INDIANAPOLIS — Will Grier understands what’s ahead of him.
The former West Virginia quarterback is on the cusp of a pro career and realizes celebrity status comes with being an NFL quarterback. He’s prepared for it, thanks in part to younger brothers Nash and Hayes, who became celebrities thanks to their social media videos.
“My brothers have been in the spotlight for a few years,” said Will, who is two years older than Nash and five years older than Hayes. “I understood the spotlight that they were under and kind of how they handled being that famous, being that popular, how to handle social media.
“Social media has become so prominent in today’s day and age. It’s a place that we can voice our opinions and our thoughts. That’s something they were doing five, six years ago on a huge scale. I got to see that firsthand, see how they handled it, things that they may have made mistakes on and learn from that.”
Despite his own notoriety as a highly touted quarterback coming out of Davidson Day School outside of Charlotte, N.C., Grier said he emphasized humility.
“I created personal relationships with the walk-ons at West Virginia and at Florida, all the way up to the fifth-year senior guys that are NFL guys,” he said. “I want to have a personal relationship with people so that when I do get up and talk, I’m not a guy that’s going to be jumping, bouncing around, yelling at everybody, but when I speak, everybody’s listening, everybody has respect for what I have to say because of the personal relationship that I’ve built with them.”
His efforts to bond with teammates don’t go unnoticed. Former West Virginia tackle Yodny Cajuste said Grier arrived in Morgantown after transferring from Florida as “just a normal guy.”
“I didn’t see him as a celebrity. I seen him as my brother, my teammate,” Cajuste said at the combine. “If you didn’t know Will and you were just walking by West Virginia, you wouldn’t know who he was. That’s how low-key he was. He wasn’t a big superstar type of guy.”
Grier and Cajuste were two of six West Virginia players invited to the 2019 NFL combine, joined by receivers David Sills and Gary Jennings, tight end Trevon Wesco and linebacker David Long.
Grier’s 34-inch vertical leap ranked second among the quarterbacks at the combine.
Who’s the better pro: Sills and Jennings?
Jennings and Sills, who joined Grier at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., in January, immediately bonded with the quarterback. Jennings caught 97 passes for 1,096 yards and a touchdown in 2017 and had 54 receptions for 917 yards and
13 scores last year.
“Over the years I developed into a more fluid receiver,” said Jennings, who described his week at the Senior Bowl with Grier as wonderful. “It opened a lot of eyes and helped put a name with the face. I think I was still flying under the radar and a lot of people didn’t know how big of a playmaker I was.”
Jennings helped himself by running a 4.43 40 on Saturday, ranking 10th among 37 receivers who ran.
Sills was a red-zone favorite and caught 125 passes for 1,966 yards and 33 touchdowns over the last two seasons.
“The biggest thing was having the body control and being able to — whether it’s a fade, holding a defender off inside and let the ball fall to the outside where you’re putting your body between the defender and the ball,” Sills said. “Knowing when the ball is coming, seeing its flight pattern and figuring out, while the ball is in the air — that could be a split second. A deeper pass, you’ve got a little bit more time, but figuring out when the ball is in the air, what to do with your body. Not only making the catch, but ensuring the defender can’t get his hands on it.”
As productive as Sills was in college, one NFL scout isn’t sure how well he will fare in the NFL.
“He’s a jump-ball specialist with really good hands and great body control, but his lack of ability to separate was evident in the Senior Bowl,” the scout said. “In space, it’s like he’s stuck in the mud compared to some of the other receivers. His general lack of movement skills are going to haunt him. I worry about his ability to break press and get away from corners.”
Sills posted a 40 time of 4.57, though his 37.5-inch vetical jump was above-average for receivers.
The scout said Sills benefitted from defenses paying attention to the deep threat posed by Jennings.
“Gary is a real smooth, sleek runner,” the scout said. “He has a real ability to get on top of a defender and make that space.”
Wesco builds on big senior year
Wesco had a breakout year in 2018 with 26 catches for 366 yards and a touchdown. He isn’t worried whether scouts might view the 6-foot-3, 267-pound Martinsburg native as a one-year wonder.
“I want to show them I can run good routes and have decent speed for my size,” Wesco said. “I put the work in my whole career. Hard work puts you where you need to be.”
An NFL scout thinks Wesco can be a late-round steal after improving immensely from 2017 to 2018.
Wesco’s 22 reps on the bench led all tight ends at the combine, while his 40 time (4.89) ranked among the slowest.
Having a second year with Grier not just helped Wesco develop, but benefited the Mountaineers as a whole.
“Getting Will in there was huge. It changed their offense completely,” another NFL scout said. “It made them a dangerous team.”
Grier liked blended offense at WVU
Grier helped implement the scheme. Former WVU coach Dana Holgorsen and offensive coordinator Jake Spavital wanted Grier to gameplan with them to ensure they were all on the same page. That’s one reason why Grier believes he’s the best quarterback in this draft class and prepared to be a starting quarterback in the NFL — and the fame that comes with it.
“We kind of built an offense,” Grier said. “It’s not a traditional digit-system offense or a West coast offense. It’s kind of a blend of everything that worked for us. Teams wanted to learn what we were doing.
“After playing for two different staffs at Florida and two different types of offense, (Holgorsen’s) was very different. It was very cool learning from him. He’s obviously been all over the place and knows how to throw the football around so well and I was excited to play in that offense. The guy is passionate for the game. It’s really cool to be around somebody that passionate for offense and for the game that was willing to let me hang out all the time and pick his brain.”
The next step for Grier and his receivers is the WVU pro day on March 21, where Grier said they’ll have a “stacked roster.”
“It’s going to be really amazing,” Jennings said. “It’s going to be fun to work together.”
