NFL Draft Profile: Grant Wells, Quarterback, Virginia Tech Hokies

NFL Draft profile scouting report for Virginia Tech QB Grant Wells

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#8
Pos: QB
Ht: 6016
Wt: 210
40: 4.52
DOB: 8/18/2000
Hometown: Charleston, WV
High School: George Washington
Eligibility: 2023

Grant Wells
Virginia Tech Hokies

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One-Liner:

A limited athlete with average arm strength, Grant Wells’s ball placement and touch give him the potential to develop into a “trailer” starter with more experience.

Evaluation:

A natural passer with enticing tools, the Thundering Herd’s starting quarterback burst onto the scene in 2020. Grant Wells’s game is predicated on his high-level ball placement. While the still-inexperienced signal-caller is effective throwing on the run, he is at his best from a clean pocket. Wells has repeatedly exhibited the awareness and ability to put the ball where only his receivers can reach it. In other words, he throws away from the defense. The Marshall star can hit his targets’ back or lead shoulders and guide his receivers away from coverage with precision placement. He has the accuracy to effectively attack man coverage and the touch to layer the ball between zones. Wells also has sufficient arm strength to execute most passing concepts from a clean pocket. At the short-to-intermediate levels, he can work the ball into tight windows. What’s more, Wells has the requisite linear movement skills to, on occasion, serve as a threat to tuck and run. Further, he flashes serviceable pocket presence. In the passing game, Wells displays instances of timing and anticipation. Moreover, he has proven himself capable of working through simple reads and progressions. Similarly, he sometimes manipulates the safety with his eyes before playing reactively to capitalize on the defensive back’s mistake. Wells also practices sound mechanics. He transfers his weight efficiently and consistently steps through with his lead leg. While the Thundering Herd’s star passer has various strengths, he is a limited all-around athlete. First and foremost, Wells is limited by his average arm strength. He is unable to consistently push the ball downfield with sound ball placement. What’s more, his accuracy is inversely related to the velocity he puts on the ball. In other words, he becomes less precise as he throws the ball faster. Further, Wells’s ball placement and decision-making are severely worsened under pressure. Similarly, he lacks the athletic ability to consistently escape pressure and create offense. Moreover, Wells still struggles to read the field on a play-to-play basis. He sometimes is late to release the ball, allowing defenders to recover from any mistakes made on the play. Likewise, he fails to see lurking defenders and can be manipulated by defensive backs. He also locks onto his first read and misses out on open receivers far too often. In fact, Wells regularly and unwaveringly seems to have determined his target before the snap. Additionally, the inexperienced passer trusts his arm too much and forces the ball into unfavorable situations. Furthermore, the young signal-caller is still developing his feel for pressure. As a ball carrier, Wells is a purely straight-line runner who lacks creativity, vision and shiftiness with the ball in his hands to make defenders miss. He also runs into his blockers rather than play off them. A still-inexperienced passer, Grant Wells is a limited athlete with average arm strength. That said, he regularly exhibits impressive ball placement and touch. A relatively high-floor prospect, the Wells has the potential to operate as a “trailer” starter with more experience. 

Grade:

UDFA

Background:

Born in Charleston, West Virginia, Grant Wells has had an interesting football career to this point. The Thundering Herd’s star passer, also a standout baseball player at George Washington High School, was listed as a 3-star recruit by 247Sports Composite rankings. The same outlet listed him as the 2053rd-ranked recruit in the nation, the 77th-best pro-style quarterback in the country and the 8th-highest recruit in the state of West Virginia. Wells received offers from Marshall, Charlotte and Yale. The rising redshirt sophomore saw the field in just one game of his true freshman year. The then-third string passer and backup punter carried the ball on a fake punt. After being named the starter just six weeks before the 2020 season kicked off, Wells had an inconsistent year. Despite a promising redshirt freshman season, the inexperienced passer experienced stretches of poor play and ended 2020 with a three-game skid. He recorded zero touchdowns and five interceptions against Rice, failed to complete a pass in the first half against UAB one week later and gave an uninspired performance against Buffalo in Marshall’s bowl game. Still, expectations surrounding the gifted passer are high. Wells will be working with a new coaching staff that has preached the importance of a fresh start in 2021. Transferred to Virginia Tech from Marshall in 2022.