In the days preceding the draft, Robert Griffin III (i.e., RG3) said he’d have to beat out Rex Grossman (i.e., RG3-and-out) to become the starting quarterback in Washington.
Griffin already has.
“He’s the starter. Period,” coach Mike Shanahan said Sunday, at the conclusion of a rookie minicamp.
The far bigger surprise is that Shanahan acknowledged that he and son Kyle, the team’s offensive coordinator, won’t insist on Griffin running the existing offense exactly the way they want him to run it.
“We’re going to adjust our system to what he feels comfortable with,” Shanahan said, “and we’ll watch him grow and we’ll do what we feel like he can do and what he does the best. . . . One thing the NFL is not used to is a quarterback with his type of speed and his type of throwing ability, so I think we can do some things that people haven’t done.”
It’s the smart approach, especially since they gave up so much to get Griffin. Expecting a quarterback to play like a drone makes sense when the quarterback possesses run-of-the-mill skills. Griffin has the potential to operate at a much higher level -- and Shanahan realizes that it makes sense to let Griffin do the things that made the Redskins willing to give up the sixth overall pick in the 2012 draft, two future first-round picks, and a second-round pick.