Sitting RGIII--good football move?

[printit]

Most of the discussion on this has been Shanahan/Snyder driven, I wanted to discuss the move on its merits. I like it.
1. These games mean nothing. Whether the Redskins go 6-10 or 3-13 means nothing to them.
2. RGIII is a high risk player. Maybe not as much this year, but I would say the odds of his getting hurt are slightly higher than the average odds of an NFL QB getting hurt.
3. Spotlight on Kirk Cousins could get Redskins needed draft picks: This is the part I think most people are missing. The Redskins need draft picks, having given up so many to get RGIII (and being bad in general, and having a cap penalty this year). My strategy for the next 3 weeks would be to do everything under the sun to make Kirk Cousins look like the next (fill in the blank hot young QB who came off the bench). Hope that someone likes what they see enough to trade you a couple of draft picks for him. Matt Flynn left GB as a free agent but parlayed 2 good games (Sunday Night Football against New England and Week 17 against Detroit) into a huge contract. Alex Smith was worth a second round pick. Cousins won't have the resume of Alex Smith at the end of the year, but he'll also cost a lot less money. I can see a GM who thinks he is a QB away from the playoffs and a losing season away from getting fired overpaying to get Kirk Cousins. (3rd and a 6th?)

 

[PCLoadLetter]

I have no problem with sitting RGIII. He's clearly nowhere close to 100% and giving Cousins the work makes sense.

On the other hand, if I'm the Redskins I am not in any hurry to deal Cousins. If you believe RGIII has a higher than average risk of injury -- and I agree -- why would you deal the decent backup and hang your hopes on Rex Grossman? I assume Griffin will miss a few games each season, so there'd better be a backup who can actually win games.

 

[Starman]

Presumably the new coach coming in in Washington is going to have to decide whether he wants to hitch his wagon to RGIII long-term, so getting a better idea what Cousins can do with extended PT will give them more information to work with.

And yeah, at this point, it's dumb to throw RGIII out there at less than 100%. Nothing good and plenty bad can come of it.

 

[Football_Bat]

The Redskins traded their No. 1 pick to the Rams, so sliding up the board doesn't do them much good.

But sitting RG3 and playing Cousins is the smart long-term move.

 

[printit]

The Redskins traded their No. 1 pick to the Rams, so sliding up the board doesn't do them much good.

But sitting RG3 and playing Cousins is the smart long-term move.

Right, which would be part of the impetus for getting some picks in a trade. Washington has no reason whatsoever to tank, hell, if Cousins goes 3-0 as a starter, that's good for everyone involved.

 

[Mark2010]

Might as well find out what you got under game conditions.

Even bigger question...... if Cousins performs well (however you wish to define it), would you consider putting Griffin on the trade block and having Cousins be the No. 1 guy going to camp next summer?

 

[Starman]

That could be part of it, too.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

The Redskins would consider this if they were smartly run - they are not.
At the same time, playing Cousins on this joke team could get him hurt, reveal he's not all that good and/or damage his trade value.

 

[Starman]

Well, if you wait until the Redskins are a well-constructed, well-organized team before playing Cousins, you could be waiting five years.

And if you're afraid of playing people because of damaging their potential trade value, you shouldn't play anybody -- just start guys off the practice squad (what do you have to lose??).

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

A lot of guys on this team are playing for jobs.
Griffin is being paid to compete. Even his 2-year-old id understands that.
I have never and never will understand this notion that not trying is acceptable, under any circumstances.
It's not in us as a people.

 

[Starman]

Griffin,

a) is obviously physically not 100%. In addition his style of play is such that playing at a below-par level will probably subject him to additional injury risk (he won't be able to move or protect himself as he normally would).

b) Obviously does not have the confidence of the current coaching staff (or vice versa), which almost certainly will be gone shortly. Even if he plays and plays well it's probably not going to change anybody's mind.

There really is no upside to playing him. The absolute best you could hope for would be he gets through three more games with no additional injuries.

 

[Webster]

I didn't see the Chiefs game, but against the Giants, he looked like he was moving fine. I think you need game time (in my viewing, Griffin has not been very precise) and giving up with three games to go sends a bad message.

 

[jackfinarelli]

I don't think we will know the answer to this question until next Fall. If RG3 takes this in stride and indeed goes through the off-season fully engaged in developing his skills, he will be the starting QB next year and he will be a better QB next year than he was this year. Ergo, good move...

If, however, he takes this action as an affront and reacts to that affront by "checking out mentally" during the off-season, he will not improve as a QB next year and the Skins' franchise will be seriously damaged. Ergo...

If RG3 were just some other QB and had put up the stats that he has so far this year, demoting him would not be a big deal. The fact of the matter is that he - along with much of the rest of the Skins' team - has not played very well at all this year.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I like the move.

RG3 is clearly not the player he was a year ago and that is in part because he couldn't do much during the off-season. This ensures t that doesn't happen again.

I have no idea what kind of value Cousins has. I tend to agree with LTL's assessment from the previous thread that the best way to keep his value high is to not play him, but if he does go out there and plays well, which is certainly possible given their remaining schedule. The people on ESPN and NFL Network all seem to think the Redskins could get at least a second-rounder for him during the off-season.

RG3 is the franchise, for better or worse. As long as last season is fresh in anyone's mind, the Redskins need to do whatever they can to get him back to that level. That may not be possible, who knows?

 

[shockey]

I don't care how cousins looks the final three games, there is no way rgIII becomes the traded qb after how much he cost the 'skins. rgIII is their starter in '14. cousins is his backup. period. then you let the season play out and re-evaluate the trade issue in off-season between '14 and '15.

 

[heyabbott]

After 2 seasons and after 2 ACL surgeries does RGIII having the makings of an elite QB and worth two #1 draft choices, one of which will be a top 5 pick?
And by elite I mean a QB who will, in the next 10 years, win you at least 1 Super Bowl, 2 Conference Championships and make the playoffs in 7 of 10 seasons?

 

[joe king]

2. RGIII is a high risk player. Maybe not as much this year, but I would say the odds of his getting hurt are slightly higher than the average odds of an NFL QB getting hurt.

This is funny.

Slightly higher?

The guy has been sacked 24 times in the past five games. That's an average of about five sacks per game. That rate projects out to 77 sacks in a 16-game season -- one more than David Carr took in 2002, when he became the most sacked QB in league history. And that isn't even taking into account the shots he's taken in his 37 rushing attempts in those five games.

Griffin has been absolutely hammered in recent weeks. He takes more hard shots than any QB in the league right now. Until they can protect him better and/or figure out a way to minimize that, he's another injury waiting to happen.

 

[printit]

2. RGIII is a high risk player. Maybe not as much this year, but I would say the odds of his getting hurt are slightly higher than the average odds of an NFL QB getting hurt.

This is funny.

Slightly higher?

The guy has been sacked 24 times in the past five games. That's an average of about five sacks per game. That rate projects out to 77 sacks in a 16-game season -- one more than David Carr took in 2002, when he became the most sacked QB in league history. And that isn't even taking into account the shots he's taken in his 37 rushing attempts in those five games.

Griffin has been absolutely hammered in recent weeks. He takes more hard shots than any QB in the league right now. Until they can protect him better and/or figure out a way to minimize that, he's another injury waiting to happen.

I was speaking more to Griffin's play in a vacuum, and not the Redskins inability to protect him, but you are right, it was still probably an understatement.

 

[heyabbott]

RG is a couple inches taller and 15 lbs heavier than Vick. No QB gets hit harder and more often than Vick. Is Griffin that much stronger and tougher than Vick to last as long with better results?

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

I don't care how great you think your quarterback is, having the guy run around that much is poor asset management.