3 reasons the Carolina Panthers should’ve started Will Grier in 2020
By Dean Jones
A season for experimentation for the Carolina Panthers
There would have been no better time to see what Will Grier was capable of than last season. The Carolina Panthers were going through a significant period of transition with a complete roster overhaul that also included releasing Cam Newton ahead of time, which was a decision that came with its fair share of criticism regarding the timing.
If the Panthers were so hell-bent on removing Newton from the equation, they were clearly starting from scratch.
Teddy Bridgewater was a stop-gap at best. And he turned out to be even worse than that.
This has left Carolina starting from scratch this offseason.
An exhaustive quarterback search saw them miss out on Matthew Stafford, decide against going all-in for Deshaun Watson once his legal matters surfaced, and eventually ended by acquiring Sam Darnold via trade from the New York Jets.
Darnold has far more upside than Bridgewater. But it’s still a big gamble.
Had those in power decided to start Grier last season, things might not have turned out any differently. The former third-round pick was thrown to the wolves as a rookie and this coaching staff wasn’t emotionally connected to the signal-caller as they weren’t around when the Panthers brought him in.
Perhaps they’d already seen enough on film. However, considering 2020 was a campaign for experimentation where the Panthers were concerned, it was a surprise to see Grier become virtually anonymous.