In 2012, quarterback Robert Griffin III could do no wrong as he was the best thing since sliced bread. Griffin was fresh off of winning the Heisman Trophy at Baylor University and he would be the second overall pick of the National Football League Draft by the Washington Redskins. Griffin would be the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year as he helped the Redskins win the NFC East for the first time since 1999 and the sky was the limit for him.
But things changed for Griffin late in the 2012 National Football League season when he suffered a knee injury. Griffin sustained injuries to his ACL and LCL ligaments in his knee, however he would attempt to play through it. Griffin would be under center for the Redskins in the playoffs, but he was merely a shell of the player that lit up the league during the regular season.
Griffin would have off-season knee surgery which would see him miss most of the Redskins organized team activities (OTAs) and this put him behind the curve heading into his season. Griffin didn’t play for the entire preseason, but he was still the Redskins starting quarterback when the regular season rolled around and the time off showed as he struggled with the team’s record being 3-10 in his 13 starts. Griffin would continue to struggle with Washington and when Jay Gruden became the Redskins head coach in 2014, he had seen enough from the former Rookie of the Year as he sent him to the bench. Griffin never even saw the field for the Redskins in 2015 as he wasn’t made inactive by Gruden who made him the third string quarterback.
The Redskins would not pick up Griffin’s option for 2016 which allowed him to be a free agent. And Griffin would find a new home with the Cleveland Browns.
Griffin would be named as the Browns starting quarterback heading into this season, but things didn’t start on the right foot for him when he suffered a shoulder injury in the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. Griffin would miss the next 11 games, and even when he returned to the Browns, it was still a train wreck.
In five starts for the Browns, Griffin was 1-4 as a starter with his victory accounting for the team’s only win this season. Griffin completed 59.2% of his passes while only throwing a pair of touchdown passes. And as the Browns finished with the worst record in the National Football League, you have to wonder where things went wrong for Griffin.
Griffin has fallen into the same category that many quarterbacks who were products of the spread offense in college had to deal with upon joining the National Football League. In college Griffin was an athlete at the quarterback position who’s talent could mask his flaws. And if Griffin didn’t see something, he could improvise. However in the NFL, things are different as a quarterback must make plays from the pocket, while also having the ability to read multiple options in the passing game. For Griffin he has never been able to do that and subsequently he appears to have lost his confidence. Griffin joined the Browns who are led by head coach Hue Jackson who is one of the best quarterback gurus in the NFL. However the stench of the Browns was simply too much for either man to overcome this season. Griffin wants to return to the Browns next season, but the reality for him is whether or not that he’ll be able to take the next step.
In watching Griffin play he is not sure of himself which is never good for an athlete that is seeking to compete at the highest level. And once you factor in that Griffin did not play on a talented team this year, it only makes a bad situation worse. Jackson is a guy that has the ability to make Griffin get back to the basics, but he needs to be on a team that is committed to winning which is something that he won’t find with the Browns. Playing football is something that should be fun and that hasn’t been the case for Griffin since 2012. And if Griffin cannot regain the form that made him “RGIII”, his time in the National Football League could be coming to an end very soon.
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