Former Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb believes that Robert Griffin III, who is expected to go to Washington as the second pick in the NFL draft, is a bad fit for the offense run by head coach Mike Shanahan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. Mike Shanahan said he’d take the high road and not respond, but plenty of people have come forward to say Griffin should fit just fine in the Redskins’ offense.
The Washington Times quotes some people who know the Shanahans’ offense and think Griffin is a good fit in it, and others who think Griffin is a good fit in any offense. Among those in the former group is Gary Kubiak, who was Mike Shanahan’s offensive coordinator in Denver and then Kyle Shanahan’s boss in Houston, and he sees a mobile and accurate quarterback like Griffin as exactly what the Shanahans want.
“Mike likes to run the ball . . . and likes to move his quarterback,” Kubiak said. “I don’t know that I’ve seen one move like this guy in a while. He’s very smart. This guy is going to fit perfect with what they want to do.”
Former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski said Griffin plays a lot like the quarterbacks who have had the most success in the Shanahan offense.
“You look at the Redskins and then you look at the lineage of Mike Shanahan — where has his success been? John Elway, Jake Plummer, Jay Cutler — movement guys, run-the-ball, stretch, play-action,” Jaworski said. “Big, strong-armed guys that get the ball down the field. He sees the quarterback to be prototypical like an RG3.”
Philip Montgomery, Griffin’s offensive coordinator at Baylor, falls into the camp that says Griffin is good enough that just about any offense should work with him running it.
“We weren’t very good when we first got here, so he was able to extend plays and make things happen, make a lot of plays with his feet,” Montgomery said. “As we grew, so did he. His maturation process as a quarterback has really developed in the sense that now he’s manipulating the pocket. Now he’s doing things down the field. When you really look at it, he made umpteen zillion more plays with his arm this year than he did with his feet.”
If McNabb is right, the Shanahans will hold Griffin back. If Montgomery is right, no coach is bad enough to hold Griffin back. If Kubiak and Jaworski are right, the Shanahans will turn Griffin into a superstar.
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