Is there anyone left who doesn't like Robert Griffin III after his appearance on the Jay Leno Show Thursday evening?
The man showed grace and wit as though he's done Leno a hundred times before last night.
RG3 revealed a little more about his character in his answers to Leno's questions.
What single play does he believe clinched the Heisman Trophy for him? Griffin thinks that Baylor's 31-30 overtime win against Kansas turned the trick. (Griffin: 312 Yds, 3 TDs, 1 Int).
Leno's staff expected Griffin to credit the Oklahoma game, Baylor's first win over the Sooners. They rolled video of Griffin's final touchdown pass of the day, a 34-yard beauty that broke a 38-38 tie with eight seconds to go. Griffin accounted for 551 yards total offense and four touchdown passes.
Full Baylor-OU game video found here.
What did he do the night he won the Heisman? Griffin treated all of the Heisman candidates to dinner.
How did he propose to his fiancé? He told her they were going to a celebration, the escorted her to the empty football stadium, presumably Baylor's. He never said. Both his and her family were stationed at midfield holding candles. He flew her family down for the occasion. He sang her a song that he composed.
(Man, this bro' is making it tougher on the rest of us men. Someone has to speak with him about that.)
What will he do with his first paycheck? Buy a bed and two massage chairs. One for him. One for her.
Griffin came to the show bearing gifts, pairs of sox that he is becoming known for. He gave one to Leno and another to guest star Hugh Laurie (House), whom Griffin addressed as "Mr. Hugh."
Leno brought up Griffin's sox that reminded me (uncomfortably) of Clinton Portis' costumed characters.
Way to represent for Old DC, RG3. The Redskins organization is going to love this guy.
Kendall Wright was Robert Griffin III's favorite target on the 2011 Baylor Bears offense. Wright is making as positive an impression on the Tennessee Titans as RG3 is with the Washington Redskins. The Titans love Wright's hands and his speed.
There is a fly in the ointment, however. Wright admits that he never used a playbook at Baylor. I'm not saying Wright never studied a playbook. He and Griffin III never had a playbook to study.
In his own words:
“I’ve never had a playbook at my school. I am new to all this. I didn’t have a playbook at Baylor. We had a lot of different stuff we ran. Now I have a playbook and I am studying every night and learning with coaches in the meeting.”
(Story by Jim Wyatt, May 11, 2012, tennesseean.com. See the full story here. Hat tip to Andrew Strickert, Total Titans blog for pointing me there.)
We are analytics here at Hog Heaven, so our response to disconcerting news is ... analytical.
This cannot be new news to the Titans or to the Redskins. It might explain Redskins' OC Kyle Shanahan's early trips to Texas with playbook in hand to visit Griffin III. Everything we have read or heard about RG3 suggests that he is a self-starter and already deep in the learning process. (I could be in denial. Um, no.)
Further reassurance may be had by looking over RG3's 2011 stat line, especially the part about 72.4 percent completion rate, 37 touchdown passes against six interceptions with 699 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. No wonder we are in love with this guy!
Guiding college athletes' transition to the pros is what the NFL does. Pro coaches are skilled at it and must have their techniques that work for them. It is a bewildering process for college players and it is why high potential draftees sit early in their rookie season. They sit until they get it right in practice.
Ryan Tannehill was a one-year wonder at quarterback for the Texas A&M Aggies, but he intrigued NFL teams because he emerged as a classic pocket passer in Mike Sherman's pro style offense. It gave him a leg up on learning the Dolphins' offense, now by no coincidence Mike Sherman's offense. Yet, the dolphins plan to work Tannehill into the starting line-up slowly.
Mike Shanahan says he will adapt his playbook to exploit RG3's phenomenal skills. That's more flexibility than he showed Donovan McNabb who predicted that Shanahan would do no such thing.
Everybody is learning here.
Point after
Playbook smaybook. Veterans and coaches entered 2011 training camps without playbooks thanks to the lockout. We were treated to record setting performances on offense anyway. Maybe playbooks and coaching is overrated.
A segment on the NFL Network last week asked the question, "What if Andrew Luck entered the 2011 NFL Draft?"
Luck chose to remain for another year at Stanford in hopes of leading the Cardinal to a national title. The Cliff Notes version of the story is that the Carolina Panthers would have drafted Luck over Cam Newton. The Denver Broncos would then have drafted Newton instead of Von Miller and new head coach John Fox would have converted Tim Tebow to a tight end, thus avoiding the drama of the 2012 season.
With their quarterback set, Denver would have no interest in Peyton Manning who would sign with the San Francisco 49ers. The Indianapolis Colts would have made Robert Griffin III the first pick of the 2012 Draft.
Wow. Just wow. It's all supposition, of course, but the logical string of events is uncomfortably plausible. What on earth would the Washington Redskins have done?
In NFL-N's "what if" scenario, Griffin III would have been the only ready-from-day-one rookie quarterback. The Colts would have spurned every trade offer for him as they did for Luck.
Even though the Redskins fan base is fed up with Rex Grossman, Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen would not have given up two* future first round picks and the 2012 second round pick for any of the quarterbacks remaining.
(* Washington traded spots with the Rams, they did not "lose" their first round pick. Thus, the Griffin pick cost the team two first rounds, not three as commonly reported.)
With all of their 2012 picks available, Shanallenhan might have boosted the defensive secondary with cornerbacks Morris Claiborne (Dallas), or Dre Kirkpatrick (Cincinnati), with their sixth overall pick. The team would have addressed their quarterback problem with their second round pick by selecting Cousins, Brandon Weeden or Ryan Tannehill.
The Redskins ranked Cousins the No. 2 quarterback on their Draft board. He would not have slipped past the third round given the pressure Shanahan faced after his prior quarterback decisions.
The impact of Shanahan's errors may have run its course. Whether he kept Jason Campbell, as he should have, or if Donovan McNabb worked out perfectly, the Redskins had to pick their quarterback-of-the-future in this Draft. Cousins and Grossman would still be locked in a competition, but for starter rather than back-up.
Washington caught an Andrew lucky break that dropped RG3 in their lap.
no commentsAs for Shanahan, the deal was a no brainer. While it was in vogue to claim in the aftermath of the trade that this was the final critical move he would make towards building the Redskins -- that he would sink or swim based on the quality of this one move and on the existing roster -- the truth is that Shanahan wasn't ever facing a reality where he would get five years to add talent to the Redskins. With the Redskins badly underachieving in years one and two of the Shanahan era, Daniel Snyder's toughest decision was made during the middle of the 2011 season. Someone was going to pick the team's next quarterback. The controversial decision would be to let Mike Shanahan do it.
And although the Redskins have headed down that road with no regrets, I don't think that having Griffin don the Burgundy and Gold in the preseason is going to make fans completely forget the last two seasons.
Let me lay out the facts.
-For the first time since about midway through the 2010 season (the Monday night Massacre), the Redskins are legitimate contenders for the NFC East title
-For the first time since oh, maybe 2009? 2006? Probably before 2010...the Redskins actually have some reasonable level of expectation for the present.
-For the first time since 2004? (ever?), that expectation isn't based heavily on recent success, but almost exclusively on a meaningful offseason acquisition.
I'm trying to think of the last time the Redskins acquired a player (at any position) with expectations on the level of Robert Griffin III. I think you have to go back beyond the Zorn era, beyond the Gibbs era (Sean Taylor?), beyond the Spurrier era, and beyond the Schottenheimer era. Jeff George maybe? Lavar Arrington? Champ Bailey? Heath Shuler? Desmond Howard? In the years of many of those acquisitions, the Redskins faced heightened expectations right out of the gate. It's possible (though unlikely) that Griffin is the exception here, but I think that dream will end when the reality of a player of that kind of skill taking the field at Ashburn for training camp. The hype train might be delayed at the station, but it's going to be full speed by week one. And should the Redskins beat the Saints in the Superdome...hoo boy!
As far as an assessment where this team is at, I think 8 wins is a fair expectation. As little sense as it makes, the Redskins are still likely to be led by their defense this season. I don't think that defense has anywhere near the talent and depth it did three years ago, but it is plenty younger and does a lot more stuff than it used to. With LaRon Landry departed to the Jets, the Redskins can't really handle an injury to Fletcher, Kerrigan, or Orakpo, but if all three stay healthy, then you're pretty likely to see someone like Josh Wilson or DeJon Gomes or Tanard Jackson enjoy a big year in the secondary. Futhermore, now in the third year of Jim Haslett as defensive coordinator, you are likely to see the Redskins play to their strengths a lot more in terms of coverage, as opposed to learning the zone coverages that are a staple of the defense. The Redskins played a lot more man in 2011 than they did in 2010, and may play even more in 2012. Haslett, speaking generally, really does a decent job using his personnel creatively.
And though the defense is far less talented, than it was three, two, or even a year ago, the Redskins can now count on a much greater contribution from their offense. The Redskins upgraded at quarterback, on the offensive line, and perhaps at receiver as well, though the receiver position this year is quite a projection based on how the Redskins plan on using their new toys.
In fact, I'd say the pitfall most likely to hamper the Redskins this year isn't their offensive line play or even their kicking game, but instead it's how they use their receivers. Will they be patient enough with Leonard Hankerson following a critical drop even though they are paying Josh Morgan a ton of money to compete with him? Will they be quick enough to sit Pierre Garcon if he's a liability in the offense? How can burners Aldrick Robinson and Anthony Armstrong get enough reps to make an impact since neither will be in the regular four man receiver rotation barring injury. In the past the Redskins have not enjoyed enough depth at receiver, now its possible we'll see good players get blocked. It's a delicate line to balance for sure.
There's certainly potential beyond 8 wins: this is a Redskins team that can run with the AFC powers on its schedule immediately (Baltimore and Pittsburgh), and has been running with everyone in its division except the Eagles for the past two years. Beyond whatever Week 1 holds with the Saints, and whatever heights the Panthers reach by November, the Redskins play an entire schedule of winnable games. 8 wins is the baseline expectation for a team that won 4, 6, and 5 the last three years, but eight the year before that and acquired an impact player in the offseason.
My question regarding the front office and the coaching staff is this: say the Redskins meet expectations and win seven or eight games. They play well against good teams, splitting against Pittsburgh and Baltimore. They go 2-4 against division opponents. They make strides against the teams they are supposed to beat, putting a licking on the Rams and Vikings, and winning road games against the Bucs and Browns by a full touchdown. Their losses come to the Eagles (twice), the Cowboys and Giants (split), the Bengals and Steelers, the Falcons, Panthers, and maybe Saints. Do you keep the course looking for a potential payoff in 2013?
I would not, and here is why: to date, we've seen a lot of assumptions from the gameday personnel (coaches) that they could and would correct the issues with the current talent because as a team, Mike and Kyle Shanahan would never get outcoached. Problem is, that this isn't 1993 anymore, and most other teams (though not all) now employ coaches who study the game as hard and as smart as the Shanahan's do, and call a game against Kyle Shanahan with just as much aptitude and more experience. It's possible (and we'll see this year) that the Redskins' entire plan during the Shanahan's tenure was that they'll just be able to outwork and outsmart every opponent. If they get into trouble, the coaches will just work harder and smarter and they'll turn it around. The issue hasn't been an unwillingness to make good on the work by the coaching staff. I think it was a flawed assumption that the opponents can always be outworked/outsmarted.
If the Redskins change their approach that they'll need to maximize their talent to be successful, there's enough on the roster where 8 wins against a fourth place schedule should be a bare minimum expectation and the true potential of the team (again without assuming anything about Griffin's aptitude to carry the team as a rookie) is more like nine or nine and a half wins. That would not take a great deal of lucky breaks. It also might not be enough to make the playoffs or win the division. The Redskins would need to exceed expectations to make the playoffs in 2012.
If an influx in talent gets the Redskins to eight wins, but the coaches are still making the same mistakes that caused the Redskins to underachieve in 2010 and 2011, I would understand the argument that getting rid of the offensive coaching staff and reorganizing the front office would be detrimental to the development of Robert Griffin III and would be putting the Redskins down the same road they started on with Jason Campbell. I would get the concern. But with the goal being to win games, if the Redskins can conclude that after three years, they've won fewer games with the false assumptions of their coaching staff than they would have with an average staff that had done it by the book, then they need to use their ability to spend money on better coaches to improve the team. It is simply not fair to the construction of the roster to get younger and have the development impeded by constant misevalution.
The other part with the argument that eight wins represents progress is it totally ignores how the Redskins have built the roster. The Redskins have systematically gotten younger on the field over the last three years. They've re-emphasized the draft, at least with late round picks. Now they frontloaded their future draft value and addressed the quarterback position, finally. All the pieces are on the roster now. They are not all as good as they can be in their primes, but the Redskins don't have additional first round picks the next two years so they won't be able to add core pieces to the 2013 team and would have to get creative to get a pick high enough in 2014 to add a core piece.
The idea that the Redskins just need to be waited out in order to achieve their true potential is fallacious. The Redskins will be required to make incremental improvements in 2013 and 2014 in order to sustain whatever they gain with all the pieces in place in 2012.
If the Redskins don't make a gain in 2012 beyond the simple small gains caused by the improvement in offensive personnel, and win just 8 games or fewer, it must be determined why that would be. The justification for trading so much for Griffin is that he opens up all levels of the offense to attack defenses with. If the Redskins win 8 or fewer games because their defense collapsed from personnel neglect, that goes on the head coach. If the special teams remains awful, that comes back to the personnel decisions. If the offense runs up high turnover totals because they fail to balance the play action passing game with the rush attack, despite RG3's ridiculously low turnover rate in college, that's such a negative indicator that I would suggest changing systems might bring a better immediate result, not to mention future.
The Redskins should have everything going for them heading into 2012. And while based on where they are versus where they have been the past two years, that means eight wins is a reasonable bettors expectation, the Redskins should be able to post a winning record in 2012. If they simply cannot, then a lot of the stuff the team has fed us about progress and doing stuff the right way has been hot air. And if you hold them accountable for the struggles of the team, then a non-winning record means that someone else needs to be in charge of the team in 2013. no comments
The Washington Redskins unveiled its 80th Anniversary uniforms Friday in a ceremony at Redskins Park in Ashburn, Virginia.
Designed by Nike, the uniform is a reinterpretation of the 1937 Redskins uniform worn when George Preston Marshall moved the franchised from Boston to Washington, DC. The Redskins won the NFL Championship that season with rookie sensation and future Hall of Famer, "Slingin'" Sammy Baugh.
We hope that is an omen of things to come! The association of Slingin' Sam to RG3 is
surely dancing in Daniel Snyder's head. It's a vision I very much want to share.
The jersey returns to the darker true burgundy color worn by the team when I first attended live games. I will not date myself, but here is a hint. Norman Snead was the quarterback. The helmet bore a single large feather on the top center.
That uniform was the flashiest ever worn by the burgundy and gold and is still my favorite. Alas, that color did not translate well on black and white TV and looked rather drab in analog color.
Vince Lombardi altered the uniform to a brighter shade of red, that he still called "burgundy," and to yellow pants that he called "championship gold." Unfortunately, he changed the helmet from burgundy with the popular arrowhead & feather logo to Green Bay Packers yellow with the Circle R.
Those who came of age at that time find the combination appealing. But, Redskins is Redskins, Packers is Packers and never the twain shall meet as uniforms. Lombardi aimed to change the losing mindset of the team and fan base, but we wanted to imitate the Packers' performance of earlier that decade, not their uniform.
Lombardi did turn the team around and he might have led them to unlimited heights if not for his premature death in 1970. George Allen continued what Lombardi started and he changed the uniform to the version we are familiar with today.
At first glance, the Anniversary unies look to be as much a hit as Washington's 75th Anniversary uniform was a throwback miss — that jersey color wasn't even close to the true burgundy of old. Its one saving grace was the return of the arrowhead & feather logo. (That logo and color scheme was adopted by the Florida State Seminoles who still use it.)
The Redskins say they will wear the Anniversary uniform twice this season. Betcha one of those games will be against the Pittsburgh Steelers (Sun Oct 28, Heinz Field). Last April, the Steelers unveiled their own 80th Anniversary uniform with a hideous bumblebee jersey. On that basis alone, the Redskins win.
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A quick note: this piece is meant to be a bit tongue in cheek. The crystal ball would obviously state that the future of the Washington Redskins lies somewhere in between these two extremes. The Redskins have never picked higher than they just did for RG3 at any point in the common era draft. They have never finished with the worst record in football. And yet, it's been 21 years since the Redskins last won the super bowl and just as long since they last won more than 10 games in a season. The total spread of the Redskins' successes and failures -- the reason for our obsession -- usually means the difference between 4 and 10 wins in any given season.
Lessons learned the hard way
"When will the Redskins learn that trading away future draft picks for 'impact' players is a bad strategy?" reads the headline on Redskins Hog Heaven. The date is January 20, 2013.
In the very elementary stages of my preparation for another NFL draft -- the 2013 NFL combine still a month away -- I lament the Redskins missing the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year, the fourth straight finish with a losing record, and aim to put the bow on a three year castastrophic failure of a period of "leadership" by the ousted Mike Shanahan. The culmination of three bad football teams coming in a 2012 season where Redskin opponents found it too easy to score, and the Redskins offense under Robert Griffin III simply never looked anything like it was promised.
Worst of all, the Redskins put the entire league on notice in the preseason by lighting up the scoreboard -- other team's second teamers, that is. The season began with so much promise, but the problems began at the quarterback position very early on, where Robert Griffin III was outplayed by fellow rookies Ryan Tannehill and Andrew Luck, and barely finished the year with better numbers than Brandon Weeden, who lost his job to veteran Seneca Wallace at Thanksgiving. Griffin showed his toughness and mettle to hang in there for 16 straight weeks, but the product on the field was so inconsistent that you'd think the Redskins would have been better off with him hurt. Sticking with his man to the bitter end, Mike Shanahan refused to make a quarterback change and invite the controversy of giving Rex Grossman or Kirk Cousins first team practice reps.
The hope was that Robert Griffin would get better throughout the season, and while it's more than possible that he did come out a better player in the end, you wouldn't be able to tell it by the results on the field. Griffin managed a meager 67.4 QB rating in the month of November, finishing with a 75.1 mark for the season. Although it's worth pointing out that such a figure is one the young quarterback can build on, he's going to be learning a new offense in 2013, and essentially will be asked to repeat his rookie year. The good news, of course, is that Griffin will be just 23 in February.
The Redskins receiver situation enters the offseason as muddled as ever. I suppose you have to start with Pierre Garcon, who led the NFL with 15 dropped passes in 2012, matching the number on the back of his jersey. On a rate (snap-by-snap) basis, Garcon had arguably his best professional season, averaging better than 15.0 YPR and finishing at the top of the league in yards after catch. But Garcon's 550 yards and 3 touchdowns seem more like a bad Antwaan Randle El season, and it appears he lost the faith of his young quarterback. Leonard Hankerson was lost for the season in the third week, and his career is at a crossroads after ending the season on IR in both of his first two pro campaigns. Hankerson has two different 100 yard games in just five career starts, but what good is he to the Redskins if he can't stay healthy? Ditto for Josh Morgan, who appeared in just 7 games after suffering a setback in his hamstring after hurting it in the third preseason game. Santana Moss, who replaced Garcon in the lineup late in the year, is not expected to be retained.
None of that really matters because the Redskins were forced to fire defensive coordinator Jim Haslett following a three game stretch in the division where his unit yielded a total of 104 points. The culprit was the pass defense. Despite Brian Orakpo's career high in sacks and spike in overall sack rate, the Redskins didn't get the expected production from either London Fletcher or Ryan Kerrigan on the other side. Kerrigan would not admit to being hurt when pressed, but how else do we explain a 3.5 sack season from a player who promised a lot more in 2011? Overall, it's hard to blame Haslett's coaching outright: this unit simply had too many holes in the back seven and needed a scapegoat to take the fall. The Redskins haven't been able to cover the pass since they last made the playoffs, and I'm not sure why we expected more from this team.
After Mike Shanahan's December resignation, the Redskins made the rather noncontroversial decision to terminate the contract of offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.
The real issues for the Redskins now feel the same as they've always been. The organzation claims that behind GM Bruce Allen and a tenured front office, it has top-down leadership. But the questions on whether or not the Redskins are prepared to hire a personnel czar under Allen remain unanswered, and the status of that is likely going to remain unaddressed until after the 2013 NFL Draft. The Redskins enter 2013 with an incomplete personnel department, and down their first round pick for each of the next two drafts, with no chance of receiving any compensatory help at the league meetings.
The Redskins have a ton of holes in the roster. They hope that Griffin can provide much needed stability at the quarterback position, and build on his rookie campaign. Beyond the quarterback position, and the quiet improvement shown in the offensive line after some major struggles early in the season, the Redskins don't really have an area of strength on their roster. With Orakpo heading into the final year of his contract, and the team unable to agree on a long term deal with impending free-agent Fred Davis, even two long-term positions of strength pose question marks for the future.
All of this is frivelous if the Redskins can get a big return on their investment in Griffin in 2013, but had they gotten that return in 2012, the future would not seem quite as uncertain.
A far too early look ahead to next year's team
Again, the date is January 20, the morning of the NFC Championship game between the third seeded Washington Redskins and the top seeded Green Bay Packers at Lambeau field. After previewing the big game, I couldn't help but to look ahead to how much better next year's team could potentially be.
The number one reason the Redskins are playing for the NFC Championship is the quarterback. Robert Griffin set pretty much every franchise passing record in the book as a rookie -- so, okay, yeah...the bar really wasn't all that high -- but it was a remarkable rookie year for Griffin and he is widely expect to take home the rookie of the year award in a couple of weeks, hopefully one to go with his Super Bowl trophy.
We were quick to criticize and now it must be said: Mike Shanahan got it right this time at the quarterback position, and now it would appear he's closer to getting an extension than he is to forced retirement. He got it right with the Roy Helu pick in the fourth round, and the 14 game starter from 2012 (1 week inactive - one week opening in 'empty' personnel) put up an excellent season with 1,500+ yards from scrimmage. He was right about Josh Morgan, and about Leonard Hankerson. Not only were there enough reps to go around for both receivers, but Hankerson narrowly broke 1,000 yards in the seasons final week, becoming the only Redskins receiver in the last decade to do that other than Santana Moss. Moss and Garcon ended up splitting reps more evenly than each contract would have suggested, but both had rather successful seasons. Garcon scored four different times from more than 35 yards out, and Moss remained the Redskins best receiver in the red zone, as the two combined for 12 receiving TDs. Although the Redskins receiving corps is still somewhat incomplete, it won't be hard to finish now. Especially not after the five year, $27 million dollar extension the Redskins gave Fred Davis in training camp.
The most improved offensive player and lynchpin on the offensive line was Trent Williams, who turned in the best season ever by a Redskins LT, allowing just one sack (Minnesota's Jared Allen, who Robert Griffin rolled right into on third and long). Behind such a performance, the Redskins enter 2013 with one outstanding contractual issue on the offensive line (LG Kory Lichtensteiger, an unrestricted free agent who is expected to return). It's hard to say enough about the job that rookie C Josh LeRibeus did in his first NFL season. Shanahan remains adamant that LeRibeus will eventually take Chris Chester's place as the team's right guard, but the team is no longer in a rush to move him from Center. Right Tackle Jammal Brown is not expected to be retained, despite having his best season as a Redskin. He is a game time decision against Green Bay, after missing the first two playoff games with a foot sprain.
The Redskins defense has been better than anyone could have imagined. Although this is hardly the most talented version of the defense to date, Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan have terrorized quarterbacks all season from all sorts of different angles. They've been so hard to find, that Kerrigan doesn't always even play on third down. Very often, the Redskins will bring in their sub package and turn just about anyone loose: S Tanard Jackson, LBs Rob Jackson and Chris Wilson, even slot corner Richard Crawford, a rookie, has a pair of hard earned (and brutally delivered) sacks. Kerrigan and Orakpo have both improved immesely against the run, which helps out the captain London Fletcher. Fletcher goes to the pro bowl again this year, although he clearly isn't moving well anymore, and this may be more of a legacy pick related to the success of his team. Either way, it's a well deserved capper to his career, if we are indeed looking at the end. Fletcher came into the league and won the super bowl in his second year, and if the Redskins can deliver him another trophy a decade and a half later, well, that's why he's still in the game, isn't it? Meanwhile, Jarvis Jenkins (6.5 sacks) and Adam Carriker have showed everyone exactly how good the Redskins defense could have been a year ago without those critical injuries.
The defensive offseason will have three primary goals: draft London Fletcher's successor, address the secondary which has been well protected this year by it's pass rush, and come to a long term contract agreement with star rusher Brian Orakpo, who sacked the quarterback 17 times in the regular season.
It's clear that Mike Shanahan has improved the Redskins immesely at all the critical positions: they know that Robert Griffin is their quarterback of the future. But they also know that Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan are, as a tandem, just as important to the success of the Redskins. They lack a true go to target not named Fred Davis, who controls the middle of the field, and they lack a true elite cover corner, as their lone pro bowler in the secondary Josh Wilson (7 INTs - career high) enters the final year of his contract.
Because of the Griffin trade, the Redskins will likely be unable to address the go-to receiver, and will instead have to opt to develop Leonard Hankerson (1,014 yards at age 24) from within. Either way, this is a group that is very difficult to cover because of how well the Redskins utilize the whole field with Fred Davis. He remains the key to the offensive gameplan every week, and will be expected to emerge as an 1,000 yard player next year, when he is healthy enough to catch more than the 60 receptions he was credited with in 2012.
At the end of the year, the story of the 2012 Redskins follows the expected path: the offense is clearly incomplete and could use some help, but Griffin is an explosive player who played all 16 games as a rookie and set multiple team passing records. Despite some injuries to starters (Fred Davis, Jammal Brown, Chris Chester, Santana Moss), the Redskins finished in the top ten for total offense (realistically, they were closer to the 12th or 13th best offense -- still their best finish in about 7 seasons) and their most productive weapon, Helu, is still a realtive unknown outside of fantasy football circles. Griffin got it done in year one, making numerous plays outside the scheme that Rex Grossman simply never offered, and making his offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan look very smart. Best of all, the game never appeared too fast for Griffin. He has some bad tendencies; he'll pull his eyes down in the pocket rather than slide away from pressure -- but he gets the ball to the open guy more often than not. And Griffin's arm strength was more highly featured in the pros than it ever was at Baylor.
If the Redskins can beat the Packers and go to the super bowl, it will likely be because their late-season uptempo offense took the next step and put them in position to win the franchise's fourth title and first in the last 21 seasons. Griffin is the triggerman, Shanahan the boywonder genius, his father finally the team guru in line with his hefty salary, earning every cent this year. Now hiring: someone who thinks they can defend these guys at their breakneck pace.
All year, the Redskins offense was more toolzy than effective, which is quite a statement about an offense that enjoyed this much success so soon. A year ago, Cam Newton took the NFL by storm with his ability to combine deep-level touchdown passes into tight windows with the ability to go up, over, and even though linebackers. Robert Griffin plays from the pocket most of the time in a pocket-based PA heavy attack prefered by the younger Shanahan. But the ability of Shanahan and Griffin to work at this pace during the week and into games gives the NFL something that defensive coordinators at this level never have to deal with.
The Redskins defense might not be all that in 2013, and a lot of their success this year has been behind a blitz-heavy offensive attack and the ability to handle big plays in a way they were unable to in 2011. But the fundamentals of this defensive group are at time lacking, and with the quick pace now of the Redskins offense, the opposing offense gets a lot of shots to expose the Redskins defense. Still, the Redskins would not be at this point without their defense.
The Redskins don't have a ton of holes heading into next year. The offense needs a little shot in the arm to reach its true potential, and the defense needs a pair of foundation players to pair with Orakpo, Jenkins, and Kerrigan. Wilson had a fantastic year, but will be a free agent prior to the 2014 season, and the Redskins are not expected to retain him.
It would be nice to have a first round pick next year, but with the short term results and the long term projection of such a young team, it's really just not that big a deal. If the second rounder is spent on a middle linebacker, as projected, then the Redskins will have all of day three to address the secondary, the receivers, and to try and find a right tackle and someone to take the load off of Roy Helu. That can be done. A year ago, I thought the Redskins were too far away to fill their holes. Turns out the investment they made in Robert Griffin was worth it, and the flawed team we saw in training camp outlasted every other team in the NFC East and will take the Packers on today to represent the NFC in the super bowl.
For an incomplete roster, you have to be thrilled with that result. I know that I am. no comments
Andrew Strickert is my long time blogging colleague who covers the Tennessee Titans for Total Titans on the Bloguin Network. Andrew overheard an assessment of Robert Griffin III and his NFL prospects that he thought would interest Washington Redskins fans — not that Redskins fans need convincing about RG3. We thought it was good enough to turn into a guest post. Read on.
Mike Detillier, an analyst for Titans Radio, also authors/produces the M&D Draft Report and also works in some type of capacity for both the Saints and LSU, so you can consider him a draft/scouting expert of sorts.
For the last six months or so, I've heard him say multiple times that the highest grade he has ever given a quarterback prospect in 27 years has been to Andrew Luck (his previous highest grade went to Troy Aikman.)
This weekend on Titans Radio he repeated that, but with a few extra nuggets. He said that RG III had the sixth highest grade he had ever given and Peyton Manning had the third highest. He didn't disclose whom he had given the fourth and fifth highest grades to.
Anyway, I thought you'd be pleased to know that RG III got the sixth highest QB grade in 27 years.
If you want to speculate on who Nos. 4 and 5 might be, these are the QBs drafted in the top three spots in the last 27 years. Though some didn't live up to expectations, all of them should have theoretically received pretty high grades.
1986 Jim Everett #3 overall
1987 Vinny Testaverde #1
1989 Troy Aikman 1
1990 Jeff George 1
1993 Drew Bledsoe 1
1993 Rick Mirer 2
1994 Heath Shuler 3
1995 Steve McNair 3
1998 Peyton Manning 1
1998 Ryan Leaf 2
1999 Tim Couch 1
1999 Donovan McNabb 2
1999 Akili Smith 3
2001 Michael Vick 1
2002 David Carr 1
2002 Joey Harrington 3
2003 Carson Palmer 1
2004 Eli Manning 1
2005 Alex Smith 1
2006 Vince Young 3
2007 JaMarcus Russell 1
2008 Matt Ryan 3
2009 Matthew Stafford 1
2010 Sam Bradford 1
2011 Cam Newton 1
2012 Andrew Luck 1
2012 RG III 2
If I had to guess, Detillier graded them:
1. Andrew Luck
2. Troy Aikman
3. Peyton Manning
4. Jeff George
5. Carson Palmer
6. RG III
Thank you for pulling this together, Andrew. Only argument I have is the idea of Jeff George arguably ranked higher Cam Newton. If Detillier did a "re-draft" like Mel Kiper, I doubt he would rerank George or Carson Palmer in the top six.
Check out more Tennessee Titans coverage by Andrew Strickert at TotalTitans.com.
Washington Redskins Head Coach Mike Shanahan said the only thing I wanted to hear about Robert Griffin III, "He's the starter, period," Shanahan stated in today's press conference following the Rookie mini-camp.
Then Shanahan got into words that coaches who draft young quarterbacks always say. Developing Griffin is going to take time. Blah blah blah and yada yada yada. Shanahan is just trying to reset expectations of Redskins fans, especially those who feel that Washington is one stellar quarterback away from the Super Bowl.
Stop it. Just, stop it. In Griffin, the Redskins have one high quality ingredient to the menu. The chef is still adding to the stew. I like most of Shanahan's offseason moves since his arrival, particularly his free agent additions in 2010 and his 2011 draft class.
Even if he does not live up to full expectations, Griffin III is Shanahan's only correct quarterback decision.
Now, coach Shanny has to prove that he has learned two things from his Redskins experience.
- He has learned to be more flexible than he was with Donovan McNabb and
- He has learned to tolerate imperfection.
Shanahan became a better coach when he learned to tolerate Rex Grossman's imperfections. The Redskins were better for it. Now, he has to prove he can tolerate Griffin's rookie mistakes.
Griffin will get 80 percent of all the snaps with the first team from now on with Rex Grossman and Kirk Cousins competing for the No. 2 spot at quarterback, according to Shanahan.
You will not see the official Redskins Hog Heaven season prediction until late August or September. We are Redskins fans, but we are stone cold analysts, too. We would like to see Messrs. Griffin III and Cousins throw NFL passes and see Messrs Garcon and Morgan catch them first.
The Redskins have averaged seven wins per season since 1992 (do the math). Show us enough to have rational reasons why Washington might challenge for the division.
I like this team, in spite of their five-win 2011. Shanahan and Jim Haslett have not answered all the questions about themselves as coaches, but the team has the feel of moving in the right direction.
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I woke this morning to back-to-back pieces on ESPN promoting the Washington Nationals' Sunday Night Baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, followed by Robert Griffin III in a Dicks Sporting Goods commercial and wrapping with the story of Capitals win over the New York Rangers to tie their NHL playoff series.
This all occurred within a five minute span, enough time to sense that something is very different about DC sports.
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I'll Have Another, with jockey Mario Gutierrez up, nipped Bodemeister in the stretch to win the Kentucky Derby.
Bodemeister carried the highest Beyer Speed Figure into the race and nearly pulled off a gate to finish win. The achievement would have been historic. Bedemeister did not race as a two year old. No horse since the late Nineteenth Century has won the Derby with that background.
I'll Have Another, winner of the Santa Anita Derby and the Robert B. Lewis Derby, but lightly regarded for speed (95 speed figure), closed from the 19th pole position in his clutch run.
Bodemeister held off fast closing Dullahan to finish second. Went the Day Well finished fourth.
Union Rag, the favorite, finished seventh. “He broke a step slow and he usually breaks well from the gate," said jockey Julian Leparoux. "Then he got bumped and we dropped far back. After the first turn and on the backside, I tried to find room inside but I had nowhere to go where I can make a move. At that time, I knew it was going to be tough to come back. It’s unfortunate.”
The order of finish for the 138th Kentucky Derby
- I'll Have Another
- Bodemeister
- Dullahan
- Went the Day Well
- Creative Cause
- Liaison
- Union Rags
- Rousing Sermon
- Hansen
- Daddy Nose Best
- Optimizer
- Alpha
- El Padrino
- Done Talking
- Sabercat
- Gemologist
- Trinninberg
- Prospective
- take Charge Indy
- Daddy Long Legs
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