Robert Griffin the Third came out of the gate with a tremendous rookie season. He really broke into the league and made a name for himself. However, then came the knee injury that ended his season, and last year me may have come back too early and pushed too hard. Even after the injury healed he never looked right again. Is it possible that all of last year can be attributed to RG3's injury or is there something else at play here?Let's look at the stats. In his first season RG3 completed almost 66% of his passes for exactly 3,200 yards, he was only picked off five times, and his Passer Rating- which I believe to be the best stat to evaluate a QB- was a whopping 102.4. He also rushed 120 times for 815 yards, that's a massive 6.8 yards per carry. Then last year for what was likely a combination of reasons, he didn't run as much (i.e his previous injury, hiscoach telling him not to run, defenses catching on to what he does were likely all factors). He only ran the ball 86 times for 409 yards. Which is still an impressive 5.7 yards per game, but it's also more than a full yard less than the previous season. Oh yes, and when his number of rushing attempts come down his passing stats took a hit as well. 60% of his passes were completed for about the same amount of yardage as the previous season. However, he threw twelve picks and his Passer Rating plummeted to 82.2. People who still support Robert Griffin the Third would argue all of last season was a lingering effect from his injury.
Sometimes when a player starts the season injured it just puts him off for the rest of the year. It's possible this was the case with RG3. There's a chance that he was never right the rest of the year and this made him hesitant to run. It's also possible his coach wasn't letting him run. It's likely a combination of both. There is a chance that he runs more again this year and that he is just as successful as his rookie season. However, if he does run more I don't expect him to be nearly as effective as two years ago or even last year. I wouldn't be surprised at all that if he doesn't learn to throw the ball better that RG3 might be done as an NFL quarterback due to defenses having him figured out.
It has become clear that RG3 is average at best in throwing the ball. What really made him effective was his legs. However, last season he wasn't able to use those nearly as much. I believe the NFL has taken notice. Teams are always watching film and studying other teams. It seems likely they would have picked up that if you take away the run from RG3, chances are it will be a lot easier for the defense because he isn't as good on passing plays. How do defenses do this? More run blitzes and QB spies. For run blitzes you just take an extra LB (or more than one) out of pass coverage and have him chase down the QB or ball carrier if it's been handed off. Since RG3 has shown to have an average arm at best I believe a team could afford to take this risk consistently until Griffin shows that he can throw to beat this blitz. The other thing a team can do is put out a QB spy. This is where one player (usually an LB) does nothing but sits and watches the QB to make sure he doesn't run. The bonus of this is if the ball is thrown he is still sitting back in coverage even though he isn't actively involved so if the ball is thrown to a receiver in his direction he could still have a chance at being there in time to at least tackle the receiver or if he's really quick break it up. RG3 is going to have to learn to throw the ball effectively in these situations in order to be able to run. Otherwise the NFL has him figured out and he may not last much longer. And if I was a betting man I would wager this to be the case because the numbers support it.
Darren
Do you agree that RG3 might be done? Or am I totally wrong? Let me know in the comments or find me on twitter @thewildman111
Photo taken from riggosrag.com
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