Aug 22, 2017 4 min read

Not since the 1981-82 season, with former Super Bowl champion Jeff Hostetler, has there been comparable hype surrounding a transfer quarterback at West Virginia than there has been this year with Will Grier.

“He’s as good as advertised,” WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen says. “I like the kid’s demeanor. He’s got complete control of the huddle. He has a really good idea of what we want him to do offensively.”

The redshirt junior had quite the start to his collegiate career. As a four-star prospect out of Davidson Day School in North Carolina, Grier originally signed with Florida in 2014 and was redshirted for the season.

In 2015, he won the starting quarterback job and went on a tear to begin the year, leading the Gators to a top-10 ranking and a 6-0 start that included a fourth-quarter comeback win against Tennessee and a blowout win over No. 3 Mississippi.

Grier completed 65.8 percent of his passes for 1,204 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Not bad for a freshman quarterback in the vaunted Southeastern Conference.

“If you watch that highlight tape from Florida, he’s running around making plays left and right,” Holgorsen said.

However, midway through that season is when Grier’s troubles began. He was suspended for one year after testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug Ligandrol. He decided to transfer from Florida to West Virginia and sat out the 2016 season, in compliance with NCAA transfer rules and will be eligible for the season opener against Virginia Tech at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., Sept. 3.

“The timing on getting him was critical because we knew he’d be eligible,” Holgorsen said at the Big 12 Conference media days. “I knew there were some NCAA hoops we had to jump through, but I knew we could do that, get him eligible for Game 1, and he’s ready to rock and roll.”

While sitting out in 2016, Grier led the scout team to help the WVU defense prepare for upcoming games. During spring practices this year, Grier got his shot at taking over the first-team offense.

He didn’t disappoint in the spring game. He completed 12 of his 18 passes for 202 yards.

“I was very pleased with how he operated,” new WVU offensive coordinator Jake Spavital said.

With Grier, the Mountaineers are set at quarterback, but what about the rest of the offense and defense?

The offensive backfield might be the strongest unit on the team. Senior Justin Crawford is the probable starter at running back, with the sophomore tandem of Kennedy McKoy and Martell Pettaway behind him on the depth chart.

“We’re going to run the football,” Holgorsen said. “We’ve had a 1,000-yard rusher for the last five seasons, and we’ve got the Big 12’s leading rusher returning. So we’re going to run the ball, and Will understands that and understands the run game.”

Crawford finished last season with 1,203 rushing yards. McKoy and Pettaway each had a 100-yard game.

The Mountaineers have a plethora of talent at wide receiver. Despite losing Shelton Gibson to the NFL, WVU returns redshirt senior Ka’Raun White, Gary Jennings, who also will continue to be the team’s primary kick and punt returner, and David Sills, who transferred back to WVU after trying his hand at quarterback at El Camino College in California last season.

The Mountaineers have to replace three-year starter Tyler Orlosky at center but return senior Kyle Bosch at right guard. Junior Yodny Cajuste also returns at left tackle after missing 2016 with an injury.

On defense, the Mountaineers will have to rebuild after losing many seniors from a unit that was regarded as one of the best in the Big 12 last year. The safeties and linebackers figure to be the strength of the defense, but there could be issues along the line and at cornerback. The two projected starting cornerbacks, Hakeem Bailey and Elijah Battle, have only three combined career starts. The defensive line has players with only one start.

However, coordinator Tony Gibson has shown that he can lose a large number of starters and still not miss a beat the next season. WVU’s increase in depth and improved recruiting since it joined the Big 12 has played a role in that.

“We have more depth on the D-line than we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Holgorsen said. “Those guys have continuously gotten better. At corner ,we’re going to have options. We have four guys who we feel pretty good about. So we’ve got a lot of bodies, a lot of competition. I think it’s going to be fun to see those battles develop.” n