Panthers Sign Will Grier, Four Other Draft Picks

The Panthers announced that they’ve signed the following five draft picks:

• 3-100: Will Grier, QB (West Virginia)
• 4-115: Christian Miller, LB (Alabama)
• 5-154: Jordan Scarlett, RB (Florida)
• 6-212: Dennis Daley, T (South Carolina)
• 7-237: Terry Godwin, WR (Georgia)

Grier is unquestionably the most interesting name on the list, as he’ll give Carolina a more reputable backup quarterback than it had in 2019. Both Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen failed in their respective starts in relief of Cam Newton, so Grier will attempt to to improve on that production.

There’s good reason to think Grier has a chance at NFL success. Some draft analysts considered him the second-best quarterback in the draft behind Kyler Murray, although Grier’s advanced rookie age (24) is a knock against him. The West Virginia product threw with the highest velocity at the scouting combine, and ranked second behind Murray in Josh Hermsmeyer of FiveThirtyEight.com‘s completion percentage over expected, which attempts to value a quarterbacks’s production relative to the depth of his attempted throws.

With five members of their draft class down, Carolina needs only to sign first-round defensive end Brian Burns and second-round offensive tackle Greg Little.