Florida Gators May Have Finally Found Their Quarterback In Will Grier

After years of searching since the days of Tim Tebow, it appears the Florida Gators have finally found a star caliber quarterback. Will Grier, a redshirt freshman from North Carolina,  has won over the Gator faithful the last two games.

Last week, he lead Florida back from the dead to win in dramatic fashion over the Tennessee Volunteers, and this week he had a remarkable game as the Gators downed third ranked Ole Miss. Grier was rumored to possibly miss the game with an illness, but unfortunately for the Rebels, he played and played spectacular. He was 24 of 29 for 271 yards and four touchdowns. He made a bunch of solid throws down the field that showed his true pocket passer ability.

Since the days of Tebow, Florida had a revolving door at quarterback: John Brantley, Jacoby Brissett, Jeff Driskel, Tyler Murphy, Skyler Mornhinweg and current backup Treon Harris. Just using the the classic eye test, Grier passes far more impressively than any of them. No offense to that group, but when you watched them play, you knew they weren’t anywhere near what a professional quarterback should look like. Late against the Vols and all game against the Rebels, Grier looked like someone you could see develop into a player on Sundays. The “Landshark” defense that Ole Miss boasts was picked apart early and often in the first half by Grier. Coach Jim McElwain, who developed Garrett Grayson into a pro prospect at Colorado State, clearly can develop pro caliber passers.

Grier should have a much higher ceiling than Grayson too, thanks to his youth. Grier still has up to three more years of eligibility after this season. That should be a scary reality for the rest of the SEC, as he can obviously get so much better. Harris should only see the field on read option situations now since there is no reason to rotate quarterbacks anymore.

Gators fans have a reason for hope for the present and future. All of the sudden, Grier has the Gators as possible candidates to win the SEC East and make the SEC title game in Atlanta. Higher aspirations this year and the future can’t be discounted, either. Lookout, the Gators could have their bite back.

Andrew Frosceno is a New York Giants beat writer and college football writer for www.Rantsports.com. You can follow him on Twitter and Google.