Will Grier Tabbed Starter; How Will He Perform In Week 16?

The Carolina Panthers have struggled at the quarterback position this season. Cam Newton’s early-season injury derailed the 2019 campaign and while Kyle Allen hold the team afloat for a short period of time, the reality is the undrafted quarterback isn’t the long-term answer. The Panthers did draft a quarterback in the third-round of the 2019 NFL Draft – Will Grier – and while he hasn’t shown much in practice or preseason play, he’s going to get a look in Week 16. BetOnline.ag has posted props focused on his performance, so let’s take a closer look at what’s on the board:

WILL GRIER WEEK 16 PROPS

WILL GRIER TOTAL PASSING TD’S IN WEEK 16

UNDER 1.5 TOTAL PASSING TD -200
OVER 1.5 TOTAL PASSING TD +150

WILL GRIER TOTAL PASSING YARDS IN WEEK 16

OVER 220.5 PASSING YARDS -120
UNDER 220.5 PASSING YARDS -120

ALLEN BENCHED, GRIER TO START

Allen start the year quite well as he won each of his first four starts while tossing seven touchdowns and no interceptions. He’s completely faded since then, though, as he has 10 touchdowns and 15 interceptions since. The Panthers had no choice but to see what their third-round pick has because Allen has simply imploded.

What’s also precipitated this change is the fact that Ron Rivera is no longer the head coach of this team (fired a couple of weeks ago) and the Panthers are no longer in playoff contention. This gives them an opportunity to see whether Grier will show better in games that he did in preseason action. We saw something like that with Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Drew Lock, who apparently struggled in practice but has shown well in-game.

GRIER’S PRESEASON NUMBERS AREN’T PRETTY

Grier was originally drafted to at least become a backup quarterback and possibly a starter but we’ve seen nothing of that so far. He looked like a raw, uncomfortable rookie in the preseason as he finished his exhibition action going 34-of-61 from the field with 385 yards and a 6.3 yards-per-attempt. Remember, he was playing mostly against backups and failed to shine. Now he’ll be stepping up in competition significantly.

COLTS ARE STRUGGLING

The good news is that this week, he’ll be facing the Indianapolis Colts, who are in the midst of a nosedive of their own. Carolina has lost while the Colts have lost four in a row and six of seven. Their pass defense ranks 21st in the NFL in yards and has allowed opposing quarterbacks to compile a 102.0 passer rating against them – the fifth-worst mark. Sure, the Colts were once at the top of their division in the AFC South but given how they’ve played recently, this isn’t the worst introductory matchup for Grier.

The challenge will be whether the Panthers – as a team – can step up. They’ve mostly been mailing it in as they’ve essentially been blown out in five straight games (they scored a ton of garbage time points last week to make it close). They need to play better as a team because otherwise, the change from Allen to Grier will have little impact on the end result.

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