As Redskin fans spent Monday pouring over article after article about the Redskins mini-camp that came to a close on Sunday, one thing that seems painfully obvious, Robert Griffin III blew the doors off of his first NFL on-field assignment.
Sunday was the first opportunity that the media were granted access to Mini-Camp, so all eyes were focused squarely on the new Redskins quarterback, and that usually means just one thing in Washington – scrutiny. And yet in a city that seems to love to hate as much as it loves to love, very few souls seem willing to venture out into that gentle abyss and rock the RGIII boat – at least not yet.
Even Mike Shanahan, the most tight-lipped of coaches, was forced to exude a little RGIII’ness and already declare Griffin the starting quarterback for the team’s upcoming OTA’s. Given the dog-and-pony act in the past with the Redskins staff and quarterback decisions, perhaps it’s safe to say that Griffin impressed the person that might matter most this weekend at mini-camp, his head coach.
“He’s the starter, period.”
I’m sure Skip Bayless will somehow get ESPN to pay him actual money to go on the air and say that had Shanahan been sure, he’d have used a black exclamation point, and not a period.
Shanahan even spoke of catering some of the offense to Griffin’s unique skillset – something that expert analyst Donovan McNabb assured us all, could never happen. Pssst – hey McNugget… coaches don’t wrap offenses around a quarterback’s DELUSIONAL views of their skillset – just their actual skillset. It’ll come to you slowly. Like the acceptance of your washed-up-ness.
Please check out John Keim’s Notes and Analysis from mini-camp. John always looks a little deeper than some of the other media and gives us something we can sink our burgundy and gold teeth into. I enjoyed this nugget:
“He’s just smoother than the other quarterbacks in camp. He worked hard on keeping a good base to throw from; he reached his destination point on his drops just a little bit quicker than the others. And he reset his feet well on throws. Of course, there’s no rush, but there is some urgency because he was throwing against coverages.”
John went on to talk about Griffin’s footwork and how it compared to the other quarterbacks at mini-camp (Kirk Cousins and Jonathon Crompton), so be sure to check out the whole article.
Griffin and Cousins are roommates in the team hotel, and this little drop of charm was dropped by the number two overall pick:
“We ate a burrito together,” Pause for effect. “Not the same burrito.”
If Griffin is half as good on the field as he has been on the microphone so far, the Redskins landed a Pro Bowler. Let’s face it, it’s an important part of the ‘franchise quarterback’ mystique and persona, so the young man is off to a heck of a start.
Some of the media comments:
Rick Snider in the Washington Examiner: “It didn’t take long to figure this out: Robert Griffin III will be the Washington Redskins’ best quarterback since Sonny Jurgensen.”
Michael Jenkins on CSN: “It might as well have been Robert Griffin III and everyone else.”
David Elfin said: “But when it comes to top-shelf young talent, Washington is in the midst of an era as golden as the jersey that Robert Griffin III wore yesterday as the media got its first look at him on the field in a Redskins helmet.”
One last little ditty to pass along to you. I tweeted Redskins great Joe Theismann on Friday because he was one of the few in attendance on the first day of mini-camp. I asked Joe that since he was a guy that knew a thing or two about charisma, to rate Robert Griffin III’s swag.
His response?
“He had me at hello.”
Thanks for taking the time to respond Joe.
He had me at “hello” too.
Notes:
Sky Kerstein was kind enough to post audio of the press conferences of Mike Shanahan, Robert Griffin III, and Kirk Cousins here.
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