The Development of Robert Griffin III

[Sportster 72]

This is the point. We didn't pay all we did to get a developmental pocket passer that might become a good QB. We gave up all those picks because RG3 was a unique player that could beat you with his arm or his legs. If we take away the threat of him running, he was no where near worth the price we paid. Defenses will continue to blitz him aggressively if he is determined to sit in the pocket. We have got to make them honest and the only way to do that is to kill them with the run, both Alfred and RG3 taking off. RG3 doesn't have to run 10 times a game, but if he does it 3 or 4 and then we design a few pass plays off the same look, Defenses will be on their heels and it will free up our WRs to stretch the field. It will also assist our questionable OL in pass blocking.

BTW, I'd bet big this week we do see RG3 on some designed runs. This is just obvious that our offense needs this threat.

I couldn't agree more. Either a huge mistake was made thinking this kid could be converted into a pocket QB or the Shanahan's correctly installed an offense that took advantage of his skills. The injury that first year seems to be where things changed. Obviously Robert didin't have the running ability last year and for whatever reason they do not want to use him in a similar fashion. What has worked for him was the 2012 offense. What hasn't worked so well since is what they have been doing.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

No, that would not be so bad. But that's not what we paid for. We paid for someone to tear apart defenses as good as Aaron Rogers, not like Aaron Rogers. We paid a stiff premium and should expect a premier QB for that premium. You keep referring to his accuracy as if he is the most accurate QB in the league. Well, when your average pass only goes a couple of yards, any of us could be accurate. He has not shown any accuracy since his injury with mid or longer passes. He shows flashes, but no consistency. His mechanics became flawed and while he has worked to correct them, we have seen no evidence that he has.

The fact is he is not Aaron Rogers. He is not Peyton Manning. He is not Tom Brady. Hell, for that matter, he is not Mike Vick. He is Robert Griffin who has a unique set of skills that allows him to create havoc with defenses. What makes him special is the combination of skills, not any one skill. SO if you take one of his skills away, his other skills become pedestrian very quickly.

I'm not convinced his other skills are pedestrian. He has a very quick release, has a strong arm, throws a beautiful deep ball with air under it (unlike Frerotte, JC and seemingly every other QB we've had) and yes he does throw it with accuracy up until last year when he was injured. Please stop using last Sunday's short throws as if every game in his career had that game plan. He has shown in college and in his rookie season that he throws every pass very accurately.

 

[tlance]

I'm not convinced his other skills are pedestrian. He has a very quick release, has a strong arm, throws a beautiful deep ball with air under it (unlike Frerotte, JC and seemingly every other QB we've had) and yes he does throw it with accuracy up until last year when he was injured. Please stop using last Sunday's short throws as if every game in his career had that game plan. He has shown in college and in his rookie season that he throws every pass very accurately.

Nobody is saying his other skills are pedestrian, but his running ability is elite.

Why try to turn him into Aaron Rodgers when he was already very successful as himself? You just can't eliminate a player's best asset and then expect him to still be successful. It just does not work that way.

 

[j_y19]

Nobody is saying his other skills are pedestrian, but his running ability is elite.

Why try to turn him into Aaron Rodgers when he was already very successful as himself? You just can't eliminate a player's best asset and then expect him to still be successful. It just does not work that way.

Who knows, maybe he can become the next aaron rogers, but why force it? He was a really good threat when he was RG3. We didn't fork over all those picks for a developmental project. I don't know who is driving this need, but somewhere this whole thing got skewed.

BTW, I am saying that his passing skills, when uncoupled from his threat to run and the havoc that this creates on a defense, are pedestrian. You can't underestimate how much RG3s running opened up passing lanes with wide open receivers. This is not to say that he doesn't have a strong arm and has been accurate in the past (tho not since his injury). The NFL is littered with QBs that were strong armed and accurate and never made it.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

Nobody is saying his other skills are pedestrian, but his running ability is elite.

SO if you take one of his skills away, his other skills become pedestrian very quickly.

Seems like that is exactly what he was saying. I just don't agree, I think his other skills are much more than pedestrian even if he is not running. Specifically throwing the ball. But we keep going back to the other parts of the game that obviously need improvement. IMO mental adjustments can be made, physical limitations (not throwing the ball where you aim it) are nearly impossible to overcome.

 

[tlance]

Seems like that is exactly what he was saying. I just don't agree, I think his other skills are much more than pedestrian even if he is not running. Specifically throwing the ball. But we keep going back to the other parts of the game that obviously need improvement. IMO mental adjustments can be made, physical limitations (not throwing the ball where you aim it) are nearly impossible to overcome.

OK, maybe.

I do agree 100% with j_y19 on the affect of RG3's run game on his passing performance during his rookie season. He was spectacular, but a lot of it was due to the attention defenses had to pay to the run threat.

I remember when we went up 14-0 on the Seahawks, before RG3 got hurt again. At that moment, I thought we had a realistic chance to win the Super Bowl. There was not a hotter team in the league. Seems like such a long time ago.

 

[j_y19]

Seems like that is exactly what he was saying. I just don't agree, I think his other skills are much more than pedestrian even if he is not running. Specifically throwing the ball. But we keep going back to the other parts of the game that obviously need improvement. IMO mental adjustments can be made, physical limitations (not throwing the ball where you aim it) are nearly impossible to overcome.

That is what I was saying. I'm also not saying that he can't overcome these other parts, but there is no guarantee that he can. However, when we have seen him use all of his skill sets, he becomes a much more fluid QB primarily because the defenses are confused and on their heels.

This notion to move RG3 away from using his legs stem from his injury. But in reality, if RG3 learns how to avoid contact, he can still be a very effective running and passing QB. The goal of his running is not to break the long one, but to loosen up the defense and open up the longer pass plays. I maintain that, at least at this stage of his development, it is easier to teach him to avoid contact than it is to read defenses. Of course you still teach him the latter, but it doesn't have to be a crash course.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

Yeah I agree with all of that. I never bought into the theory either that they should totally abandon running plays seeing as all 3 of his injuries occurred on designed passing plays. That does not change my opinion that he will need to become a pocket passer to have big success in this league. And I still go back to the opinion that the dude hits what he is throwing at a good percent of the time, short, medium or deep. That gives me hope.