The legend of Robert Griffin III continues to grow, and we haven’t even made it to training camp yet. When Griffin won the Heisman Trophy, there was a lot of focus on his accuracy and decision making, and rightly so. He completed 72.4 percent of his passes with 37 touchdowns and six interceptions, all equal to or better than top pick Andrew Luck.
But Griffin he also ran for 699 yards his senior year. And when he went to the NFL Combine and ran a faster 40 time than Michael Vick, some of the focus shifted to his legs and people started talking about him as a running quarterback, forgetting that he out-passed Luck.
Now that he’s in OTA’s with the Redskins, the focus has shift back to his arm, and specifically his arm strength, combined with his accuracy. And he’s been so impressive, that it’s become an entity unto itself… The Arm. His teammates are almost at a loss to describe it.
Tight end Logan Paulsen said Griffin throws the proverbial frozen rope – no arc. He throws the ball so hard that the ball doesn’t rise or fall at all, but just comes straight in. “It takes some getting used to,” Paulsen said.
The Redskins other rookie quarterback, Kirk Cousins, who was selected three rounds after Griffin, has never seen anything like RGIII’s accuracy. He’s seen plenty of players who can throw deep, but to throw the ball 70 yards on the money? “He can put the ball into tight windows,” Cousins said.
Redskins veteran backup Rex Grossman, who has been around the league since he was a first round selection himself in 2003, struggles to describe The Arm and do it justice.
“It’s more of running to your left and flicking your wrist and throwing the ball 70 yards,” Grossman said, shaking his head. “His arm almost comes off like a whip.”
“There are a lot of plays in our offense where you boot[leg] and run to the left and the receivers cross downfield,” Grossman said, explaining that the Redskins offense could call on him to throw the ball 70 yards in the air while running in the other direction.
“He’s going to make some impressive plays,” Grossman continued. “Not just runs, he’s going to make some big plays when everything breaks down.”
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