Robert Griffin III was expected to take the Washington Redskins over the hump, and grow into a star quarterback. That appeared to be the case in his rookie season, but the last couple of years have been absolutely brutal for him and he simply hasn’t shown the talent to be a starting NFL quarterback.
Injuries have played the biggest part of Griffin’s downfall with Redskins, and that is the first step towards turning things back around. If he can stay on the field, he will take a huge step forward towards unlocking his full potential. He certainly has the skill-set to succeed in the NFL as he showed in his rookie year.
That being said, can he end up turning his career back around this coming season?
Why Griffin can turn his career around in 2015
Confidence is the number one quality that an NFL quarterback has to have to succeed. Griffin had more confidence than most quarterbacks when he first entered the NFL, and had the arrogant “swag” that comes from a player who knows he has talent. That has since disappeared due to injuries, and he needs to find a way to get it back.
Last season, Griffin ended up throwing for 1,694 yards, four touchdowns and six interceptions. He also picked up 176 yards and a touchdown on 38 attempts on the ground.
Jay Gruden and Griffin bumped into each other quite often last season, but they learned from that experience and appear to be ready to work together once again this year. Gruden has already named Griffin as his starting quarterback entering the season, and he knows that drama between the coach and quarterback isn’t a recipe for success. Both sides need to keep their mouths shut and remain patient no matter what happens.
There have been flashes of brilliance from Griffin over the past couple seasons, but they have been few and far between. Consistency is something that he’ll have to find before taking the next step.
Quite simply, he has to find a way to block out everything that has happened to him over the past couple of years and focus on breaking out with a big year in 2015. He has all of the tools to make that happen, and simply has to get his mind on track with his body. Health isn’t something that he can necessarily control, but he has to put himself in better positions to stay healthy.
Playing more conservatively as a quarterback in the pocket might be the way he keeps himself out of trouble. Learning how to rely more on his arm rather than his legs to make play is different for him, but he has to figure out how to do that.
Washington has an excellent running back in Alfred Morris, and that will help take pressure off of Griffin in 2015 once again. He has a prolific weapon in DeSean Jackson who he didn’t get to play with much last season, and the two of them should team up for some big plays.
Gruden will also have to figure out how to put Griffin in the best position for him to succeed. Play calling is going to be a major key to figuring out how to change Griffin’s game to keep him on the field. He has to be given a great mix of big plays and short dump offs, while also feeding the ground game often.
All of that being said, there is no question that Griffin can turn his career around and get back on track in 2015. He has all of the physical tools that he needs to succeed, but needs to get his confidence back. If he can do that, the sky is the limit for Griffin assuming the right system is installed into the offense for him.