Mike Shanahan on Robert Griffin III:
On what he likes about him: "Really everything. I like the way he handles himself. He's a guy who finished college in three and a half years, came in early out of high school in three and a half years. He’s an overachiever; he has great parents; work ethic is off the charts. I love the way he handles himself and then there’s the football aspects. He has great speed. He does a great job in the pocket throwing the ball downfield. He doesn’t look at the rush and he has all the attributes you look for in a quarterback. I’ll be very happy if he’s on our team. Nothing's 100 percent yet so I have to say 99.9."
On the difference a franchise QB can make: "When you talk about a franchise quarterback, that guy has to do it. Just one guy can't do it. You have to have a supporting cast. We've made strides the last couple years putting that team together. When you do bring a quarterback in hopefully he has the weapons to give him a chance to be successful. We all know it doesn't happen overnight. There are growing pains that go with the position. But the better your defense is or the better your offense may be, obviously that's less pressure you have to put on your back. When you're talking about a franchise quarterback you're talking about a guy that has all the physical and mental attributes you're looking for. Now he has to do it on the field."
On how quickly he'll name him the starter: "You want to make sure he's ready to play, so you have to go through the process. You don't want to throw a guy in there until he's comfortable. It doesn't happen right away. When you give up a couple firsts and a second you want that guy in there as quick as possible, but you want to do it at the right time to make sure he's ready and gives you the best chance to help you win."
On if he'll let Robert show his personality: "You let every quarterback be themselves. He's a natural leader. You want guys to lead your team. Some guys are more serious. ... You have to be yourself. If you take a look at what he's done through high school and what he's done through college, just his personality, he's a very relaxed guy and he handles things very well both on and off the field. I'm very impressed how he's handled himself throughout this process and he'll be no different once he's in here."
More on franchise QBs: "Everybody would like that franchise guy and that’s the goal of every team. How you become a franchise guy is to do it on the field. The first thing you look for is the attributes to give a guy the chance to be that guy. Robert does have all those qualities -- or Andrew for the one percent of one percent. That's what we look for, a guy from a character standpoint that you know will be the first guy there and the last to leave. You look for a guy as a quarterback like London Fletcher handles himself on the defensive side of the ball. If you can get a guy like London, you have a leader for years to come and we believe Robert is that type of guy. I look forward to spending time with him and doing things you do to get a quarterback ready for his first game. It doesn't just happen like that and we understand that, but he has everything we look for."
On Griffin's personality: "Robert's a pretty easy guy to like. He has the charisma. On a serious side you want a guy from my perspective that he wants to be the best at what he does. That's what excited us, to see his commitment both on the field and in the classroom, to be around his parents and around his girlfriend, to see him handle himself in all different situations is a guy we want to develop and be the face of the organization. He knows there's a lot of pressure that goes with it."
On changing his offense to fit a QB: “You always have to incorporate your offense to a skill set I’ve had seven different quarterbacks. Every quarterback I’ve dealt with was completely different. When I was first with John Elway, my first four years, it was a Dallas Cowboys type system. Dan Reeves came from there. When I went to San Francisco with Steve Young it was a West Coast offense with three- and five-step drops but we kind of incorporated different personnel groups and a few different formations. Not a lot. Then you come back to Denver with Elway again and we changed the offense from Dallas to a combination of what John wanted to do with shotgun and he did not like the three- and five-step drops, but he liked throwing out of the shotgun and moving out of the shotgun so that offense was a little different for the next four years. Brian Griese was completely different. We took formations and changed them up each week, he was one of the sharpest guys I’ve ever been around. You didn’t have much of the rollout package because he wasn’t the fastest guy. Jake Plummer, he could throw great with rollouts and bootlegs. Jake was great at it. He went from winning 36 percent of his games in Arizona to 72 in Denver. And Jay Cutler was a guy that could do everything. … You have to look at who your quarterback is and what your supporting cast is and give that quarterback the best chance to win.”
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