Can RG3 get it back?
Running ball better could help Griffin improve
For Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins, so many problems can go back to a declining ability to run the ball.
In this era of passing, only two NFL teams ran the ball more than they passed last season. Yet the Redskins have faltered under Griffin in part because they haven’t balanced the run and pass well enough since his breakout rookie season.
Washington has struggled to control the clock, convert on third down and capitalize with playaction passes.
The Redskins have been worse at running the ball each succeeding year in the RG3 era, which began when Washington took him second overall in the 2012 NFL draft behind Andrew Luck.
“Running the ball more effectively will be very helpful,” second-year Redskins head coach Jay Gruden says, referencing another problem the team had: scoring in the red zone. “The play-actions off of that will be very helpful. There’s a lot of plays that you can run if you stay in positive downs and distances. You get in third down in the red zone, it’s difficult.”
Thus, first-year general manager Scot McCloughan used the draft and free agency to mold an offensive line that was not bad in 2014 to something that appears to be much better in 2015. The biggest piece to that improvement, literally and figuratively, is 6-5, 319-pound rookie guard Brandon Scherff.
“When you are in there, it does not feel like you’re next to a rookie,” sixth-year tight end Logan Paulsen says. “It feels like you’re next to a guy that has played a lot of football, knows the offense, knows the calls and knows the fronts. That’s always really nice that you have somebody you don’t need to look out for.
“It’s kind of a symbiotic relationship. You can kind of rely on each other and both make each other better.”
According to Pro Football Fo- cus, the Redskins had the 12thbest offensive line in 2014. Their pass blocking ranking was ninth, but their run blocking ranking was 21st.
All things that happen in the organization appear to be followed by the same question, though. How does this affect Griffin?
The NFL’s offensive rookie of the year in 2012, Griffin led the Redskins to a 10-6 record and the NFC East title. But with a mixture of Kirk Cousins, Colt McCoy and Griffin playing quarterback the past two seasons, Washington has gone 7-25.
Griffin, who was ranked the 22nd-best starting quarterback by USA TODAY Sports (see Page 17), has been sub-par ever since he injured his knee against the Seattle Seahawks in the wild-card round of the 2012 playoffs. As a rookie, he was dynamic with the ball in his hands, running for 815 yards and seven touchdowns. The injury, which resulted in surgery on his anterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments, happened only a month after he sprained his ACL on a hit by Haloti Ngata of the Baltimore Ravens when he was scrambling.
Griffin has rushed for 665 yards and one TD in 21 games over the past two seasons. As the Redskins have tried to make him more of a pocket passer to protect his knee, he has thrown for 20 touchdowns (as many as he had in his rookie season) with 18 interceptions.
A greater emphasis by the Redskins on running the ball — and not Griffin carrying the ball — could lead to more and more effective play-action passes, though.
“It makes the reads simpler; it makes the protections better,” Paulsen says. “It kind of improves every aspect of the offense. If we can get that done, I think he’ll thrive from that.”
If play-action becomes a viable threat, it could improve Griffin’s downfield passing numbers by drawing safeties closer to the line of scrimmage. In 2014, Griffin barely attempted throwing the ball more than 20 yards. On such passes, he was 6-for-20 for 277 yards with one interception and no touchdowns, according to ESPN.com.
“I know what I have to do to throw the ball consistently and be consistently accurate,” says Griffin, who is working with a new quarterbacks coach in Matt Cavanaugh, a former NFL QB whose recent students have been Jay Cutler with the Chicago Bears and Mark Sanchez with the New York Jets. “That’s what we’ve talked about, and I feel like I’ve made big progress in those areas. Not everybody can make the off-balance throws, but you’ve got to make your layups.”
Some layups for Griffin could come in the form of short passes to running backs, something the Redskins have not used often with lead back Alfred Morris in the game. The team might have to with the departure of Roy Helu Jr. — he led Redskins running backs with 42 catches last season — to the Oakland Raiders this offseason.
Morris, who is in the last year of his contract, has seen his rushing numbers and attempts decline drastically from 2012, when he ran 335 times for 1,613 yards (4.8-yard average). Last season, he ran 265 times for 1,074 yards (4.1-yard average). He has never had a touchdown reception.
“I’m just going to play the role they ask to me play,” Morris says about catching more short passes. “Hopefully I can.”
Having Morris more actively involved in the passing game would give Griffin a reliable check-down option.
According to Pro Football Focus, Griffin was given the fifthmost time to throw by his offensive line at an average of 2.94 seconds. Yet he was tied with the Seahawks’ Russell Wilson at 44.9% for the highest rate of being pressured.
Translation: The ball stays too long in Griffin’s hands.
In addition, the Redskins had the third-lowest third-down-conversion rate in the NFL at 31.5% last season. On third-and-6 or more, Griffin completed 18 of 34 passes for 181 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.
More success running the ball on early downs should help Griffin face shorter distances and throw the ball quicker.
“We’ve lost a lot of games because our conversion (rate) on third down has been very, very low,” Morris says. “We have to do better.”