Originally Posted by
NewsBruin
I appreciate the praise, but I don't entirely agree.
I wanted to preface that I don't know what's entirely true from the Shanahan/Griffin days. I read a lot of WaPo articles, and every on-the-record quote was matched with two unnamed sources. Everyone leaked info to someone, and the kindest thing I can say is that Dad Shanahan was never on-board with the trade and he fought until the bitter end to get fired and pick up his full contract value.
Griffin worked his tail off to learn the Year One offense, which was similar to the Briles Baylor offense (limited field reads, defensive player keys, pre-snap decisions run/pass/keeper packaged options) with Shanahan's zone-blocking. I believe he set the rookie completion percentage record.
The Year Two offense was supposed to be more pro-style (whole-field reads, fewer keepers, more post-snap decisions). I'd like to think that his knee rehab and the irrevocably broken trust kept him from picking it up. I read that by the end, Rex Grossman was the go-between for everyone.
Then in Year Three, you've got more pro-style and a new coach who doesn't want an injury-prone pro project to kill his career before it starts.
Like I said, I'm a bit biased on this, because I don't want my alma mater to have the rep of "system offense" players (Baylor WRs? Pretty good. Baylor OL? Not doing well at all). On top of that, I just don't want RG3 to get slagged as an "egotistical, athletic" QB who couldn't lead a complicated pro offense (dog whistle).
He probably does need to study more, drill on the above-the-neck issues, and get put on media lockdown for a while. I don't think it's inherently bad, but worrying about the Big Picture is not going to keep him employed in 2018, if that's what he wants to do by then.
RG3 is a cheap rental for a team like the Titans or Bucs that doesn't have a solid starter and might see a multi-year role in his future (as are the Raiders and Jets, but at that point, just shoot me in the head). As you said, he's a heck of a lot cheaper than Cutler or Alex Smith. I think his trade value is small, as he's on his last contract year and his coach has told NFL.com, of all places, a laundry list of mechanical and mental faults.
On the plus side, he owns his house, he banked all his endorsement money and lived off his rookie salary. His wife is young and cute (and they both love their in-laws), and Baylor Law School will take him, so things could be a lot worse. I'm sure he'd trade his knees with mine any morning.
Reply With Quote