For weeks during the Panthers losing streak, fans on social media clamored to see third-round pick Will Grier make a start before the end of the season. After all, with him being a local legend from his days in high school, growing up a Panthers fan as he attended games at Bank of America Stadium as a child and the Panthers season all but over, it made sense to see what they had in the rookie, despite coaches insisting that the turnover-prone Kyle Allen gave the team ‘the best chance to win’.
After all, Allen himself earned the opportunity to be the backup this season with an impressive and unexpected performance the final two weeks of last season.
Against the Colts in Week 16, Grier stans finally got their wish as the quarterback made the first start of his career – it wasn’t great, but there were flashes of good pocket presence and decision-making as the rookie from West Virginia completed 27-of-44 pass for 224 yards and had three interceptions.
Grier wasn’t presented with the best of circumstances – the Panthers were on a six-game losing streak when interim head coach Perry Fewell announced him as the team’s starter and with an offensive line that had allowed 25 sacks in the past six weeks, the trial by fire began in Indianapolis. But with the team wanting to evaluate Grier before the end of the season, it had to be done.
Grier was under constant duress and sacked five times.
“He was thrown into an impossible situation,” said tight end Greg Olsen after last week’s 38-6 loss to the Colts. “Two games left in a season where there’s been countless issues, to throw him out there, and play incompetent football around him, it’s impossible to get any sort of judgment based on his performance today. I think it was failures all around him and failures leading up to it.”
It didn’t get any better in his second start as Grier completed just one of his eight pass attempts for four yards and a threw a pick-six against the Saints before leaving because of a foot injury suffered during the second quarter on a sack by Cam Jordan. The Panthers offense just couldn’t get anything going – Grier was carted to the locker room down 21-0 and the Panthers’ only first down in six possessions coming via penalty.
Carolina’s offensive line hasn’t done Grier or whomever the Panthers have had under center this season any favors. But even during times when Grier had time to throw the ball, he was scrambling and constantly trying to evade the pass rush.
“Will was thrown in the fire,” Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey said. “The thing that I’m most proud of Will is he always controlled his attitude and his effort. He studied well, he was thrown in a tough situation, made a few plays. Obviously, it is bad circumstances, but I think Will did a great job and he has an unbelievable future in this league.”
It’s tough to take anything from Grier’s two starts. He certainly wasn’t ready for the starting role, but Carolina needed to see if he could at least compete to be their quarterback in 2020 if they do indeed decide to move on from Cam Newton during the offseason. When they selected Grier in April’s draft, general manager Marty Hurney said Grier was one of the highest-rated quarterbacks on their draft board. Although he could certainly turn out to be a great player down the line, that doesn’t appear to be the case right now.
Grier finishes his rookie season 28-of-52 (53.8%) for 228 yards and four interceptions. His 33.2 passer rating is lower than that of running back Christian McCaffrey (39.6), who attempted two passes and completed neither of them.
Panthers fans wanted to find out about what they had in Grier and this six-quarter audition may have answered that question. It just might not the answer they wanted to hear.
