Washington Redskins: More Read-Option Offense Won't Fix Robert Griffin III
Mike Shanahan you're wrong. Just plain wrong. More of the read-option offense isn't going to be enough to fix Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins.
Shanahan, he of the 24-41 record in four seasons as head coach of the Redskins, wants you to believe a system change can save the player who was once his supposed franchise quarterback.
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Speaking on WJFK-AM (h/t NFL.com's Chris Wesseling), Shanahan suggested injuries aren't the main reason for Griffin's stunted progression:
"I don't think getting hurt has anything to do with it. I think what you do is you rehab yourself and you get better. ... You don't have to have great running ability to run the read-option. You have to be able to know when to slide, when to throw the football away, depending on if you're running or passing.
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The reference to the read-option and how Griffin can be effective in it was the central theme of Shanahan's address. During the same interview, he recounted how owner Dan Snyder wanted Griffin to operate from the pocket more often as a rookie.
But Shanahan also stressed how he convinced the owner an option offense was best for Griffin and the Redskins (h/t Scott Allen of The Washington Post): "But, I shared with him, I thought for us to have the type of success, or him to have the type of success, that we needed Robert to run that style of offense. We had to teach him how to slide and not take shots."
Notice how on both occasions Shanahan was keen to stress ways Griffin could make the read-option work better. Specifically, he emphasized the need to slide and avoid hits, a perennial problem for Griffin, one that has created some of his injury woes.
Shanahan also pressed home the need to make wiser choices with the ball, whether on the move or not, inside the pocket or outside it. Again, there's a clear theme here, but it's the wrong one for Griffin and Washington.
It shouldn't be making Griffin a better quarterback for the read-option. It should be making Griffin a better quarterback for the pro game.
Contrary to popular opinion, that doesn't have to mean an offense that rarely lets a quarterback leave the pocket. Nor does it mean a scheme that regularly sends the man under center scurrying out into space.
Like most things in football, balance is the key. It's a balance between using some of the core skills Griffin still possesses even after his injuries, packaged alongside the demands of playing at the NFL level.
It's a balance current Washington head coach Jay Gruden couldn't reach last season. He couldn't reach it because he dealt in absolutes.
Gruden started the season wanting 2012's second overall pick confined to the pocket. He wanted Griffin locked into that space until he learned patience, how to read defenses and make smart decisions.
The problem was waiting for those improvements is a process that's naturally going to involve some growing pains. But in a bottom-line league it's difficult to indulge those bumps in the road when the games count.
Having Griffin learn on the fly when the action was live proved a big mistake. Washington's tag line for the 2014 season should have been a reminder to Gruden: This is not a drill!
That message eventually sunk home after several high-profile failures from the quarterback Gruden was struggling to reshape. But the damage to the team's season, as well as the coach-quarterback relationship, had already been done.
It had been inflicted by Gruden, Griffin and the Redskins franchise consistently pursuing extremes. It's either pure pocket passer or read-option jackrabbit for Griffin.
What on earth happened to the middle ground?
No team survives very long in the NFL doing the same thing over and over. Variety is the spice of life and all that.
More important though, it's not wholesale mixture that's the key. Instead, it's how successfully a team adapts to its players that really counts. Crucially, that means adapting to the strengths and weaknesses of a player.
But what does all this abstract rambling mean for Griffin's future in D.C.?
Well, the starting point has to be lowering expectations. So what if the Redskins gave up a king's ransom in the trade to draft Griffin three years ago? He's still never going to be the truly elite quarterback the franchise paid for. It's time to accept that cold, hard fact.
Shanahan set the bar too high when he referenced the learning curve experienced by greats such as John Elway, Peyton Manning and Steve Young, per Allen. Simply put, Griffin is never going into that bracket.
Yet just because that's wishful thinking, it doesn't mean he won't ever be a serviceable NFL starter, or more important, a quarterback Washington can win with. It will take a willingness to adapt from both player and coaches.
So if Griffin struggles making quick decisions, it's incumbent on Gruden giving him easier throws to make. That means a heavy dose of the can't-miss, short-range throws that target players in space.
Of course, this type of nickel-and-dime game can be a dull watch and go nowhere fast. Washington's middling offensive output in last season's opener against the Houston Texans offered proof of that.
The key to turning a diet of safe, high-percentage plays into an offense that wins is putting the ball in the hands of playmakers who can make defenders miss and turn short receptions into big gains.
That means finding a third-down back with shiftiness and speed. A slot receiver who can stretch underneath coverage is also a must. These are quarterback-friendly weapons who can make any passer look good.
The decision to draft Jamison Crowder in the fourth round of this year's draft proves the Redskins are determined to give Griffin more of the weapons he needs. So does the impending backfield scrap between pocket-edition pace merchants Chris Thompson and Trey Williams.
With two capable "move" tight ends in Jordan Reed and Niles Paul also able to strike from anywhere, it's not as if the Redskins are short of players who can make Griffin better.
Washington must build an offense predicated more on easy ways to connect with these kind of weapons quicker, rather than one demanding all the throws elite pro quarterbacks are supposed to make.
It won't be as glamorous as insisting on all of the timing-based throws Gruden's version of the West Coast offense features. It won't be as complex as the multiple reads that sophisticated a scheme requires.
Griffin may even waste some of his big-play potential, along with some of his marquee targets. But he will at least give himself and his team a better chance of winning. Surely that has to be more important than making Griffin live up to his draft status no matter the cost?
Gruden can still mix in some read-option looks and principles, the way he did against the Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants last season. Those weren't staples of the offense, they were merely wrinkles, necessary ploys to catch defenses out of position and still give Griffin a chance to use a core talent, only in a smarter, more selective way.
Gruden would be smarter still if he let the running game lead the way in 2015. Few fans may warm to the idea of Griffin going from rookie sensation to game manager defined more by the chances he doesn't take, rather than by those he does.
But at the risk of repetition, Washington's main goal shouldn't be Griffin's development. It should be to win.
The sobering reality is they aren't the same thing. They'll never be when a read-option quarterback works with a coach rigidly faithful to dropback passing.
They'll never be when that read-option quarterback has rarely shown the willingness to work on fixing those failing mechanics that always hold him back.
If Washington keep pushing forward with the quest to make Griffin a franchise quarterback, more losing records are the immediate destiny of this franchise.
It won't matter if the Redskins try to fix Griffin by following Shanahan's advice and loading up on more read-option. Nor if Gruden's brute-force approach to pocket education continues.
More read-option offense won't save Griffin. But finally being brave and honest enough to admit he needs to be a complementary part of a winning formula, rather than its catalyst, will.
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