When Robert Griffin III fails to locate a receiver springing open down-the-field or constantly uses half-field reads, it would be a bit impetuous to cast the blame fully on him.
Griffin simply doesn’t see or pull the trigger to open receivers a couple times a game. While people will be quick to assume that’s all his fault, sometimes I think it’s more of what he’s asked to do.
The Washington Redskins use a lot of half field reads. That’s not uncommon for an offense with West Coast roots. “I was in a West Coast offense and we were in a half-field read about 99 percent of the time,” said ESPN’s Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden as told to ESPN.com.
It’s easy to look at a play and say, ‘this guy is open — Griffin needs to go through his full progression.’ But when you don’t know the progression, what he’s been asked to do and how it was practiced — it becomes a bit difficult to point the finger directly at one guy.
“Pick a side,” is what the guys at Smartfootball.com calls it. I stumbled across an excellent piece they published a few years ago on this topic and here’s a bit of what they wrote –
“This common coaching directive, in which the quarterback is given the autonomy to choose his starting point on a pass play, has always bothered me. It’s an abdication of a coach’s responsibility: It’s the coach’s job to orchestrate the assault on a defense –- why isn’t the quarterback given a specific starting point and a full complement of options? Even as a college player, I would sit in meetings or pick up a game plan handout and roll my eyes when I saw these words attached to a pass play. My coaches were no slouches – there was an NFL pedigree throughout the staff, and they were fresh from coaching the first pick in the NFL draft when they came to my school. We were taught sound mechanics and fundamentals and our system was a complex pro-style system. Still, there was an abundance of mirrored pass patterns in our system, where receivers on both sides of the formation ran the same routes. While these plays were sold as attacking the full field, I often thought to myself, “If everyone comes open at the same time, aren’t we really wasting half the field, and sometimes more than half of the eligible receivers?”
The Washington Redskins use a lot of mirrored pass patterns and clear/decoy routes in their system. It’s what Greg Cosell of NFL Films calls, “simplistic.” The route variations are not elaborate.
Here’s an example of one of those “mirrored” routes. QB Robert Griffin III makes a pre-snap read and decides before the ball is snapped which side of the field he’s going to pass. He chose the right side on this particular play, and although it was a completed ball — Pierre Garcon was open on the left side as well. It wasn’t the wrong decision or a bad play. However, the Redskins do run a lot of these and sometimes miss out on bigger gains.
Here’s another example of mirrored routes. Josh Morgan and Pierre Garcon are both running the same route. Griffin makes the pre-snap read — issue is, Garcon runs the wrong route. With Moss in the slot as a decoy, he drew the eyes of the Giants’ defender, which allowed Josh Morgan to spring loose in the middle of the endzone. Griffin never sees him because of the half-field read. He’s doing what the scheme dictates/what’s asked.
“While on the surface, this [pick-a-side offense] seems like an efficient, simple way to go, it is ultimately inefficient because it gives half of the pass defense a free play off — they will never be threatened, as both combinations will come open at the same time. Furthermore, if the combination is covered, the quarterback is left to fend for himself, exposing him to not only unnecessary hits, but the increased likelihood of a turnover as well.”
“Many coaches miss the fact that the ability to find the last man in the progression is a matter of focus and teaching – not of a quarterback’s ability. When I study football, one thing is obvious: players do what they are asked — no, drilled — to do. When I watch a quarterback drop back into the pocket, progress past covered pass option, and hit outlet receivers, it’s most likely because he does it every day in practice, not because he was born with that skill. Likewise, when I see a player look for one receive and have no plan of action if that receiver is covered, it is, again most likely a byproduct of his coaching. Proper installation of “Backside Tags” give the offense the opportunity to hold the entire pass defense accountable for their areas of responsibility, and allow the offense to always attack the thinnest part of the coverage.”
“This is how you get first downs and get big plays: By using frontside and backside concepts to hit the defense where they’re weakest. And, of course, it’s pretty fun, too.”
– SmartFootball.com
Those are all very interesting points and very relevant to this Washington Redskins’ topic.
Here’s an example of the typical clear-out “decoy” routes the Redskins run. Everyone basically runs up-the-field to clear a way for Pierre Garcon, who happened to line up in slot on this play. (Check next screenshot)
Garcon ends up open, but Robert Griffin III is under pressure and unable to get the ball to him. Circled in red is RB Roy Helu Jr. who is springing loose — but technically isn’t a schematic option. However, he was open (put his hand up to get Griffin’s attention) — thing is, that isn’t the throw Griffin was presumably asked to make. Yet, many will look at this and mark it as yet another big missed opportunity for Griffin. Because of there not being a backside option, Griffin is forced to scramble.
I’m not saying that Robert Griffin III shares no fault in these mishaps. But the coaching staff is failing to “consistently” help him in that regard. He’s essentially being asked not to freestyle with his arm — making a play when there really isn’t one to be made. In fact, when plays breakdown, most times Washington’s receivers don’t even attempt to “improvise.” Not that it will work every time. But the best offenses in the league make plays on broken plays a few times every week. I call the Redskins’ offense “boxed in…” And various reasons, including Griffin’s maturation process, could attribute to the lack of those things.
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