Washington Redskins Should Take Advice from Art Briles, Adapt to RG3's Abilities

Owner Dan Snyder might still love Robert Griffin III. New general manager Scot McCloughan might feel it's too early to "give up" on 2012's second overall pick.

But none of that will matter until the Washington Redskins show a willingness to adapt to their supposed franchise quarterback's abilities. Specifically, until head coach Jay Gruden shows he's prepared to tailor his offense to what Griffin can do, instead of employing a scheme designed to turn him into something he isn't.

If Gruden needs a pointer, and he really shouldn't, perhaps the words of Griffin's former college coach, Art Briles, might help. The Baylor boss gave his view on the development of the player he tutored to Heisman Trophy success during an interview with ESPN's First Take (h/t Scott Allen of The Washington Post):

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And so what you do is structure the scheme around the person…that’s going to lead your franchise. You don’t always have him adapt to what you want to do; adapt to what his abilities are.

I’m saying if he’s going to be our guy, let’s do what our guy does best.

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It's not difficult to view Briles' interview as really a direct conversation with Gruden. Briles put into a nutshell the central tension at the heart of the Gruden era and this franchise's prospects for success in the next five years.

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By now, the narrative is depressingly familiar: Gruden wants a pocket-based quarterback despite Griffin still being best suited to operate on the move.

The learning curve between the two in 2014 wasn't so much a curve as a direct plummet into the depths of despair. Gruden and Griffin never meshed, they were an odd couple where each member was too stubborn to make enough concessions for the other.

Like any bickering pair, there were faults on both sides. Gruden never did enough to scale back his playbook for Griffin's benefit or include more concepts that let his quarterback do what he does best.

For his part, Griffin seemed to resist speeding up his delivery, as well as taking a more patient approach with his reads. Late in the season, B/R Insider Jason Cole indicated Griffin just wasn't following the formula for the offense Gruden was preaching:

Ultimately though, the onus of the responsibility, along with the blame, belongs with the coach. Good coaching has to be about getting the most from what you've got.

Nowhere is the "work with what you've got" approach more important than at quarterback. If the man under center will lead your team by the way he defines your offense, surely a coach's job must be to provide the system that best helps him do it?

Simple, right? Well, unless you're Gruden and the Redskins.

The man who was hired based largely on a reputation as some sort of quarterback whisperer instead turned out to be a man with a plan none of his signal-callers could execute.

Many Redskins fans felt Kyle Shanahan, Griffin's first offensive coordinator in the pros, often treated the quarterback position as an empty vessel. It often seemed like the younger Shanahan wanted merely a functionary robot to put whatever his mind could imagine into practice.

While the extent of that criticism was always a little unfair to Shanahan, who is a great designer of plays but a poor play-caller, it's hard to see the difference with Gruden.

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Liz Clarke of The Washington Post is one of many who've been critical of the latter's play-calling. She cited his heavily emphasis on the pass at the expense of a successful running game as a particular problem.

This familiar critique speaks to not making the offense simple enough for struggling signal-callers to direct. The failure to do so could be the book on Gruden's first season patrolling the sideline in D.C.

If you want Griffin to succeed, the first step has to be simplifying things. There's no other way to go with a quarterback who has trouble reading coverage and didn't even use a playbook in college.

Griffin needs quick, easy throws that play to his instinctive style. The concepts have to be basic, and every play must have an in-built checkdown or two in its design.

It's the only way to get the floundering young passer comfortable and into rhythm. But no such comfort will ever be possible if Griffin is expected to dissect the multiple route combinations Gruden adores.

That problem isn't likely to go away after McCloughan made it clear Griffin still has to learn Gruden's way, per Mike Jones of The Washington Post: "He’s got a new offense he has to learn, and especially with Jay’s offense, the West Coast style."

Again, there's that emphasis on Griffin learning Gruden's offense. Where's the provocation for Gruden to adapt his scheme to what his quarterback can and can't do?

If Griffin's the ultimate choice under center, the adaptation process must involve taking greater advantage of his mobility. Despite knee and ankle surgeries, Griffin can still move well and pose a threat on the ground.

He proved as much during Week 15's tough road loss to the New York Giants. So the run, or at least the threat of it, has to be a bigger part of the offense next season.

That means read-option looks and principles. Not an option offense, but a system making room for some of the concepts.

That's how the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks do it because they know not including those plays would waste one of the core skills shared by Cam Newton and Russell Wilson. It's a core skill Griffin also shares with both.

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So how about moving the pocket more often and using play action to create opportunities on bootlegs? While Gruden's drawing up those plays, how about leaning on the run a little more?

Not only would a heavier dose of Alfred Morris set up the play-action game, but it would also force defenses to stack the front more often while, in turn, showing their hand in coverage.

A return to a run-first scheme would make an offense that was 13th in yards, but just 26th in points, more effective in the red zone. ESPN Redskins reporter John Keim detailed Griffin's struggles in the most important area of the field, noting how Griffin's 46.8 rating inside the 20 fell way short of the 91.2 NFL average.

Keim believes those struggles owe everything to the lack of running opportunities for the quarterback:

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Another stat: Griffin has run the ball a combined 16 times the past two years in the red zone, with one touchdown (coming in the season finale last month). Is that a change in philosophy? Desire by Griffin? Brought on by injuries? Maybe all of the above?

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Letting a quarterback do what makes the game easier for him should be the basic requirement of any coach. Redskins fans know the damage that can be done to a team when that happens.

Kansas City Chiefs fans (yes, it's that time again) know the benefits. They've seen Andy Reid inherit a team that went 2-14 in 2012 and post two winning seasons with Alex Smith as his quarterback.

Reid's offense has relied on the short pass, the screen game and even worked in some read-option plays. All of those things play to Smith's core strengths: Efficiency, smarts and mobility. Just as important, the offense Reid has installed in Kansas City has helped mask Smith's primary failing, namely the lack of elite arm strength.

Reid hasn't turned Smith into Joe Montana, nor is he ever likely to. But the Chiefs have won with Smith under center. They've gone 11-5 and 9-7, made the playoffs in 2013 and narrowly missed them this season.

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Why can't the Redskins do the same? Consider the similarities. Reid went to a franchise mired in losing, crippled by poor decisions at the ownership and front office levels. But there was still some talent to work with.

If that sounds familiar to you, Jay Gruden, it should. So why have the Chiefs won 20 games in two years while Washington has gone 7-25?

The answer is simple: Reid has put his players, specifically his quarterback, in the best position to win. He's been doing it for years.

Forget the Chiefs for a moment and think back to Reid's days with Washington's NFC East rival the Philadelphia Eagles. He consistently won games and division titles to earn playoff berths with Donovan McNabb, A.J. Feeley, Jeff Garcia, Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick under center.

Does anyone think for a second Reid managed that by slapping the same playbook into the hands of five different quarterbacks with varying skill sets and demanding they learn it? Not a chance.

For an example closer to both home and heart, Joe Gibbs won three Super Bowls in Washington with Joe Theismann, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien under center. While the core principles of the Gibbs offense rarely wavered, it would be foolish to assume the coach didn't make tweaks and adjustments for each signal-caller.

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Getting the picture yet? Good coaches win with different quarterbacks because they adapt to what a player can and can't do.

But here's the big question in Washington: Is there any evidence Gruden will follow Briles' advice and do the same for Griffin?

Frankly, the early signs are ominous. Despite a terrible debut season and changes above his head, Gruden appears to be calling an increasing number of his own shots.

First, there's the identity of the team's new defensive coordinator, something team president Bruce Allen said would be Gruden's call. It's a search to replace Jim Haslett, Gruden's man, that appears to have two uninspiring front-runners, per NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport:

Both Joe Barry and Raheem Morris worked with Gruden and Allen with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers way back when. Tabbing either to succeed Haslett looks like a classic case of jobs for the boys that already has me dreading the start of the 2015 season.

Gruden could also be behind a major change on offense. He may be pushing for more power-style blocking in the running game, per CSN Washington reporter Rich Tandler, who noted how Gruden preferred that approach when he ran the offense for the Cincinnati Bengals.

The idea of moving away from the highly effective zone-based blocking techniques Washington has used in 2010 was given more credibility by developments regarding the future of O-line coach Chris Foerster. NFL Media Insider Albert Breer reported the following:

Gruden increasingly looks like a coach who sacrificed one year working within the schemes of his predecessor but is now determined to do things his way. The trouble is it's difficult to believe the Gruden way will ever work.

If he keeps playing my way or the highway with football's most important position, Washington will keep losing.