Patriots among teams to meet with West Virginia quarterback Will Grier before the draft

Even though Tom Brady is still one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks and there are no signs of him slowing down anytime soon, finding and grooming a potential heir has to be rather high up on the New England Patriots’ to-do list. The greatest quarterback of all time will turn 42 in August, after all. Whether this will prompt the reigning world champions to draft a passer high this year remains to be seen, but they are certainly doing their homework.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Patriots will take a closer look at one of the better quarterback prospects entering this year’s draft: West Virginia’s Will Grier. New England joins the New York Giants, Washington Redskins, Los Angeles Chargers, and New Orleans Saints as teams expected to meet with the passer pre-draft. One thing all those clubs have in common is of course an aging quarterback and/or unclear long-term outlook at the position.

Grier, who is projected to come off the board as early as the second round during next month’s draft, is certainly among the more intriguing prospects to be available this year. The 6’1, 215 lbs quarterback brings plenty of traits to the table you would want from an NFL passer: he has a solid arm that will allow him to hit tight windows at the next level, throws with a nice touch, and generally makes solid decisions.

While he will need to get used to working under center at the next level and improve both his mechanics and his progression skills beyond the first target, he has a solid foundation in place. “A quick passing offense would mitigate some of his issues within the pocket and allow him to dial in on his rhythm as a passer,” wrote The Draft Network’s Kyle Crabbs about Grier, who completed 67% of his pass attempts in 2018, and threw for 3,864 yards, 37 touchdowns and 8 interceptions.

All in all, Grier has plenty of the tools the Patriots like in their quarterbacks — and a keen interest in the team’s offense as he pointed out during the NFL’s scouting combine. “Me and Jake Spavital, my O.C. at West Virginia, watched a lot of Patriots film and built our offense off a lot of what they do. We watched a lot of Tom Brady film,” Grier said at the time. In a little more than one month, we will know if the 23-year-old will get a get a chance to learn from the future Hall of Famer first-hand.