Colin Cowherd: RG3 can't hold a candle to Andrew Luck

[DogofWar1]

Other teams may use more pistol formation but I don't see the read option aspect of it becoming a major paradigm for the NFL, and that isn't because it will get "figured out" or is easy to defend against. It is very hard to defend against when done effectively. However, I think to run it with consistent success in the NFL you really have to have a QB who is an elite athlete in addition to being a top tier passer. RG3 is pretty much a unique specimen in that regard: the speed of a Vick to go along with the accuracy of a Rodgers or Brees. It is just deadly and almost impossible to defend against even though you know its coming.

Defenders are just too good and too fast in the pro game for anything but a guy with the skillset of Griffin to pull off the read option with any regularity. Tebow was ok at it because he was smart and a tough runner, though not all that fast. But he sucked as a passer and was almost no threat there so that negated a big part of the option. In college he could get away with being a mediocre passer while still being successful at the option but in the pros it made him almost obsolete.

Other teams may try to incorporate the occasional read option concept more in the future but without a guy with the skillset to execute it regularly I think it will still be more of a wrinkle than a staple of offenses.

Yeah, we're doing a lot of stuff other teams with less athletic QBs simply can't do. They were talking about how the RGIII-Morris play-action stuff was pretty unique to us too because you needed two guys perfectly on the same page, or else you'd see 2-3 fumbles a game, and these guys have really held onto the ball well the past few weeks after a couple of mishaps in the first half of the season.

The pistol is definitely best utilized with a QB like RGIII. I mean, it originated in Nevada and was captained best by Kaepernick, who is a speedy mobile QB himself.

I think the pistol, as just a formation, will find some ground, but yeah, the read option part of it probably won't get much play unless you've got a guy like RGIII or Kaepernick. I wonder if Carolina would do well to start incorporating it into their offense.

[Going Commando]

Yeah, we're doing a lot of stuff other teams with less athletic QBs simply can't do. They were talking about how the RGIII-Morris play-action stuff was pretty unique to us too because you needed two guys perfectly on the same page, or else you'd see 2-3 fumbles a game, and these guys have really held onto the ball well the past few weeks after a couple of mishaps in the first half of the season.

The pistol is definitely best utilized with a QB like RGIII. I mean, it originated in Nevada and was captained best by Kaepernick, who is a speedy mobile QB himself.

I think the pistol, as just a formation, will find some ground, but yeah, the read option part of it probably won't get much play unless you've got a guy like RGIII or Kaepernick. I wonder if Carolina would do well to start incorporating it into their offense.

There are a lot of athletic QBs coming into the league now though.

I bet Harbaugh is taking notes on our offense. If he's smart, he would because he has the QB to duplicate a lot of what we do.

The advantage of the pistol over lining up in SG or behind center is it gives your QB the best looks to either run or throw IMO. Harder to run from the shotgun and harder to fake and throw from behind center. But for it to have a point, your QB actually needs to be a legit threat to run.

One thing I am always amazed by is how devilishly good RGIII's ball fakes are. They're the best I think I've ever seen. He's got an amazing feel for the ball, because he's literally snatching that thing back out of Morris's hands. It's impossible not to have a couple people on the D bite on fakes like that.

[HailfrmDEN]

Luck has a good oline and seasoned receivers. Luck has time to stand and throw the ball RG doesn't. The only difference is RG is winning games. LOL!!

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I bet Harbaugh is taking notes on our offense. If he's smart, he would because he has the QB to duplicate a lot of what we do.

I think it's clear he has taken note. He benched a QB who was playing well and had helped accumulate a 20-6-1 record over the past 2 seasons. I think Harbaugh noticed the difficulty that teams have had in defending our offense and is emulating our approach with CK.

[Going Commando]

- Kaepernick ran a 4.53.

- Newton ran a 4.59

- Locker ran a 4.59

- Tyrod Taylor ran a 4.51

- Gabbert ran a 4.62

- Ponder ran a 4.65

- Luck ran a 4.67

- Russell Wilson ran a 4.55

RGIII ran a 4.41, so none are in his class of speed. But that's a list of a lot of athletic QBs taken the past two years or so who are fast enough to run from the pistol formation. They wouldn't get the kind of huge chunk runs RGIII gets most likely. And they wouldn't be able to run away from these DEs so easily most likely. But they could be effective probably.

[DogofWar1]

There are a lot of athletic QBs coming into the league now though.

I bet Harbaugh is taking notes on our offense. If he's smart, he would because he has the QB to duplicate a lot of what we do.

The advantage of the pistol over lining up in SG or behind center is it gives your QB the best looks to either run or throw IMO. Harder to run from the shotgun and harder to fake and throw from behind center. But for it to have a point, your QB actually needs to be a legit threat to run.

One thing I am always amazed by is how devilishly good RGIII's ball fakes are. They're the best I think I've ever seen. He's got an amazing feel for the ball, because he's literally snatching that thing back out of Morris's hands. It's impossible not to have a couple people on the D bite on fakes like that.

Yeah. Kaepernick is one of my favorite college QBs in the past few years. I first started watching him while watching keeping an eye on Boise, because Boise kept making a ton of noise despite never playing anybody worth writing home about, and was always trying to see if someone could knock them off. Nevada seemed like their only competition within their conference, and I watched a couple Nevada games and he really impressed me. He's not RGIII (no one else is), but Kaepernick definitely has the mobility and speed to do a ton of what RGIII is doing. If they take a full offseason and get their offense built around some of our concepts (and improve their WR corp), they could have a dangerous offense in addition to their strong defense.

But they'll also need an RB who is perfectly on the same page as him. RGIII and Morris look like they're reading each other's minds on the play-actions. They're just so in sync it's insane.

[Riggo'sRangers]

- Kaepernick ran a 4.53.

- Newton ran a 4.59

- Locker ran a 4.59

- Tyrod Taylor ran a 4.51

- Gabbert ran a 4.62

- Ponder ran a 4.65

- Luck ran a 4.67

- Russell Wilson ran a 4.55

RGIII ran a 4.41, so none are in his class of speed. But that's a list of a lot of athletic QBs taken the past two years or so who are fast enough to run from the pistol formation. They wouldn't get the kind of huge chunk runs RGIII gets most likely. And they wouldn't be able to run away from these DEs so easily most likely. But they could be effective probably.

RGIII also ran a 4.38 on the second "leg". It usually never gets mentioned but he is actually usually in the 4.3's. In high school his 300 hurdles time was 1/100th of a second short of tying the national high school record. His personal best in the 110-meter hurdles, 13.46 sec, ranked fifth in the WORLD among junior athletes. His personal best in the 400-meter hurdles, 49.56 sec, WAS #1 in the world among junior athletes. His speed, for a quarterback, has seriously never been seen before. HTTR

[ExoDus84]

A team that went 15-1 last year is a creampuff?

Look, you of all people, should know better than to make a comment like this. Cam Newton got even more praise last year than Luck's getting now and his team only won 6 games. And both guys inherited 2-14 teams, if I'm not mistaken.

Luck is getting most of the praise he's getting because he took a 2-14 team and has made them into a playoff contender. You guys can knock the schedule he's played all you want, but it's irrelevant when you consider how bad a team it was he was coming to. He has 8 wins in 12 starts. Cam Newton, the guy who had the greatest rookie season a QB has ever had, has 9 total wins...in 20 starts.

Luck and Griffin both inherited terrible teams and are doing amazing things. I don't understand why so many people feel they have to discount Luck's achievements. It's not a knock against Griffin to give Luck credit for what he's done.

It's far too early to say who's gonna win ROY. And, honestly, even if Griffin doesn't win it, it won't bother me all that much. I'm content (for now) just knowing that the Redskins are relevant again, after all these years.

Not totally buying into the premise that the colts were a real 2-14 team. Yes, they only won two games. But they had double digit wins the season before. They lost so many games because they had Curtis Painter as their starting quarterback for most of the season. Luck inherited a team that went 2-14 but had enough talent to be better than they were last year.

[SpeedKi11s]

No need to cry about one radio host's opinion of the rookie quarterbacks. If he thinks Luck is having a more impressive season, it doesn't affect you. He gives RG3 a lot of praise if you actually listen to his show all the time. Just because he doesn't think Griffin is more impressive doesn't make him a moron. I love Robert, but right now I'd vote for Luck for OROY.

[Soup]

cowturd, as usual makes his point based off one game that he watched. Rg3 could get to the superbowl with shanny's system and he'll just bring up how many black QBs have won a super bowl, just to get a rise out of the fans. Truth is its more difficult to stop RG3 than it is luck. Griffin is more consistent but media and others will always see him as a "running QB".

[SteveFromYellowstone]

By the way....no one outside of a few trolls are making any kind of negative argument towards RGIII. I mean' date=' if you want to pretend that there are a lot of "haters" out there (which is required by federal statute in 2012, I should add) go ahead. But you are being delusional.

There is a legitimate argument as to who is going to have a better long-term career, I believe. Mainly because - Jesus, Mary, and Joseph - does RGIII take a beating. But they are both going to be awesome.

I suck at the Internet.[/quote']

There are a lot of people making negative arguments against RG3. Hell, turn on NFL Network and watch Heath Evans talk about how Luck is godly and he's way better than the short pass throwing Griffin (even though Tom Brady throws more passes under ten yards than RG3). Go read the Colts forums, they think Luck is x10 better and think RG3 only throws short passes and blah blah blah. I read a lot of different teams forums and they all seem to be trying to make similar arguments. A lot of radio personalities and ESPN guys are making similar bs arguments. It's like so many of these people want so bad for Luck to be better, they don't like seeing an athletic "running" QB beat the media darling who was supposed to be the most pro ready QB ever.

[Ghost of]

If he thinks Luck is having a more impressive season, it doesn't affect you. He gives RG3 a lot of praise if you actually listen to his show all the time. Just because he doesn't think Griffin is more impressive doesn't make him a moron. I love Robert, but right now I'd vote for Luck for OROY.

OK, Colin's brother-in-law.

How do you justify "can't hold a candle to" if you think it's merely a matter of him being more impressed (after all the games he's watched, I'm sure lol)? And if you would vote for Luck for OROY you're absolutely high. And you're a Skins fan? Based on what evidence would a sub-60 pct 1-1 TD/INT ratio guy who has a HoF receiver, a playmaker who was great in college and an easy schedule and has two blowout losses on his resume be ROY over Griffin.

[Parlett316]

Wow, you guys keep getting sucked right into that clowns schtick.

[Going Commando]

Posted this thought in another thread, it belongs here too: the Giants actually chose the path of greatest resistance Monday Night by deciding to run the ball even though they knew they could torch our pass D because they were scared to put RGIII on the field. They knew they couldn't defend him and would rather try and run on the 3rd ranked D and control the ball than put their defense on the field against RGIII. He scares the crap out of opponents.

I don't see teams doing the same for Andrew Luck.

[Saqs]

Exactly. You see article after article about RG3 and how tough he and this offense is to stop, play diagrams, quotes from opposition, etc. He's doing something radically different in todays NFL and doing it well. No one is crapping on Lucks accomplishments by pointing out how mediocre he's played while putting up gaudy yardage numbers.

[2STaylor1]

his radio show is the best... hes entitled to his opinion... my only argument is that he should have pointed out that Lucks more passing attempts leads to more picks, that both he and griffin have the same amount of TD passes. that being said, he praises griffin almost daily and just says things we all wonder in the back of our minds.

[dahibachi]

Posted this thought in another thread, it belongs here too: the Giants actually chose the path of greatest resistance Monday Night by deciding to run the ball even though they knew they could torch our pass D because they were scared to put RGIII on the field. They knew they couldn't defend him and would rather try and run on the 3rd ranked D and control the ball than put their defense on the field against RGIII. He scares the crap out of opponents.

I don't see teams doing the same for Andrew Luck.

this. When a team has to change what they do defensively to play you, thats incredible all on it's own. But when a player makes you change the way you play offense as well, that's simply on another level.

Another thing that seems to get ignored (because this is the NFL and there is no sympathy for it) is Luck's schedule. He's had the fortune of playing opponents who just aren't very good and whoever came up with the idea that the Colts play the Texans twice in the last three weeks of the season???? So the Colts get the play Houston when they are on the verge of wrapping up the division and definitely by week 17 will have locked up, so Colts may have a gimme game at the end of the season. I think we'll learn more about the Luck vs RG3 battle if both make the playoffs. How will Luck fair against the elite teams in the NFL vs how RG3 fairs?

[Idaho fan]

Good point stevemcqueen1.... and to further it...

Another way to look at this question as to whom is the better QB to this point since thats basically what we are talking about is to ask the players that these two QBs are playing against. The actual "experts" are not radio hosts, Colt/Skin fans, ex-pro commentators... its the actual players on defense and the DCs coaching against RGIII. Tell me this, if a poll was taken of all players/coaches and they were asked which QB - Luck or RGIII - they would least want to face whom do you think they would pick? That should answer the question and give us a pretty good idea of who ROTY should be. IMO.

Another very scientific way to compare would be to look at Fantasy points.

[dahibachi]

Another way to look at this question as to whom is the better QB to this point since thats basically what we are talking about is to ask the players that these two QBs are playing against. The actual "experts" are not radio hosts, Colt/Skin fans, ex-pro commentators... its the actual players on defense and the DCs coaching against RGIII. Tell me this, if a poll was taken of all players/coaches and they were asked which QB - Luck or RGIII they would least want to face whom do you think they would pick? That should answer the question and give us a pretty good idea of who ROTY should be. IMO.

right on point... and that poll wouldn't even be close.

[Bibby]

Not totally buying into the premise that the colts were a real 2-14 team. Yes, they only won two games. But they had double digit wins the season before. They lost so many games because they had Curtis Painter as their starting quarterback for most of the season. Luck inherited a team that went 2-14 but had enough talent to be better than they were last year.

Exactly. That Colts roster was still made up of players that would have posted a 10+ win season with Manning under center. Luck didn't get a real 2 win team that had a roster in total shambles for the past two or three years. Luck inherited a team that would be consider potential Super Bowl favorites if Peyton Manning was still playing in Indy.

[RawBBQSauce]

his radio show is the best... hes entitled to his opinion... my only argument is that he should have pointed out that Lucks more passing attempts leads to more picks, that both he and griffin have the same amount of TD passes. that being said, he praises griffin almost daily and just says things we all wonder in the back of our minds.

I couldn't have said it better. So what if he's a "Skins hater". People are so jaded. He likes teams that win and have been winning over the past 5 years. That's who he praises and deservedly so for those teams.

[FSUSkins24]

Not totally buying into the premise that the colts were a real 2-14 team. Yes, they only won two games. But they had double digit wins the season before. They lost so many games because they had Curtis Painter as their starting quarterback for most of the season. Luck inherited a team that went 2-14 but had enough talent to be better than they were last year.

You also have to consider the fact that the Colts knew they didn't have Peyton, therefore knew they weren't going anywhere. How hard are you gonna play for a guy like Painter? You gonna give it your all like you would for Manning? Just throwin' it out there.

Also, don't confuse this with taking credit away from Luck, he is a real talent. I just don't buy into that the Colts were a true 2-14 team.

[The Robert Griffin Experience]

wrong thread

[Dirt]

What do you know, cowherd didn't do his homework.

He says stupid, uninformed things, and has come out and said he's proud of saying stupid, uninformed things. "It's a radio show, if you don't like it, blah blah etc.." tool.

[pjfootballer]

I wonder if Carolina would do well to start incorporating it into their offense.

They already do, but their line is in shambles right now, their runningbacks are not suited for this type of offense and Cam is not as fast getting off the line.

They lost their starting center and have kind of a rag-tag mix and match on their line. Plus, when they do have their regular linemen in, they aren't very mobile. They were built more for the power running game.

DeAngelo Williams works best out of the 1 back offense. Since Carolina keeps trying to incorporate a FB or the zone read, he is not very effective at this type of offense. Stewart is always injured and I don't think he possess the cutting ability it would take to run between the tackles.

Cam can run, but he's big and doesn't get off the line of scrimmage as fast as Griffin does. He'd be more like Tebow with the power running.