Robert Griffin III: How Redskins Should Shape Offense Around RG3

With Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck officially locked in as the No. 1 pick of the Indianapolis Colts in the NFL draft, it's pretty much a lock that the Washington Redskins will take Baylor's Robert Griffin III with the No. 2 overall pick.

Nothing's final, but even Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan didn't shy away from denying the reality of the situation. 

“If you guys are right,” Shanahan said to reporters on Wednesday, according to Mark Maske of The Washington Post. "It sounds like we’ll be picking Robert Griffin…. It sounds like it. It sounds like Indy is committed, and we’re very excited.”

That's not all Shanahan said. In what was more or less a direct response to former quarterback Donovan McNabb's criticisms (see ESPN.com), Shanahan said he will change things up on offense to take advantage of his new quarterback's skills.

"You’ve got to look at who your quarterback is, what your supporting cast is and give that quarterback the best chance to win,” Shanahan said.

Shanahan is going to have his work cut out for him when the Redskins draft RG3. Griffin is an incredibly talented player, but his transition into the NFL will not be an easy one. 

Griffin is coming from a spread offense. At Baylor, he was used to operating out of the shotgun, typically with one back and four wide receivers. With the Redskins, he'll have to get used to taking more snaps from directly under center, and he's going to have to get used to reading and adjusting to defenses at the line of scrimmage.

RG3 has the brains to handle this challenge, but that's not an excuse for Shanahan to have Griffin unlearn everything he learned at Baylor. He'll have to meet Griffin halfway, and he can do that by incorporating elements of a spread attack into his offense.

The Redskins have the personnel to give RG3 sets he's used to. The Redskins went out and signed Pierre Garcon and Josh Morgan, and last year the Redskins drafted former Miami standout Leonard Hankerson. It's unclear at the moment how deep Washington's wide receiver depth chart is going to be, but they're certainly going to have enough depth to conjure some four-wide receiver sets for RG3 to operate in.

Griffin showed at Baylor that he can be successful throwing the football with this many options at his disposal, and that many receivers down field have the potential to open up running lanes for him should the pocket collapse. Griffin is primarily a pocket passer, but his legs represent an asset he shouldn't be afraid to use.

However, RG3 better get ready to handle sets he's not used to. Specifically, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com pointed out recently that the Redskins will be looking to run a lot of two-tight end sets in 2012.

It's definitely not a bad idea seeing as how tight end Fred Davis was their second-leading receiver last year, and Niles Paul has been told that he will be used as a tight end this season. 

It will be on Griffin to adapt to sets like these, but these sets would provide Shanahan with an opportunity to throw a few curveballs. Griffin didn't run as many play-action plays or bootlegs in college as Luck did, but he certainly has the tools to handle plays like that. It would also be cool to see Shanahan put players in motion only to have Griffin run a draw.

The one question I have is how are the Redskins are going to take advantage of Griffin's beautiful deep passes? He could throw it deep to Kendall Wright at Baylor, and the Redskins don't seem to have a player like him on their roster. That's an issue that will have to be resolved.

The bright side is that Shanahan doesn't need to worry about crafting a dumbed-down offense for RG3 to play in. On the contrary, his options are wide open, as RG3 is a unique talent who can do just about anything asked of him.

The only way the Redskins are going to ruin RG3 is if they ask him to run the exact same kind of offense they ran under Shanahan last year. That offense was meant for Rex Grossman and John Beck, not a man of many talents like Griffin.

Instead of keeping it simple, Griffin is Shanahan's excuse to get creative.