Panthers plan to start quarterback Will Grier against the Colts, according to source
The Panthers plan to make a quarterback change on Sunday, starting rookie Will Grier in the team’s Week 16 game at Indianapolis instead of Kyle Allen, according to a team source.
Grier, who grew up in Davidson, will be making his first NFL start and taking his first regular-season snaps.
The third-round pick, 100th overall, out of West Virginia did not put up an impressive preseason performance, completing 55.7 percent of his passes and throwing two touchdowns and three interceptions over the four games he played.
Grier was the fifth quarterback selected in the 2019 NFL draft and the only Panthers’ rookie draft pick left on the roster to not see the field this year.
There had been plenty of calls for Grier to get an opportunity to play as Carolina’s current six-game losing streak stretched on. The team continued to say that Allen gave them the best chance to win. But instead of reaffirming that Allen would once again be starting in Week 16 against Indianapolis, interim head coach Perry Fewell said Monday a decision would be announced Wednesday.
This quarterback change was a long time coming after a dramatic start to the year at the position.
Cam Newton suffered a Lisfranc injury in his left foot in the team’s third preseason game, then played through the injury the first two weeks of the year. After an 0-2 start, Newton elected to sit in order to heal, but was ultimately placed on injured reserve in November and had successful surgery last week.
Over Newton’s first seven seasons in the NFL, only he and Derek Anderson started at quarterback for the Panthers. Grier would be the fourth quarterback to start for Carolina over the past two years.
With Grier, 24, the Panthers will have an opportunity to evaluate the young player as they head into the offseason not knowing what Newton’s recovery will look like. If Newton is healthy, the Panthers have said they would like to have him back in 2020. Carolina can save $19.1 million by cutting or trading the franchise quarterback before the last year of his deal. Knowing what sort of potential the future has will play a role in that decision with whatever new head coach the team hires.
Without Newton, Allen has gone 5-7 in a roller-coaster season.
Allen first started in Week 17 last year, leading the Panthers to a win over the Saints and ending the team’s seven-game slide. In his first four starts this year, the secod-year, undrafted quarterback went 4-0, completing 65.6 percent of his passes and throwing seven touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Since then the team has gone 1-7. Over that stretch, he has completed just 60.7 percent of his throws and thrown 10 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He has also lost seven fumbles and has been sacked 45 times.
Fewell commented on Allen’s performance in the team’s loss to the Seahawks, his third game this season with three or more interceptions.
“I do believe that there were some plays out there to be made (vs. Seattle) and at times he didn’t make those plays that needed to be made,” Fewell said. “That’s what we’re looking at right now is that, did he have enough protection? Was the decision making smart decision making? We’ll evaluate that and see. I thought he did some solid things and then obviously not so good things.”
Allen declined to comment Monday, but said he would speak to reporters Wednesday.
Grier has been leading the Panthers’ scout team in practice, but has had little opportunity to work directly with the first-team offense. Fewell said he does run some Panthers plays. However, because of Allen’s inexperience, he has not had a lot of opportunities to truly run the offense he will be asked to Sunday.
Getting comfortable with an offense he hasn’t experienced running in months will be no easy task. There’s a lot of unknown surrounding Grier. The lack of snaps will create a learning curve as he prepares to start for the first time.
“I think the biggest thing that you have to take into account is the voice. When you make a change or if you make a change, that voice that speaks to you, his cadence command that would be different,” Fewell said. “There’s a number of other factors that would be different if you did do something such as that, saying that when I see him on the look squad his voice inflection is good because we ask him to do some hard counts, we ask him to do some things that the opponent quarterback will do. His ability to scramble and throw on the run has gotten better.
“He’s progressing as a rookie. He’s not there yet, but he’s progressing.”
Grier will be the ninth rookie quarterback to start for an NFL team this year.
This story was originally published December 16, 2019 at 4:57 PM with the headline "Panthers plan to start quarterback Will Grier against the Colts, according to source."
