diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8650df267..99d7a3a39 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -92,4 +92,16 @@ docker-image:
 plugins/parsers/influx/machine.go: plugins/parsers/influx/machine.go.rl
 	ragel -Z -G2 $^ -o $@
 
-.PHONY: deps telegraf install test test-windows lint vet test-all package clean docker-image fmtcheck uint64
+static:
+	@echo "Building static linux binary..."
+	@CGO_ENABLED=0 \
+	GOOS=linux \
+	GOARCH=amd64 \
+	go build -ldflags "$(LDFLAGS)" ./cmd/telegraf
+
+plugin-%:
+	@echo "Starting dev environment for $${$(@)} input plugin..."
+	@docker-compose -f plugins/inputs/$${$(@)}/dev/docker-compose.yml up
+
+.PHONY: deps telegraf install test test-windows lint vet test-all package clean docker-image fmtcheck uint64 static
+
diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index 1a98c61c5..845b0b92c 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -1393,6 +1393,14 @@ func buildParser(name string, tbl *ast.Table) (parsers.Parser, error) {
 
 	c.MetricName = name
 
+	if node, ok := tbl.Fields["name_override"]; ok {
+		if kv, ok := node.(*ast.KeyValue); ok {
+			if str, ok := kv.Value.(*ast.String); ok {
+				c.MetricName = str.Value
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	delete(tbl.Fields, "data_format")
 	delete(tbl.Fields, "separator")
 	delete(tbl.Fields, "templates")
@@ -1411,6 +1419,7 @@ func buildParser(name string, tbl *ast.Table) (parsers.Parser, error) {
 	delete(tbl.Fields, "custom_patterns")
 	delete(tbl.Fields, "custom_pattern_files")
 	delete(tbl.Fields, "timezone")
+	delete(tbl.Fields, "name_override")
 
 	return parsers.NewParser(c)
 }
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/reader/dev/docker-compse.yml b/plugins/inputs/reader/dev/docker-compse.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a5abde8ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/inputs/reader/dev/docker-compse.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+version: '3'
+
+# services:
+    telegraf:
+        image: glinton/scratch
+        volumes:
+          - ./telegraf.conf:/telegraf.conf
+          - ../../../../telegraf:/telegraf
+          - ./test.log:/var/log/test.log
+        entrypoint:
+          - /telegraf
+          - --config
+         - /telegraf.conf
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/reader/dev/telegraf.conf b/plugins/inputs/reader/dev/telegraf.conf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..971845682
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/inputs/reader/dev/telegraf.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+
+# Global tags can be specified here in key="value" format.
+[global_tags]
+  # dc = "us-east-1" # will tag all metrics with dc=us-east-1
+  # rack = "1a"
+  ## Environment variables can be used as tags, and throughout the config file
+  # user = "$USER"
+
+
+# Configuration for telegraf agent
+[agent]
+  ## Default data collection interval for all inputs
+  interval = "10s"
+  ## Rounds collection interval to 'interval'
+  ## ie, if interval="10s" then always collect on :00, :10, :20, etc.
+  round_interval = true
+
+  ## Telegraf will send metrics to outputs in batches of at most
+  ## metric_batch_size metrics.
+  ## This controls the size of writes that Telegraf sends to output plugins.
+  metric_batch_size = 1000
+
+  ## For failed writes, telegraf will cache metric_buffer_limit metrics for each
+  ## output, and will flush this buffer on a successful write. Oldest metrics
+  ## are dropped first when this buffer fills.
+  ## This buffer only fills when writes fail to output plugin(s).
+  metric_buffer_limit = 10000
+
+  ## Collection jitter is used to jitter the collection by a random amount.
+  ## Each plugin will sleep for a random time within jitter before collecting.
+  ## This can be used to avoid many plugins querying things like sysfs at the
+  ## same time, which can have a measurable effect on the system.
+  collection_jitter = "0s"
+
+  ## Default flushing interval for all outputs. You shouldn't set this below
+  ## interval. Maximum flush_interval will be flush_interval + flush_jitter
+  flush_interval = "10s"
+  ## Jitter the flush interval by a random amount. This is primarily to avoid
+  ## large write spikes for users running a large number of telegraf instances.
+  ## ie, a jitter of 5s and interval 10s means flushes will happen every 10-15s
+  flush_jitter = "0s"
+
+  ## By default or when set to "0s", precision will be set to the same
+  ## timestamp order as the collection interval, with the maximum being 1s.
+  ##   ie, when interval = "10s", precision will be "1s"
+  ##       when interval = "250ms", precision will be "1ms"
+  ## Precision will NOT be used for service inputs. It is up to each individual
+  ## service input to set the timestamp at the appropriate precision.
+  ## Valid time units are "ns", "us" (or "µs"), "ms", "s".
+  precision = ""
+
+  ## Logging configuration:
+  ## Run telegraf with debug log messages.
+  debug = false
+  ## Run telegraf in quiet mode (error log messages only).
+  quiet = false
+  ## Specify the log file name. The empty string means to log to stderr.
+  logfile = ""
+
+  ## Override default hostname, if empty use os.Hostname()
+  hostname = ""
+  ## If set to true, do no set the "host" tag in the telegraf agent.
+  omit_hostname = false
+
+# # reload and gather from file[s] on telegraf's interval
+[[inputs.reader]]
+# ## These accept standard unix glob matching rules, but with the addition of
+# ## ** as a "super asterisk". ie:
+# ##   /var/log/**.log     -> recursively find all .log files in /var/log
+# ##   /var/log/*/*.log    -> find all .log files with a parent dir in /var/log
+# ##   /var/log/apache.log -> only tail the apache log file
+files = ["/Users/maxu/go/src/github.com/influxdata/telegraf/plugins/inputs/reader/testfiles/grok_a.log"]
+#
+# ## The dataformat to be read from files
+# ## Each data format has its own unique set of configuration options, read
+# ## more about them here:
+# ## https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/master/docs/DATA_FORMATS_INPUT.md
+data_format = "grok"
+#
+
+patterns = ["%{COMMON_LOG_FORMAT}"]
+#
+#   ## Name of the outputted measurement name.
+measurement = "grok_reader"
+#
+#   ## Full path(s) to custom pattern files.
+#   custom_pattern_files = []
+#
+#   ## Custom patterns can also be defined here. Put one pattern per line.
+#   custom_patterns = '''
+#   '''
+#
+#   ## Timezone allows you to provide an override for timestamps that
+#   ## don't already include an offset
+#   ## e.g. 04/06/2016 12:41:45 data one two 5.43µs
+#   ##
+#   ## Default: "" which renders UTC
+#   ## Options are as follows:
+#   ##   1. Local             -- interpret based on machine localtime
+#   ##   2. "Canada/Eastern"  -- Unix TZ values like those found in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones
+#   ##   3. UTC               -- or blank/unspecified, will return timestamp in UTC
+#   timezone = "Canada/Eastern"
+
+
+[[outputs.file]]
+  files = ["stdout"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/reader/reader.go b/plugins/inputs/reader/reader.go
index bfccb87d3..eb2ce4804 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/reader/reader.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/reader/reader.go
@@ -50,7 +50,13 @@ func (r *Reader) Gather(acc telegraf.Accumulator) error {
 			return err
 		}
 
-		for _, m := range metrics {
+		for i, m := range metrics {
+
+			//error if m is nil
+			if m == nil {
+				log.Printf("E! Metric could not be parsed from: %v, on line %v", k, i)
+				continue
+			}
 			acc.AddFields(m.Name(), m.Fields(), m.Tags())
 		}
 	}