Grier Understands His Role but Remains Hungry for an Opportunity
Will Grier is entering his third year in the National Football League and his third year of being a backup quarterback. Throughout his entire life, Grier was the heartbeat of the offense. Whether it be during his time at Davidson Day, at Florida, or West Virginia, he was carving up defenses regardless of where he was playing. Now, he's battling with P.J. Walker to serve as the backup to Sam Darnold.
After a stellar two years at West Virginia, the Panthers selected Grier in the 3rd round of the 2019 NFL Draft. The pick raised a lot of eyebrows as Cam Newton was still on the roster. Many believed that Grier would be developed under Newton until it was his time to take over as the starting quarterback. Unfortunately for Grier, things didn't pan out as expected. Kyle Allen beat him out for the backup spot in his rookie year and it took both Newton and Allen going down with injuries for Grier to get his first shot. He was thrown into the fire against the Colts and Saints in the final two games of the season and he struggled. He completed 27 of his 44 pass attempts for 228 yards and threw four interceptions. Then interim head coach Perry Fewell had confidence in Grier getting the job done but even former tight end Greg Olsen called it "an impossible situation" for a quarterback to be successful in his first NFL start.
Following the 2019 season, the Panthers released Cam Newton and signed Teddy Bridgewater. Grier was back in the backup role once again but about midway through the season, P.J. Walker took over as QB2. Grier didn't dress for the final nine games of the year. Despite not getting the nod when Bridgewater missed the game vs Detroit due to injury and not dressing as the backup, Grier remains focused and prepared.
"I think it's fair to say it's frustrating," Grier said about not dressing a year ago. "You don't know when your opportunity is going to come, you just have to be ready and that was my mindset last year. It's not my job to make the decisions whether I go in or not. It's my job to be ready when they do put me in. I wasn't frustrated at the decision or anything like that. I want to play every Sunday. I felt ready last year. I felt like I could help my team but there wasn't really an opportunity for me to which is fine. I just have to be ready to go this year."
As previously mentioned, it took Grier a little while to adapt to his new role as a backup. It's not as easy of a transition as one would think. That said, even Grier himself knows he can't use it as an excuse anymore.
"You just got to be ready to play as a backup in this league. You've just got to be ready to go, you don't know when you're going to get your opportunity, you've just got to be ready. My third year in that role coming up which the first year was like, alright I'm not used to it, now I don't feel like I have that excuse anymore. I understand the role, I understand what it's like to be a backup."
This offseason, Grier buckled down and worked on several areas of his game with the help of his dad and head coach of Providence Day, Chad Grier.
"I honed in at the beginning really on mechanics, just throwing and trying to be accurate. As the offseason went on over the summer, I got more into pocket movement, ball security stuff. I had my dad out there with the boxing gloves on punching me and the ball a little bit. It was a huge emphasis on taking care of the ball, find completions, know when to push the ball downfield, and know when to just take completions."
Another area that Grier says he believes he has drastically improved in is throwing on the run. He noted that the past couple of years he was relying on his arm talent and getting lazy with his mechanics which led to incomplete passes. Grier may not be as athletic as P.J. Walker but if he can prove he can throw on the move and complete passes at a high rate, it will give him a better chance of beating out Walker for the backup spot.
Almost two weeks into camp, the battle for the backup job is still up for grabs. Head coach Matt Rhule has not indicated that either Grier or Walker have won that battle as it will likely play itself out in the three preseason games. Regardless, Grier is only concerned about getting 1% better each day.
"I think it's kind of an open battle. We're just practicing and trying to get better right now. I think me and P.J. are both different players. We're both working on different things and kind of just competing against ourselves. We're not really competing against each other as much as we are competing to get better at things we need to get better at individually. And when it comes down to it, it's not me or P.J.'s decision. I've enjoyed working with him and pushing each other, including Sam."
The Panthers will begin preseason action on August 15th against the Indianapolis Colts. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. EST.
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