Why you should not be worried that RGIII will not be worth the cost of aquiring him:

[The Robert Griffin Experience]

In the midst of an awful season, motivated by watching the injury-driven regression of a quarterback this team paid a very high price for, people have, understandably, started to think that we overpaid for RGIII, especially considering that part of that price will involve a top 3 draft pick, and probably the #1 pick. They see players like Luck and Wilson and Tannehill and even Foles and feel that Griffin is inferior to them, and far more expensive. However, this ignores several factors that the other quarterbacks have not struggled with to the same extent. It is likely that  once those factors are corrected, we will see a return to the dominant form we saw last year.

 

1: The ACL injury which, first and foremost, impacted Griffin's mechanical development as a passer

2: The lengthened development curve of spread quarterbacks versus quarterbacks that play in pro-style sets

3: The poor supporting cast that Griffin currently plays with compared to the other quarterbacks, as well as inconsistent coaching that does not put the offense in a position to succeed.

 

1: To many, the ACL injury is seeming more and more like an excuse for his poor play. While this is understandable, given his often spotty play, it cannot be understanding the impact of a knee injury on a quarterback. If anything, a QB is *more*, not less affected by knee injuries because a quarterback throws with his entire body, not his arm. The injury has done 2 things (and this is compounded by the brace) - caused him to miss an offseason of refining his mechanics and pocket skills, and forced him to compensate mechanically, causing his normal accuracy to decrease markedly.

 

2: Spread quarterbacks tend to develop more slowly than pro-style quarterbacks. Aaron Rodgers sat for 3 years and he fell in 2005 over concerns that the Tedford offense did not prepare him for the NFL. It is hard to project how he would have done as an immediate starter. Ben Roethlisberger and Joe Flacco were drafted to very strong teams and were largely game managers in their first few years. Drew Brees sat his first year, and had a mediocre second year and a terrible third year. Phillip Rivers was drafted to replace him, and ended up sitting for 2 years. Cam Newton had one of the shorter development curves, he had a strong first year, but a down first half of his second year before rebounding in year 3.

 

3: While the supporting casts of the other young QBs have had their issues, none have really had the consistent OL problems that Griffin has had, nor have they had the dearth of skill position talent that Griffin suffers from. Many times, WRs simply were not open even when Griffin had time - which has been quite rare this year. Furthermore, the offensive playcalling has tended to be schizophrenic, such as in last night's game. Griffin operates very well, even this year from a shotgun spread, yet that formation is rarely used.

 

Luckily these issues are relatively easily fixed - solid offseason investments in offensive line and possibly WR, a new coaching staff that will play to Griffin's strengths, and an offseason to develop Griffin's mechanics and pocket presence in order to erase last year's regression.

[QuadrupleDeke]

This post is a whole lot of nothing.

 

No new insights. No new facts. Nothing.

 

Just a delusional Redskins fan trying to convince themselves they'd rather have RG3 than Cousins plus Luke Kuechly, Janoris Jenkins, Sharrif Floyd, and Jadaveon Clowney (all players drafted at or just after the pick the Redskins sent the Rams, or likely will in Clowney's case).

 

No chance RG3 was worth all that.

[TheGoodBits]

Great thread, many valid points.

 

If Griffin gets a decent supporting cast around him ASAP (and remains healthy) I do think he has a legitimate chance to have a better career than Luck, Wilson, Kap, Foles, etc. All of them.

 

Unfortunately he has wide receivers that can’t catch, an offensive line that can’t block, and an offensive coordinator that couldn’t call his way out of a phone booth, so there are legitimate questions about his future. 

This post is a whole lot of nothing.

 

No new insights. No new facts. Nothing.

 

Just a delusional Redskins fan trying to convince themselves they'd rather have RG3 than Cousins plus Luke Kuechly, Janoris Jenkins, Sharrif Floyd, and Jadaveon Clowney (all players drafted at or just after the pick the Redskins sent the Rams, or likely will in Clowney's case).

 

No chance RG3 was worth all that.

 

I think you're lost. This is not the 49ers board. 

[Taylor703]

While I agree with the thread it is still going to be incredibly painful if the Rams end up with the first pick via the Redskins...you should not be picking in the top 5 four years into a rebuild.

[justice98]

Next year, none of these excuses will be in effect, so he should be in Pro Bowl form.  He'll have an offseason, he'll be that much more removed from the knee injury, and we'll have all that cap space to upgrade some spots.

[SkinsHokieFan]

It is a sunk cost and gone.

 

Remember, in the 2000 draft we somehow got the number 2 overall pick from the Saints for the Ricky Williams trade

[BKSkinsFan]

I think I will always be worried about Griff.  Every time he takes a snap.  He could easily end up being as injury prone as Vick, if not more so.  Another knee injury, it's career ending.  I doubt I would feel this nervous if we had taken Tannehill, Wilson, or only had Cousins.  

 

I do have confidence that he can be a great QB for us, as long as he holds up.

[gortiz]

While I agree with the thread it is still going to be incredibly painful if the Rams end up with the first pick via the Redskins...you should not be picking in the top 5 four years into a rebuild.

 Yep, I mean look at Ron Rivera and the Panthers, he took over a 2-14 team, went 6-10, 7-9, and now is 9-3. 

 

Harbaugh? took over a franchise that did not have a winning season 8 years in a row ... he went 13-3, 11-4, and now 8-4. Sure he had a lot of talent, but so did Nolan and Singletary, with a lot of the same players could not get the job done. 

 

Mike Smith took over a 4-12 team that was coming off both the Mike Vick and Bobby Petrino debacles ... got his QB, got his RB and went 11-5, 9-7, 13-3, 10-6 (fourth year),13-3 ... 

 

Hell, by his 4th year Kubiak went 9-7 ... 

 

Carroll? Went 7-9 his first two years, 11-5 his 3rd and is now 10-1 going in his fourth ... 

 

I mean, with each of these examples you can certainly make the case that they were in more advantageous situations than the skins but were they really? After awhile we are just making excuses for the real issues at hand ... what ever they might be? Shanahan? Snyder and the culture of this team? the cap penalties? Vinny? etc. 

[AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy]

Whether Griff stays healthy and lights it up for the next decade, or he becomes the biggest failed gamble in franchise history, that was a move we absolutely had to make.  Period.  Anyone suggesting we should've stayed put is looking in the rearview mirror.

[MontanaSkins]

Whether Griff stays healthy and lights it up for the next decade, or he becomes the biggest failed gamble in franchise history, that was a move we absolutely had to make.  Period.  Anyone suggesting we should've stayed put is looking in the rearview mirror.

Spot on. Our Redskins were in a spot where they had to make a move. I don't know if Robert will be worth it but it is my opinion that he will. But I will never hold it against the organization for taking a leap of faith.

[Rufus T Firefly]

It always seemed we gave up just a little more than we should have had to. It's hard not to at least wonder if we could have gotten a little cheaper, and to think what could have been if we still had this #1 and instead have given up the #2 and maybe a couple mid round picks over the last 2 years.

 

Not a complaint though, really. Given the choice of whether we should have made the deal or not, we had to make it.

[Stadium-Armory]

Knowing what I know now: I still make the trade with St. Louis. 

 

Hail.

[KuNiT21]

Great thread, many valid points.

 

If Griffin gets a decent supporting cast around him ASAP (and remains healthy) I do think he has a legitimate chance to have a better career than Luck, Wilson, Kap, Foles, etc. All of them.

 

Unfortunately he has wide receivers that can’t catch, an offensive line that can’t block, and an offensive coordinator that couldn’t call his way out of a phone booth, so there are legitimate questions about his future. 

 

I think you're lost. This is not the 49ers board. 

 

Why is the offensive coordinator to blame? You mention our WR's can't catch and an offensive line that can't block but then blame goes on the OC?  The gameplan is there, we just can't execute it and this falls on Mike not Kyle because it sounds to me Mike has lost quite a few in the locker room despite fault or not.  Fred Davis, Garcon vs RG3, Josh Morgan, RG3 sitting down with Mike, ect.  This is hardly time to blame the OC.

[Bacon]

I don't worry about it because there's nothing that can be done or could have been done. It was the shot in the arm this franchise needed and I'm glad we did it, whether it pans out or not.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Knowing what I know now: I still make the trade with St. Louis. 

 

Hail.

 

I do too. No Regrets. Put Clowney on the Rams, they aren't any closer to a SB than we are. 

I don't worry about it because there's nothing that can be done or could have been done. It was the shot in the arm this franchise needed and I'm glad we did it, whether it pans out or not.

 

Yep. Had we not done it, I don't think our future would have been any brighter with a couple extra 1st round picks. We needed to do it and if he plays to his potential over the next 8-10 years then we underpaid.

[TheGoodBits]

Why is the offensive coordinator to blame? You mention our WR's can't catch and an offensive line that can't block but then blame goes on the OC? The gameplan is there, we just can't execute it and this falls on Mike not Kyle because it sounds to me Mike has lost quite a few in the locker room despite fault or not. Fred Davis, Garcon vs RG3, Josh Morgan, RG3 sitting down with Mike, ect. This is hardly time to blame the OC.

I don't know how you watch games this year and don't lay some of the blame on Kyle. His playcalling has been maddening at times. Last night for instance. Got a TD out of turbo and never saw it again. Completely abandoned the run in the second half in favor of RO keepers that got 3 yards. Several instances of 3rd and long set up by an incompletion on 1st down and an interior run for no gain on 2nd down.

That said, it's a combination of everything. Drops, missed blocks, missed throws, terrible playcalling.

[Slateman]

Very hindsight post. But hindsight being 20/20, sure, I would love to have that trade back. Keep the first and second rounder, take Russell Wilson in the third round.

[The Robert Griffin Experience]

This post is a whole lot of nothing.

 

No new insights. No new facts. Nothing.

 

Just a delusional Redskins fan trying to convince themselves they'd rather have RG3 than Cousins plus Luke Kuechly, Janoris Jenkins, Sharrif Floyd, and Jadaveon Clowney (all players drafted at or just after the pick the Redskins sent the Rams, or likely will in Clowney's case).

 

No chance RG3 was worth all that.

If Shanny was capable of putting together draft classes like that, we'd be adding RGIII to a team with Riley Cooper, TJ Ward, Richard Sherman, J.J Watt and Justin Houston.

[Alaskins]

Whether Griff stays healthy and lights it up for the next decade, or he becomes the biggest failed gamble in franchise history, that was a move we absolutely had to make.  Period.  Anyone suggesting we should've stayed put is looking in the rearview mirror.

 

Amen!  This is what people fail to see.  We were going nowhere fast.  Now we have a QB who proved that he can be the Franchise QB that we have been looking for (last year).  Let the young man heal up and dominate next year.

[NewCliche21]

It is a sunk cost and gone.

 

Remember, in the 2000 draft we somehow got the number 2 overall pick from the Saints for the Ricky Williams trade

 

I think that was another draft, and we got their ENTIRE draft, not just the first round.  It was that draft, not the following one.

 

I think that we got the second overall from Carolina for signing restricted free agent Sean Gilbert who had a first- and third-round tender.  Carolina ended up sucking, so did we.  That's how we got the second and third picks overall.

 

How depressing.  We get another team's entire draft and then the second and third picks overall only to still be where we are.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Spot on. Our Redskins were in a spot where they had to make a move. I don't know if Robert will be worth it but it is my opinion that he will. But I will never hold it against the organization for taking a leap of faith.

I won't hold it against them either. At the time I was all in on the move.

But, you can't really say that they "had to" do anything. Shanahan's job isn't to make popular moves the fans will get excited about. His job is to assemble the best team. If any of the rumors are true and Shanahan liked Tannehill, Wilson, and Cousins as much as it seems he did, then it's fair for some to criticize the move. Wilson plus four other good players would probably be a better long-term picture than Griffin and some holes.

Again, I was ecstatic so I'm not claiming that it was a mistake. But it was very costly and people judge front offices on outcomes and results. The move made perfect sense to me, but I'm a fan with a real 9-5 job. I'm not necessarily supposed to be the one that agrees with the moves. I would much rather scratch my head in April and be proven wrong in December than have a NFL front office make the same moves that I would en route to double-digit loss seasons.

[The Robert Griffin Experience]

Without the benefit of hindsight, you can't know that. Quarterbacks taken outside the top 16 have an astoundingly high bust rate. Nearly 100%. For every Brady or Brees, you have 10 Chris Simmses or Jason Campbells. Furthermore, Tannehill was a massive reach to begin with, are we supposed to be impressed that a QB who didn't have to learn a new offense and is surrounded by offensive weapons is slightly underperforming a guy out of a spread who missed an offseason of development and is coming off an ACL tear and has a boot around his knee? Everything RGIII does bad, Tannehill does the same or worse. Foles looks impressive but the same people loving Foles say RGIII was a fluke last year. Wilson is great but he's nowhere near as talented as RGIII.

RGIII was the best prospect in the draft, and if developed correctly he will be the best player in the NFL, period. He needs time and support to get there.

[BKSkinsFan]

Just to think, we could have had this guy..

.

[Mursilis]

Without the benefit of hindsight, you can't know that. Quarterbacks taken outside the top 16 have an astoundingly high bust rate. Nearly 100%. For every Brady or Brees, you have 10 Chris Simmses or Jason Campbells. Furthermore, Tannehill was a massive reach to begin with, are we supposed to be impressed that a QB who didn't have to learn a new offense and is surrounded by offensive weapons is slightly underperforming a guy out of a spread who missed an offseason of development and is coming off an ACL tear and has a boot around his knee? Everything RGIII does bad, Tannehill does the same or worse. Foles looks impressive but the same people loving Foles say RGIII was a fluke last year. Wilson is great but he's nowhere near as talented as RGIII.

RGIII was the best prospect in the draft, and if developed correctly he will be the best player in the NFL, period. He needs time and support to get there.

 

QBs have a high bust rate, regardless of round.  It's a very hard position to play, and even many taken in the top 16 end up being busts.  Leaf, Russell, Carr, Gabbert, (Akili) Smith, Shuler - the list goes on and on. 

 

Regarding Tannehill and Wilson, you're right - RG3 is probably more talented.  And yet, RG3's team is by far the worst - why is that?  Maybe because his team gave up so much to get him that they can't provide the supporting cast he (and any QB) needs.  Having an elite QB is nice, but it's far from the only building block needed for a championship team.  Ask Buffalo or Miami fans how many trophies their teams got from having HOF QBs.  I'm still not convinced the price this team paid for RG3 was worth it.  The NFL is not the NBA - ONE elite player will not make a champion out of a very bad team. 

[Thinking Skins]

It always seemed we gave up just a little more than we should have had to. It's hard not to at least wonder if we could have gotten a little cheaper, and to think what could have been if we still had this #1 and instead have given up the #2 and maybe a couple mid round picks over the last 2 years.

 

Not a complaint though, really. Given the choice of whether we should have made the deal or not, we had to make it.

 

Well, from what I hear Cleveland was offering more for him and they took our offer.