Jack & Will went up to the hills to…improve WVU Football?

Over the course of Dana Holgorsen’s tenure as head coach at West Virginia, the Mountaineers offense has been entertaining to watch. Whether it be the 2011-12 group of Geno Smith, Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey or the 2013-14 trio of Clint Trickett, Kevin White and Mario Alford. Holgorsen has always loved to sling the ball around, but each year his run play selection percentage has incresed. With new offensive corrdinator, Jake Spavital calling the plays this year look for the ‘Eers offense to go back to spreading the field and throwing it all over the place.

If you already haven’t noticed, Holgorsen is quickly becoming one of college footballs best at snagging up transfers. Three are quarterbacks, all from Florida based schools, Clint Trickett (Florida St.), Will Grier (Florida) and Jack Allison (Miami). Many fans around the state are already looking at Will Grier as the potential “savior” of West Virginia football although he is yet to play a single down, but do not forget about Allison. I’m going to make a bold statement and say that the next four years will be one of the best stretches of football we will witness in Morgantown.

Do I think a playoff spot can come from the guidence of one of these quarterbacks? Yes, without a doubt!

We have seen many talented gunslingers come through, but these two guys are next-level type of guys. Some people ask why I get on the hype train of these guys, and my answer is, why not? We rarely ever get the attention we deserve so why not enjoy it while we have it?

First let’s start with the current starting QB, Will Grier. The Florida transfer will be eligible to play in the season opener against Virginia Tech at FedEx Field in Landover, MD after the school appealed his six game suspension. Grier was outstanding as a redshirt freshman at Florida in 2015 and had an offensively challenged team at 6-0 before the NCAA landed down his one year ban. He completed 105/160 passes which is good for a 65.6 completion percentage while also throwing for 1,202 yards and a 10:3 touchdown to interception ratio. The hype has become so strong that even ESPN personality, Scott Van Pelt, tabbed him as a favorite to win the Heisman Trophy along with Stanford Steve, his assistant.

I fully expect Grier to come right out of the gate and click on all cylinders. Holgorsen has even said himself that he is a perfectionist and wants everything to be right on the money. This guy if healthy, is a first round draft pick in the 2018 NFL Draft if he were to declare. I am all aboard the Grier hype and I think he can lead this team to become a potential playoff contender in 2018, if not this season.

Now onto Jack Allison, the Miami transfer who will be forced to sit out in 2017 however will be eligible in 2018 and will have three years to play three. Assuming Grier stays for his senior season, this will give Allison an opportunity to be the potential starter for two seasons as well. Allison was redshirted in 2016 as Miami had veteran QB Brad Kaaya at the helm so he has not played in a game since his senior season of high school in 2015. Standing in a 6’5″ 200 pounds, Allison looks to be the biggest starting QB West Virginia has had in quite some time. Under Holgorsen we have seen Geno Smith, who has respectable size and then a pair of small guys in Trickett and Howard. Allison has great pcoket presence and will step into a throw and take any hit, this is the type of QB I’ve been dreaming of us having.

I see Allison being the successor of Will Grier and having a sold two year career similar to Skyler Howard’s, maybe slightly better. He will have the opportunity to sit and learn behind a pretty good QB which could benefit him greatly. The only thing I worry about is if and when Grier lights it up, the expectations will be through the roof for Allison to continue the offensive dominance. That can be a lot of pressure placed on his shoulders, but for a former 5-star recruit I believe he will be able to handle it.