WVU football: QB Will Grier cleared to start throwing

The WVU football team truly changed its course once Will Grier went down with a hand injury against Texas.

The Mountaineers lost their edge without having a star quarterback who took the nation by storm with his strong arm. Grier missed most of the Texas game, all of the Oklahoma game and all of the Heart of Dallas Bowl game against Utah.

He most certainly will be back for the 2018 opening game against Tennessee. But getting back to that point will take a lot of work. The work can officially begin now as Grier has been cleared to start throwing, according to Jake Trotter of ESPN.

Grier had successful surgery in November and was actually seen warming up with back up quarterback Chris Chugunov, who took his place in the final games of the season. Chugunov left a lot to be desired and probably will not suit up for the WVU football team again.

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Grier, however, will need to be back to his full strength in order for the Mountaineers to reach their full potential this upcoming season. There is already a lot of hype surrounding West Virginia and in order to capitalize on the attention, Grier will have to be back to 100 percent.

Last season, Grier had more than 2,000 passing yards and 21 touchdown passes. He completed 151 of 230 passes and led the WVU football team to all seven wins. Grier made his receivers better and found chemistry right away with Gary Jennings and David Sills, who both will also be back in 2018.

Grier’s father is an esteemed football coach, so he will likely be ready to help his son through this rehabilitation process. Grier can’t rush his recovery, but he can’t be lazy with his effort to get back to playing shape. Grier has a lot riding on this season, personally and professionally, he won’t want to skimp out on any part of the process because it could cost him millions of dollars in NFL Draft positioning and a few wins on the WVU football schedule.

Next: 30 best games in WVU football history

WVU football fans are expecting good news once fall rolls around and the Mountaineers are back on the gridiron. But that first notion of good news has already arrived with Grier throwing the football again.