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What Will the Panthers do with Will Grier in 2020?
The transition from college football to the NFL is one of the toughest, most challenging processes in all of sports. The speed of the game, the talent the roams the field, the style of play is just all so different. For some, the transition is seamless and for others, it can be a long-drawn-out process.
For former West Virginia quarterback Will Grier, it hasn't been ideal.
The Carolina Panthers have seen so much go wrong for them in 2019, all starting with the injury to starting quarterback Cam Newton. Since the announcement of the injury, it's been all downhill. The organization fired its long-tenured head coach Ron Rivera and with the uncertainty of Newton's future, it could be a complete rebuild on the horizon in Charlotte.
The biggest question for Carolina is what they want to do with the vacant head coaching position. After firing Ron Rivera, interim head coach Perry Fewell went winless in his four games, but is still being considered a candidate for the head coaching position in 2020 and beyond. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy also has an interest in the job and interviewed for the job following the teams' loss to the Colts last week.
The naming of the new head coach will be crucial to what the team will decide to do at the quarterback position. Which would likely be the next domino to fall?
The aging, declining Cam Newton has one year left on his contract worth $18.6 million dollars. Anyone that has watched the NFL over the past couple of seasons knows that Newton is no longer worth anything near that dollar amount. Injuries and declining play is basically a death sentence for a player's career. Cam Newton still be a successful starting quarterback? Yes, 100%. But there's virtually no chance of him resurrecting the player he once was in his MVP season from 2015.
Kyle Allen, the undrafted free agent backup - who filled in for Newton for the majority of the year has some upside but isn't necessarily a guy you would want to build your franchise around.
As for Will Grier, well, he got thrown into the fire the final two weeks of the season and was "put in an impossible situation" said Panthers tight end Greg Olsen. The team was well out of playoff contention and with a below-average offensive line, Grier had to rush through his progressions on many occasions.
During his two starts, he struggled to ever find any rhythm or comfortability in the pocket, appearing overwhelmed. He only completed 28/52 pass attempts (53.8%) for 228 yards and four interceptions. The biggest stat line is the one that still shows as a goose egg on the stat sheet - touchdowns. As elite Grier was in college and how he always had a professional approach, it's a bit shocking to see there be zero touchdown passes through his first two career NFL games.
For Grier's sake, you hope that the Panthers new head coach doesn't want to take a quarterback in the upcoming draft. Many draft experts are pegging Oregon's Justin Herbert as a potential candidate for the Panthers early in the first round, but once again, it will depend on who the new head coach will be. By drafting a quarterback in the first round, it would give the notion that the organization does not feel confident in Grier's development moving forward. In a perfect world for Grier, the Panthers bring back Cam Newton and are able to let him play out a couple more seasons, while still learning the ropes of the NFL.
Prediction: The Panthers decide to bring back Cam Newton for one more season and take Herbert or another quarterback in the first round of the draft. Grier will settle in as the 3rd or potentially 4th string quarterback but will be given a chance to contribute in some capacity a few years down the road.