Robert Griffin III has very specific parts of his game that needs to be developed. This is nothing unique for a young quarterback. However, while many people focus on the “changes” the Washington Redskins should make on offense, it’s really developing Griffin’s niche that should come first.
2012′s NFL offensive rookie of the year had total reconstructive knee surgery in January after further aggravating the injury in Washington’s playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks. The injury, of course, was first sustained in week 14 against the Baltimore Ravens.
Many believe the Washington Redskins need to make changes to their offense, but I disagree. The offense, however, will be “tweaked.” That was going to happen even if Griffin didn’t sustain an injury. Much has been said of the zone-read option offense. And let’s be clear, the zone-read is not a style of offense. To use some musical theory, it’s an accent to an offense, which is defined as emphasis placed on a single note. The zone-read makes an offense pop, if you have the right pieces.
There’s been a huge misconception that the zone-read and designed runs injured Robert Griffin III. Did he take some shots to the body? Absolutely, but majority of the time it froze pass rushers — creating big plays for the offense. The NFL is all about creating mismatches and the Redskins created a lot of those last season. Washington had one play last season that I don’t believe anyone stopped, which was a post route off play-action. It froze opposing defenses every time. Especially after establishing a ground game and showing the threat of zone read out the pistol formation.
“Remember, the zone read probably gave Robert more time in the pocket than anything else you can do in the National Football League,” head coach Mike Shanahan said during Thursday’s presser. “Where Robert did get hurt was dropping back and doing a couple of scrambles. That’s probably one of the toughest situations for a quarterback is to dropback, look downfield, know when to scramble, know when to slide. It’s just tough. I think every year you get better and better. But we’re going to try to protect Robert as much as we can. We’re going to let him do the things that we think he does the best and hopefully it will be as productive.”
One thing I’ve learned in past years watching several QBs who can run — if you are not a good slider — don’t do it. Make the sideline your friend. I’m of the belief that either you can or can’t slide. It’s all about developing Robert Griffin III’s niche. For example, here are a few things I’ve come to learn about Griffin:
- He’s better on designed runs than scrambling.
- He did not climb the pocket much last season.
- The sideline is not his best friend, yet.
Let’s start with the first point — Griffin is an explosive, straight line runner. That was evident when he galloped 76 yards down-the-field against the Minnesota Vikings for a touchdown. He’s not elusive like Michael Vick in the open-field. In fact, it could be argued that a guy like Russell Wilson is more agile in the open field, and maybe even the pocket. This is something that I said about Griffin coming out of Baylor University and my thoughts remain consistent after a year of professional football. He must develop this in the NFL. Griffin has to realize if there’s not “green” straight ahead, don’t try to make something out of nothing every play.
“The plays he [Griffin] sustained the injuries on, they weren’t called runs,” Redskins’ All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams said. “They were on scrambles. He’s the type of player that will try to turn nothing into something every snap. So I don’t feel like the offense was hurting him. It was just Robert, man. He’s a great gifted athlete and he’ll try to get the most out of every play. Sometimes that can be the best for us as you see in the Minnesota game and sometimes it can be a detriment as you see in the Ravens game. It’s really pick your poison but I don’t think this offense will limit him in any way or put him in harm’s way. As he gets older he’ll learn how to get down and avoid contact.”
Kudos to Trent Williams, because I don’t believe anyone has explained that better than he did.
On the second point — for some reason, Griffin strayed away from climbing the pocket last season. It’s not like he’s unable to climb the pocket. He displayed the ability at Baylor and he even did it during his first few pre-season games with the Washington Redskins. Griffin could have avoided some contact inside the pocket by climbing several times last season. I’m not sure why that part of his game somewhat disappeared, but it certainly needs to surface again next season.
Third point — and this somewhat ties into the first point, Griffin needs to get comfortable with the sidelines. He was seemingly allergic to it several times last season. He needs to develop this trait when running, especially scrambling. His competitive spirit kicks in and he decides to simply make some dumb mistakes.
There was two specific plays Griffin suffered injuries on that are viewed to be serious. Let’s take a look at the film, which I’m not very good at drawing on… But you’ll get the point:
Griffin sustained a concussion early last season, if you can remember, against the Atlanta Falcons. This wasn’t a designed run — it was a scramble. Griffin attempted to cut up-field against three defenders with clear angles, instead of going out of bounds. He was allergic to the sideline on this play and because of that, he was popped by the number 2 defender Sean Weatherspoon. He tried to make something out of nothing.
Here’s the play where Griffin first damaged his right knee against the Baltimore Ravens. Again, this was not a designed run. Griffin scrambled and tried to make something out of nothing. Yes this play sparked some nice late game heroics by both Griffin and backup QB Kirk Cousins. However, this specific situation was 2nd and 19. Griffin tried to cut towards the middle of the field — again, he’s a better straight line runner — he should have noticed the box of white shirts waiting to light-him-up. The Redskins had three timeouts, it was 1:50 remaining in the game and Griffin could have run towards the sideline.
“Everyone gets fired up about changing the way that I play,” Griffin said in his Thursday presser. “My view is I can’t change my mindset but I can be smarter about what I do on the field. I have a year of experience in the NFL. Some may think that’s not a lot but a year of experience in the NFL is a big deal. I know what I have to do and what I don’t have to do out on the field. It is all about limiting the hits and being able to stay on the field for my teammates. If it is third-and-7 and I am three yards away from the first down, then I need to slide or get out of bounds. After what happened to me and the team at the end of the year, I understand that I have to be on the field and more careful while I’m out there. I can still keep the same mindset about wanting to run every play but just knowing to be careful.”
It’s not about making changes. It’s about developing his craft — niche. Griffin needs to make the sideline his best friend. Embrace the sideline, Robert.
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