Written by Ryan Wilson at CBS Sports.com
Five years ago, the Redskins were fresh off drafting Robert Griffin III with the No. 2 overall pick. Moving up the board to take Griffin was an expensive gamble, but the early returns were more than encouraging; RG3 won offensive rookie of the year and played a big role in the Redskins’ seven-game winning streak that catapulted the Redskins to the division title and the playoffs.
But that rookie season proved to be an aberration; injuries and inconsistency plagued Griffin’s final three years in Washington, and last offseason he ended up signing with the Browns. More injuries, more inconsistency and Griffin is again looking for work.
So what happened? New 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, who was the Redskins’ offensive coordinator when Griffin arrived — and is credited with getting the most out of Griffin his rookie season — has some thoughts on the matter.
“When you look at all of these quarterbacks,” Shanahan said during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show last week (via NFL.com), “there’s a lot of guys who have the ability to do it. But it’s how are you going to put a system together that gives them their best chance to be successful? And how are you going to put guys around them? …
“You’ve got to make sure you tailor an offense that fits his skill set,” Shanahan said of Griffin. “I look into all of that and I think one thing that’s tough when a guy’s not your for-sure starter, you need to put in a certain offense to give this guy a chance to be successful.
“That’s tough to do when a guy’s not your for-sure starter because it’s not just about him. It’s about the O-line, it’s about the running backs, it’s about the receivers and it’s certainly tough to design an offense around a quarterback when he’s competing to be your backup — if it’s different than the rest of the (personnel).”
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