West Virginia quarterback Will Grier is flying under the radar, but he could be the right answer for the New York Giants.
Over the past few months, there have been several quarterback prospects linked to the New York Giants as a possible successor to Eli Manning.
Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins, Missouri quarterback Drew Lock, Duke quarterback Daniel Jones and even Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley have all met with the New York Giants brass. With the exception of McSorely, all have been viewed as an option for the Giants with either the sixth pick or 17th pick.
But there’s another viable option at quarterback that’s flying under the radar and that’s West Virginia’s Will Grier.
Grier began his collegiate career in 2015 as a redshirt freshman with the Florida Gators. He appeared in six games and completed 65.6 percent of his passes and threw 10 touchdowns to just three interceptions.
In October of that season, he was suspended for a year after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Grier stated the failed test was due to taking an over the counter supplement that he did not know was banned. Shortly thereafter, Grier announced that he was transferring to West Virginia.
After sitting out the 2016 season, Grier played in 11 games in 2017 and threw for 3,490 yards, 34 touchdowns to just 12 touchdowns and led the Mountaineers to a 7-3 record. But he broke a finger on his throwing hand in the Mountaineers 11th game against the Texas Longhorns that ended his season.
Grier returned for his senior season in 2018 and earned Second Team All-Big 12 honors by throwing for 3,864 yards, 37 touchdowns to only eight interceptions, and led the team to an 8-3 record.
He elected not to play in the team’s Camping World Bowl game against the Syracuse Orange in order to prepare for the draft. This move drew some criticism.
But you can’t fault a player for not wanting to risk injury in a Bowl game that could adversely affect their draft status. After all, we’ve seen Jaylon Smith and Jake Butt being drafted later than projected due to suffering an injury in a Bowl game.
When you look at Grier’s 2018 season compared to some of the other quarterbacks that have been linked to the Giants, his numbers match up favorably.
| Games | Completions | Attempts | Comp% | Yards | TDs | INTs | Rating | |
| Dwayne Haskins | 14 | 373 | 533 | 70.2% | 4,831 | 50 | 8 | 174.1 |
| Daniel Jones | 11 | 237 | 392 | 60.5% | 2,674 | 22 | 9 | 131.7 |
| Drew Lock | 13 | 275 | 437 | 62.9% | 3,498 | 28 | 8 | 147.7 |
| Will Grier | 11 | 266 | 397 | 67% | 3,864 | 37 | 8 | 175.5 |
However, unlike the other quarterbacks on this list, most mock drafts don’t have the 6-foot-2, 223-pound Grier going in the first round. That means he might be available when the Giants are on the clock in the second round with the 37th overall pick.
With the exception of Haskins, Grier’s upside is just as great as any of the above-mentioned quarterbacks.
Drafting a quarterback the caliber of Grier in the second round would be a great value pick for the Giants. Furthermore, it would allow Grier to sit for a year and learn how to be a professional on and off the field from Eli Manning.
Selecting Grier in the second round would also allow the Giants to use their two first round picks to improve the defense that ranked 24th last season and gave up the fifth most points in the NFC (412).
General manager Dave Gettleman and the Giants scouting team will continue to thoroughly evaluate all of the quarterbacks coming out in the draft. They’ll discuss whether or not Grier is capable of success in the NFL.
The question is, “Do they feel he’s the right fit to lead the Giants in the post-Eli Manning era?”
