Does Will Grier Still Deserve a Shot as The Future?

Roughly one year ago, the Carolina Panthers made a conscious effort to find a guy to sit and learn behind Cam Newton, to prepare for life without the face of the franchise. They did so by selecting West Virginia quarterback Will Grier with the 100th overall pick in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

The first year went a whole lot different than the Panthers, Will Grier and everyone else expected. The plan was to sit Grier for the entire season and treat it like a "redshirt" year. Unfortunately, Newton went down with an injury and was lost for the season, changing every plan the franchise had. Everything spiraled out of control and led to the Panthers firing head coach Ron Rivera and the rumors began to swirl around Cam Newton and his future with the franchise. The declining play and health concerns of Cam Newton are the two main reasons why Carolina drafted Grier a year ago. They wanted to have someone ready to rock and roll, just in case Newton would go down with an injury once again.

The Panthers did their best to plan for this situation and you could say they did their due diligence by getting Grier. The only problem was - Newton went down extremely early in the season and Grier was not ready for his number to be called.

Later in the season, interim head coach Perry Fewell made the decision to make the switch at quarterback and benched Kyle Allen for Grier. He made his debut on the road vs the Indianapolis Colts and he was thrown around like a rag doll. In the 38-7 thumping, Grier was sacked five times for a loss of 38 total yards and was also the victim of seven quarterback hits. He finished the game going 27/44 for 224 yards and three interceptions. Needless to say, it wasn't the prettiest of debuts, but there were a lot of things going against him.

Former Panthers tight end Greg Olsen even called it an "impossible situation" for Grier.

"Two games left in a season where there’s been countless issues and now throw him out there and play incompetent football around him. It’s not possible to get any form of judgment based on his performance today. I think there were failures all around him. So, I hope no one passes any judgement on Will’s abilities as a player. I think there was a lot of things that played out that he had to suffer the consequences of,” Olsen said following Grier's debut vs the Colts.

Although Grier wasn't impressive by any means, he's exactly right. The team lacked focus, had nothing to play for and didn't know if they would even be playing for the organization ever again. Not just fans, but writers, scouts and football analysts are always too quick to pull the plug on young quarterbacks. How many people called Jared Goff a bust after his rookie season? Many did, myself included. Goff went 0-7 as the Rams starter in his rookie season and only completed 54% of his passes and threw just five touchdowns to seven interceptions. He has since guided the Rams to a Super Bowl appearance and is one of the more respected young quarterbacks in the game.

Now, this isn't to say that Grier will become the next Jared Goff, but the point is, he only played in one and a half games. Goff played in seven his first year and everyone was ready to label him as a bust. Step back, take a deep breath and review the circumstances he was put in. What first year quarterback is going to have any success making his first start sixteen weeks into the regular season with an interim head coach, no number one receiver (D.J. Moore injured) and a really bad offensive line?

If you want to make a judgement on Brian Burns, go for it. He played in all sixteen games and made five starts. It's pretty hard to grasp how much potential a guy has in just one and a half games of action.

Taking a quarterback in the early rounds of the draft would not only be silly, but it would not be filling any of the team’s true needs. If general manager Marty Hurney and owner David Tepper are being truthful about “moving forward” with Cam Newton, drafting a quarterback early shouldn’t be a thought.

Grier has a great work ethic, drive, and passion. He’s a student of the game and has most of the tools necessary to be a successful NFL quarterback. Although his performance in 2019 may not seem very promising, don’t give up hope just yet.

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