According to Adam Schefter, Will Grier is expected to meet with 10 teams before the draft, including the New England Patriots.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, as Grier is slotted to go somewhere on day 2, and is ranked as the end of the top five QB’s heading into this years draft, and could conceviably fall to a spot in the draft where the Pats look at taking a quarterback.
Last years QB can in the form of 7th round draft pick Danny Etling who, for all the praise he gets for being a film rat, didn’t look great in the preseason, and was assigned to the teams practice squad.
It is no secret the team is in the market for a quasrterback, with Brady only playing for, at most, 3 more seasons. The question is when they will select that quarterback.
Ideally it would be this year; giving a prospect 3 seasons to learn under Tom, and a fourth season to prove himself. Jimmy G was traded in his third season and had Tom not been playing at an MVP level, could have been chose over 12 to lead the Patriots into the future.
The problem with deciding whether or not a guy is a fit for QB in New England is that they don’t have a type. Danny Etling is 6’2, and Baker Mayfield, who Josh McDaniels had a private workout with, is 6’1. But Ryan Mallet was 6’7 and Brady is 6’4. There is no height discrimination in New England like there is in Denver, and they are hard to pin down when it comes to abilities. Mallett could throw the ball a country mile, and Kevin O’connell and Matt Cassel were better at the intermediate routes.
The only commonalities that some of their draftees share is they are smart and accurate. Jimmy Garoppolo completed 63% of his passes at an average of 7.9 YPA. Brady doesn’t throw the ball 60 yards, and he never did, and that is not the offense that has been dominating the NFL since 2000.
Grier had a career completion percentage of 65.7, higher than Jimmy. He’s 6’2-not Brady tall but not Baker Short- has a solid build, and has a wife and kid. That last point might sound moot but remember, one of the reasons Bill fell in love with Malcom Brown in 2015 was because he had a young daughter he had to take care of. It may not matter, but there is a precedent.
The problem with Grier is his mechanics; a lot of work needs to be done before his delivery is optimized for the NFL level. He’s also somewhat mobile. He’s not going to be the next Lamar Jackson but, with time, will be able to use his athleticism to effectively move around in the pocket, something that value more than breakaway speed.
Lastly, he’s got an aura of confidence. The successor to the greatest quarterback of all-time needs to be mentally capable of handing that responsibility. Knowing that you will never be able to replicate the success that Tom has had, and you constantly being compared to him, might be the hardest thing about being the next quarterback in New England. Out of all the guys this year to have the mentality and persona to do that, it is him.
If Greir falls to them in the late second or third round, don’t be surprised if we hear Greir’s name being called to try and fill the shoes of Tom.
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