It’s August 2013 and I am in Orlando Florida for my yearly trip to America. The striking burgundy, gold and white of the Washington Redskins are scattered across every sports shop. My girlfriend turns to me and asks “Who is Robert Griffin III, his name is everywhere!?” Every Tom, Dick and Harry knows RG3’s story, but for those that do not, a brief history lesson.
The 2012 season was successful for RG3 and the Redskins. On September 9th 2012, RG3 made his QB debut against the resolute New Orleans Saints. 320 yards, 42 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns and a big away win for the rookie’s debut. Recognised throughout the league he became the first rookie QB to win the NFC Offensive player of the week for a debut game. This performance set high expectations for the fans.
They finished the 2012 season with a 10-6 record making the playoffs. Griffin’s impressive rookie season was fundamental in the Redskins claiming their first division title since 1999. He finished the season with 27 touchdowns, 3200 passing yards, 815 rushing yards and a QB rating of 102.4. Amongst an impressive Rookie class including both Wilson and Luck, RG3 was awarded the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Met with some criticism it was ultimately his passer rating, situational play and five game winning drives during the season that sealed the deal.
| PLAYER | CMP% | PASS YARDS | PASS TD | RUSH TD | INT | RATING |
| Luck | 54.10% | 4374 | 23 | 5 | 18 | 76.5 |
| RG3 | 65.60% | 3200 | 20 | 7 | 5 | 102.4 |
| Wilson | 64.1 | 3118 | 26 | 4 | 10 | 100 |
Now Redskins fans will remember all too well what happened during the NFC wild card game that year. Seahawks vs Redskins, Wilson vs RG3. In the Redskins first visit to the playoffs since 2007 the Seahawks came out winners 24-14. The sucker punch came 6 minutes before time when RG3 re-injured his right knee that he initially strained in December. The stigma around the injury was that he should not have been in the game in the first place and was rushed back. Wherever your opinion lies, he certainly didn’t look comfortable.
Fast forward to 2013 (my holiday), the RG3 hype was still well and truly around despite his reconstructed knee. He was not fit to play preseason but fans were hopeful. Unfortunately, expectation did not meet reality. He failed to replicate his 2012 form and was inactive for the last three games. With a season QB rating of 82.2 this again raised the question as to whether he was bought back too quickly. For the next two seasons he found himself flirting with the injured reserve list. The final nail in the coffin came in a pre-season game against the Lions in 2015, suffering a concussion he was ruled out of the next game. This opened the door for Kirk Cousins who grasped the opportunity and became the team’s starting QB, YOU LIKE THAT!? Ultimately, inconsistency in health led to the Cousins era in Washington and RG3 was released in 2016. Moving to Cleveland, he suffered a shoulder injury in the opening loss to the Eagles and was put on IR. Managing only 5 starts that year he was released.
Out of a possible 80 games under contract, he has played 42. Five seasons in the league, he has only played in four of them. 2018 he signs with the Baltimore Ravens, Robert Griffin V, The Rookie strikes back? Preseason suggests he might.
| PLAYING | CP/AT | PASS YARDS | RUSHING YARDS/ATTEMPTS | TD | INT |
| Bears | 7/11 | 58 | 9/3 | 1 | 1 |
| Rams | 5/7 | 88 | -2/2 | 1 | 0 |
| Colts | 6/8 | 31 | 4/1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dolphins | 9/15 | 66 | 41/5 | 0 | 0 |
| Redkskins | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| TOTAL | 27/41 | 243 | 52/11 | 2 | 1 |
| AVERAGE | 65.85% | 9.00 | 4.73 |
On average, a starting QB takes roughly 65 snaps per game depending on team offense and defense performance. Out of those 65 the QB throws on average 35 times, runs 10 times and hands it to the running back 20 times according to the NFL’s most recent stats. So combining this info with his preseason, how would he fair during 17-18?
| CP/AT | PASS YARDS | RUSHING YARDS/ATTEMPTS | TD | INT | |
| Per game | 23/35 | 207 | 47/10 | 2 | 1 |
| Season Total | 368/560 | 3319 | 756/160 | 24 | 16 |
The performances shown pre-season have a distinct similarity to 2012, an exciting prospect for all! However, there a few stipulations. TD and INT are very hard to predict, there are too many external and internal factors to effectively predict a number from preseason. That being said when in the red zone during preseason he looked dangerous. Additionally his ability to score TD from the run is also hard to predict. However, given his history you could account for a minimum of three additional TDs from the run in a starting role.
Nevertheless, it is great to see RG3 back in the league and performing well. He is currently fighting for backup position in Baltimore with the hype train that is Lamar Jackson. Based on his preseason stats there is no reason why Griffin can’t be a backup or even a starting QB in the league, I hear Buffalo is lovely around Christmas…
In the unlikely scenario RG3 does end up in a starting position there is still one major blocker, health. It will continue to be questioned. If he had the opportunity to play a whole season, could his body manage it? I for one certainly hope so, having battled health issues he finally carved a path back onto a roster. As a player you need and rely on your team to support you when necessary, there isn’t many that would disagree that his health was poorly managed. This had a detrimental impact on his career and set him back a number of years. This preseason has shown that he still has the talent to be on a roster and push for a starting place in the league, many fans hope he gets this opportunity, including me.
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