than 50 yards. Release points need work.

Accuracy (out of 15) | Pretty self-explanatory. One of the most important traits of a good QB. Ability to place the ball where they want on the receiver at all levels of the field. Also interception %.

Grade: 13 | Accuracy is easily Griers best trait. He is on target with the vast majority of his throws and has demonstrated that he can hit guys in between the numbers and place for them in good sport to go get. He had and excellent TD/INT ratio and completion % in school.

Mobility (out of 10) | Not just straight line speed, but escapability and maneuverability in the pocket.

Grade: 6 | He looks like he’s laboring when he’s running and he isn’t very fast but I give him credit for maneuvering in the pocket.

Mental Processing (out of 15) | Ability to read defenses, make pre-snap adjustments, and go through progressions after the ball is snapped to make decisions quickly. Peyton and Brady are examples of coaches on the field.

Grade: 9 | This is really hard to gauge because of the lack of pressure and some of the soft coverage he played. I will give him above average marks though because he has shown the ability to look off defenses, go to his 2nd or 3rd option, and feel the pocket and deliver accurate throws under pressure at times.

Mechanics (out of 10) | Footwork, delivery, throwing motion, release. Impacts accuracy, arm strength, and ability to throw in a bad pocket. I’d say this is important for longevity and consistency.

Grade: 7 | Mechanics are largely good because of his clean pocket they break down when he has to move and scramble. He also needs better consistency here.

Leadership (out of 15) | Hard to quantify, but basically, do they make the players around them better? Leadership comes in different styles, not just rah-rah guys, but leadership by example as well. For college evaluation, what do their coaches and teammates say about them, or do they avoid mentioning leadership? What do opposing coaches say about them?

Grade: 13 | Grier is reportedly an excellent leader. He can rally his teammates and though the system he played in made him better it shouldn’t be ignored that he got the most out of his teammates in that system as well.

Clutch (out of 15) | Another relatively subjective metric, but extremely important. Do they fold under pressure or can they rally their team to a comeback?

Grade: 7.5 | West Virginia didn’t have a ton of close games but from the one’s I know of this year Grier had mixed results. He lead a rally against Texas late but failed to do that against Oklahoma or Oklahoma State. I can’t give him more than average marks here.

Total: 68.5/100

How He Would Fit On The Redskins

The Redskins are clearly feeling desperate for a QB as they enter the draft. I maintain for the record that they should stand pat and steer clear of any QB option that doesn’t fall to them. I enjoy high flying offenses as much as the next guy in college but I think its pretty clear Grier is not Mahomes. In any sane QB draft I think Grier would be a 4th round pick at best. I think its simply an impossible evaluation to do on him (though I tried) because of the clean pockets and open receivers he had in college. That simply do not happen with nearly the same consistency in the NFL. I think its clear as day the horror Redskins fans might see out of a guy like Grier when he’s playing from behind and under pressure. I don’t think he is unworthy of a draft pick but I question his ability to be a consistent, productive, long time starter in the league and if you aren’t getting that why spend a pick on day 1 or 2? By all accounts Grier is a stand up guy. I am certain his personality and leadership ability would make for a better team overall. His projected accuracy may even be better than the current QBs on the roster. However I really feel he is lacking in critical areas such as escapability, arm strength, mechanics, and overall processing. Optimistically he could thrive in that short quick one read stuff that the offense incorporated last year but that puts a big cap on productivity. The team doesn’t need to play the role of hopeful optimistic fixer for a player like this because the odds are pretty clear in league history about chances of success. I’m sure the team likes the positives in Grier. He is a winner and he has a prolific career but it would be a fools errand to think he could carry the team on offense.

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