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Washington Redskins: RG3 and apportioning blame

By Kevin Parvizi

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Whether it getting slammed from a delayed blitz by big-money outside linebacker DeAndre Levy or getting smashed by two pass rushers at the same time, Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III ended yesterday’s preseason game a battered, concussed mess. There are few players in the NFL who are as polarizing as RG3, and based on the way his comments about being the best quarterback were construed, things will stay that way.

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RG3’s concussion against the Detroit Lions came in a game in which he was seemingly hit every time he dropped back to pass. He finished 2-for-5 for just eight yards and was sacked three times. Out of his eight snaps, he was pressured on six of them, as per Pro Football Focus.

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There’s no doubt that RG3 is prone to injury, but there’s also no doubt that pocket presence and anticipating throws are two of his weaknesses. He’s had to adjust his game ever since the injury he suffered in his rookie year, and that’s something he has been unable to do.

What complicates RG3’s development, in addition to his proneness to injury, is the idea that Jay Gruden doesn’t want to deal with the Griffin project. And with most people critical of the Redskins offensive line, particularly after surrendering pressure on 75% of  Griffin’s snaps, the day-after reactions have been all about assigning blame to what happened.

It basically comes down to three key questions.

Is it Griffin’s fault for not getting rid of the ball or for running into pressure?

Is it the offensive line’s fault for allowing Griffin to be hit that often?

Is it the coaching staff’s fault for keeping him in there for so long?

Let’s take a look at how much we can blame Griffin firstly, because he’s the one who is taking the most heat from the fans and media a day after he took the heat from the Lions pass rush. RG3 ran into one sack on his own, but it’s hard to blame him for the rest of the pressure he was faced. Many of the pressure was converted into sacks by the Lions defense, but there were plenty of other times when he quickly got the ball out of there and was still shelled.

CBS Sports’s Will Brinson provided some video of the hits, and they were not pretty.

So how about the offensive line? You know, the line that allowed him to face pressure six times (the Lions blitzed him five times, by the way, as per PFF). Right guard Brandon Scherff did not look like a high first-round pick in pass protection yesterday, but he wasn’t the worst offender. With Trent Williams out, the Redskins played a guy who has no business making the roster at left tackle in Willie Smith, who has defeated quickly and with ease by the Lions. Smith gave Griffin no chance out there, and he and Scherff were part of a “first-team” offensive line that did not get the job done.

Colt McCoy and Kirk Cousins were both pressured on just 25% of their drop-backs, but they didn’t face the Lions voracious first-team defense and their blocking was markedly better. Griffin, of course, has been worse at avoiding hits than either of those two quarterbacks historically, but, outside of one sack, that wasn’t the case yesterday; RG3 didn’t have a shot.

But the problem with blaming the offensive line is that we’d be blaming a unit that wasn’t supposed to succeed against a Lions front seven that was on fire and blitzing to great effect. Smith, again, never had a shot at keeping Teryl Austin’s defense and complex blitzes at bay, and the same can be said for Scherff and pretty much the rest of the offensive line.

Meanwhile even if you think RG3 was at fault for the hits he took yesterday, you have to keep in mind that he’s still clearly still developing as a passer when it comes to sensing pressure, avoiding pressure, and making quick reads. While the Washington Redskins need to give him game experience to improve in these areas, he was getting hit so hard and so often that yesterday’s game against the Lions was a lost cause, even from a learning perspective.

May 26, 2015; Ashbury, VA, USA; Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III (10) participates in drills during the Redskins OTA at Redskins Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Based on the fact that there was literally nothing to gain by watching RG3 getting incessantly hit behind an offensive line that also faced a steep learning curve, Gruden and the coaching staff are to blame for allowing Griffin to be put in a situation where his health would be at risk. It’s been the same story for Griffin throughout his career with injuries, and, like the first time he was injured, this one could have been avoided.

Griffin has played poorly in each of the past two seasons, but he was clearly the started going into yesterday’s game and is undoubtedly starter going into the season. He wasn’t competing for a job, so there was no point in risking him in an exhibition game by keeping him in the game even after the hits he absorbed.

Gruden should also be criticized for making a poor business decision, because Griffin’s 2016 fifth-year option is only fully guaranteed for injury; you don’t want to keeping injuring him before then either. The offensive line played poorly and Griffin deserves to shoulder some of the blame, but the most blame goes to the coaching staff for not being proactive or for ignoring the obvious danger sirens that were going off yesterday with each and every hit RG3 absorbed.

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