August 31, 2015
By Justin Nicely
After giving three first round picks and a second rounder to the St. Louis Rams to trade up to the second overall pick to get Heisman Trophy winner quarterback Robert Griffin III in the 2012 NFL draft, head coach Jay Gruden announced that they will start former Michigan State quarterback and 2012 fourth round pick, Kirk Cousins, for the 2015 season over Griffin.
Griffin brought the Redskins back to the playoffs during his rookie season for the first time in a long time and won the Rookie of the Year award. But during the wild card round vs the Seahawks, RGIII tore his ACL for the second time in his career, after first tearing it during his college years. After the season Robert Griffin reportedly told former head coach Mike Shanahan that he wanted to be a pocket passer and the team owner Dan Snyder was on board with him. But Shanahan (a two-time Super Bowl champion) knew Griffin would not succeed as a pocket passer—as that is not a strong skill of his. Mike Shanahan however still went with what the quarterback wanted and it turned out the way he thought—the Redskins went 3-13 during the 2013 season, and head coach Mike Shanahan was fired. So Snyder brought in Jay Gruden who is known for his pocket quarterback preference and his offensive scheme around them and he was tasked with the job of making Griffin into a pocket quarterback. The problem was however, Gruden quickly realized himself that RGIII would not succeed sitting in the pocket. But he gave Griffin last season and this offseason to prove he could be a pocket passer, but RGIII didn't show any improvement as it didn’t show up in practice or in games. The organization gave Gruden the decision on what to do with the quarterback position and he decided that Kirk Cousins gave them the best chance to win. However, Gruden said “the door is not shut on Robert Griffin."
The Redskins have three options with Robert Griffin III—they can trade him, cut him, or keep him. As of now the speculation (and most likely possibility) is to release him, but they cannot do so until he is cleared from his concussion (as teams can’t release injured players). If Griffin does get waived, because he’s not a vested veteran (3 years of service), he’ll have to go through waivers. The Redskins have explored trade options though, but haven’t received a lot of interest as they are only getting 5th and 6th round offers.
Possible landing spots for Griffin if he was released or traded would include: the Cowboys, Chiefs, Saints, Jets, Browns, Texans, Bills, Cardinals, and Eagles. Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones has expressed interest in Griffin in the past and said he’d like Griffin III on his team if he had the chance, as he stated he will never forget the 2012 Thanksgiving game and believes that he can get back to that form. The Saints have already started looking for options to replace Drew Brees when he decides to retire, and it would make since for Griffin to go back home where he grew up for some of his life. The Jets, Browns, Texans, and Bills all have oblivious quarterback issues and could possibly see if they could recapture his career. Also some of those teams had some interest in him coming out of college and might still see a future for him. The Chiefs, however, would be the best case scenario for Griffin. Head coach Andy Reid tried to trade up for RGIII in the 2012 draft when he was the coach of the Eagles. Reid’s offense would be a good fit for Griffin III and could help jump start his career back up, as he did with Michael Vick’s. He would likely have to stay behind Alex Smith for a few seasons, so he’d have to be patient, but it could help his career in the long run. Update: Cowboys, Eagles, and Browns are interested in Robert Griffin III if Redskins cut him according to B/R.
The Redskins picked quarterback Kirk Cousins in the fourth round of the 2012 draft and a lot of people didn’t agree with the decision, but it might have not been a bad move in the long run. During his rookie season he started vs the Cleveland Browns in place of an injured Robert Griffin III and helped win the game to keep their playoff hopes alive. In the 2013 season Cousins was named as the starter for the rest of the 2013 season, but lost the final four games. After Robert Griffin III dislocated his ankle in the 2014 season, Cousins replaced him and lead the team to a win over the Jaguars in the 2nd game. But was later making too many mistakes and was turning the ball over late in the games and was benched for Colt McCoy in the middle of the season. In the off-season he worked out with Jon Gruden, the older brother of head coach Jay Gruden to try to get an edge over the other quarterbacks. During training camp and preseason games this season, Kirk Cousins showed a lot of improvement moving around the pocket and getting the ball out when he needed to. In the third preseason game Cousins threw an interception and fumbled a snap early in the game, and in the past Cousins would hang his head and would lose his confidence, but this year—so far—Cousins has responded well, has got back into the game, made plays, and hasn't lost his confidence. This preseason Kirk Cousins has a QB rating of 140.2 when under pressure according to Pro Football Focus. Jay Gruden felt Kirk Cousins was the best option at quarterback this season and felt like he deserved to start. Others in the organization believe Cousins could be the future franchise QB and wanted to start him to see if he could possibly fit that roll. Also, many others think Cousins turnover issues have been because he was trying to hard and overthinking things because he knew when he filled in for RGIII he had a ton of pressure on him to be perfect because he thought he couldn't keep the job otherwise. So by naming him the starter for the 2015 season he wont have the feeling that he has to be perfect and do everything to keep the job.
Former head coach Mike Shanahan praised the decision to go with ‘Franchise QB’ Kirk Cousins as the starter; says “he will be a top 10 QB.” Others have even said prior to the NFL draft they had Kirk Cousins away ahead of his draft position and even ranked him as a late first rounder.
By Justin Nicely
After giving three first round picks and a second rounder to the St. Louis Rams to trade up to the second overall pick to get Heisman Trophy winner quarterback Robert Griffin III in the 2012 NFL draft, head coach Jay Gruden announced that they will start former Michigan State quarterback and 2012 fourth round pick, Kirk Cousins, for the 2015 season over Griffin.
Griffin brought the Redskins back to the playoffs during his rookie season for the first time in a long time and won the Rookie of the Year award. But during the wild card round vs the Seahawks, RGIII tore his ACL for the second time in his career, after first tearing it during his college years. After the season Robert Griffin reportedly told former head coach Mike Shanahan that he wanted to be a pocket passer and the team owner Dan Snyder was on board with him. But Shanahan (a two-time Super Bowl champion) knew Griffin would not succeed as a pocket passer—as that is not a strong skill of his. Mike Shanahan however still went with what the quarterback wanted and it turned out the way he thought—the Redskins went 3-13 during the 2013 season, and head coach Mike Shanahan was fired. So Snyder brought in Jay Gruden who is known for his pocket quarterback preference and his offensive scheme around them and he was tasked with the job of making Griffin into a pocket quarterback. The problem was however, Gruden quickly realized himself that RGIII would not succeed sitting in the pocket. But he gave Griffin last season and this offseason to prove he could be a pocket passer, but RGIII didn't show any improvement as it didn’t show up in practice or in games. The organization gave Gruden the decision on what to do with the quarterback position and he decided that Kirk Cousins gave them the best chance to win. However, Gruden said “the door is not shut on Robert Griffin."
The Redskins have three options with Robert Griffin III—they can trade him, cut him, or keep him. As of now the speculation (and most likely possibility) is to release him, but they cannot do so until he is cleared from his concussion (as teams can’t release injured players). If Griffin does get waived, because he’s not a vested veteran (3 years of service), he’ll have to go through waivers. The Redskins have explored trade options though, but haven’t received a lot of interest as they are only getting 5th and 6th round offers.
Possible landing spots for Griffin if he was released or traded would include: the Cowboys, Chiefs, Saints, Jets, Browns, Texans, Bills, Cardinals, and Eagles. Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones has expressed interest in Griffin in the past and said he’d like Griffin III on his team if he had the chance, as he stated he will never forget the 2012 Thanksgiving game and believes that he can get back to that form. The Saints have already started looking for options to replace Drew Brees when he decides to retire, and it would make since for Griffin to go back home where he grew up for some of his life. The Jets, Browns, Texans, and Bills all have oblivious quarterback issues and could possibly see if they could recapture his career. Also some of those teams had some interest in him coming out of college and might still see a future for him. The Chiefs, however, would be the best case scenario for Griffin. Head coach Andy Reid tried to trade up for RGIII in the 2012 draft when he was the coach of the Eagles. Reid’s offense would be a good fit for Griffin III and could help jump start his career back up, as he did with Michael Vick’s. He would likely have to stay behind Alex Smith for a few seasons, so he’d have to be patient, but it could help his career in the long run. Update: Cowboys, Eagles, and Browns are interested in Robert Griffin III if Redskins cut him according to B/R.
The Redskins picked quarterback Kirk Cousins in the fourth round of the 2012 draft and a lot of people didn’t agree with the decision, but it might have not been a bad move in the long run. During his rookie season he started vs the Cleveland Browns in place of an injured Robert Griffin III and helped win the game to keep their playoff hopes alive. In the 2013 season Cousins was named as the starter for the rest of the 2013 season, but lost the final four games. After Robert Griffin III dislocated his ankle in the 2014 season, Cousins replaced him and lead the team to a win over the Jaguars in the 2nd game. But was later making too many mistakes and was turning the ball over late in the games and was benched for Colt McCoy in the middle of the season. In the off-season he worked out with Jon Gruden, the older brother of head coach Jay Gruden to try to get an edge over the other quarterbacks. During training camp and preseason games this season, Kirk Cousins showed a lot of improvement moving around the pocket and getting the ball out when he needed to. In the third preseason game Cousins threw an interception and fumbled a snap early in the game, and in the past Cousins would hang his head and would lose his confidence, but this year—so far—Cousins has responded well, has got back into the game, made plays, and hasn't lost his confidence. This preseason Kirk Cousins has a QB rating of 140.2 when under pressure according to Pro Football Focus. Jay Gruden felt Kirk Cousins was the best option at quarterback this season and felt like he deserved to start. Others in the organization believe Cousins could be the future franchise QB and wanted to start him to see if he could possibly fit that roll. Also, many others think Cousins turnover issues have been because he was trying to hard and overthinking things because he knew when he filled in for RGIII he had a ton of pressure on him to be perfect because he thought he couldn't keep the job otherwise. So by naming him the starter for the 2015 season he wont have the feeling that he has to be perfect and do everything to keep the job.
Former head coach Mike Shanahan praised the decision to go with ‘Franchise QB’ Kirk Cousins as the starter; says “he will be a top 10 QB.” Others have even said prior to the NFL draft they had Kirk Cousins away ahead of his draft position and even ranked him as a late first rounder.