Countdown to Kickoff: A Profile on Cleveland Browns QB No. 10 Robert Griffin III

The Countdown to Kickoff series continues on with a look at Cleveland Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III who looks to get his career back on track with a new team.

There are exactly ten days until the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers open up the 2016 NFL regular season with a Super Bowl rematch. As we continue to countdown to kickoff, today we are taking a look at Cleveland Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III.

The Countdown to Kickoff series began with a look at  San Diego Chargers’ No. 99 Joey Bosa, and has continued on everyday since (check out all of the posts here).

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Tom Brady‘s four-game replacement, Jimmy Garoppolo, was heavily in consideration here for the number ten, as were star receivers DeAndre Hopkins, Brandin Cooks and Emmanuel Sanders. However, RGIII‘s attempt to revitalize his career won out.

Griffin joins the Browns after spending the first four years of his career with the Washington Redskins. The Redskins put a lot of stock in Griffin trading up for him as the second overall selection of the 2012 NFL Draft, but they did not end up being a perfect match.

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The RGIII story is well-known, but let’s take a quick look back. Griffin burst onto the scene as a rookie, leading the lowly Redskins to a post-season appearance. He threw for 3,200 and 20 touchdowns to only five interceptions as a rookie in 2012 on top of his impressive 6.8 yards per carry average and seven rushing touchdowns.

As an incredible dual threat quarterback who won the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year, Griffin was primed to be one of the faces of the league. However a major knee injury suffered at the end of his rookie campaign significantly hurt his career in Washington.

Griffin was never able to get his career back on track with the Redskins, eventually losing his starting job to Kirk Cousins. With Cousins’ emergence with the Redskins last season, Griffin was held out as a healthy inactive all season long before the two sides parted ways this off season.

Now, after signing two-year, $15 million contract with the Browns, Griffin has a fresh start to get his career back on track.

Under new front office management and new head coach Hue Jackson, the Browns are starting fresh as a new-look organization. On the field, Griffin is a major part of this new era.

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The Browns took a chance on him this off season as a high-upside, low risk acquisition. As a team not expected to compete in 2016, the Browns are giving Griffin an opportunity to turn his career around.

If he comes back in a big way, the team may have finally found their franchise quarterback in the 26-year-old Griffin. On the flip side, if he plays as bad as the last time we saw him in the regular season, they cut bait and look in another direction.

Simply put, Griffin is no longer the physical marvel who entered the league four years ago. That being said, he is a talented player who still has big-time upside at the position.

The Browns’ offense is not exactly loaded with talent across the board, but with first-round rookie Corey Coleman and Josh Gordon returning from suspension soon, Griffin will have some nice weapons to work with.

He has always thrown a nice deep ball, and that fits in perfectly with the abilities of Coleman and Gordon on the outside. Griffin is far from guaranteed to succeed in 2016, but the pieces are in place for him to turn it around.

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Hue Jackson is one of the best offensive coaches in the NFL and Griffin is a talented player with a seemingly unlimited ceiling. It is going to be interesting to see if he can become one of the brightest stars in the NFL once again.