WP: Redskins studied many options for Robert Griffin III

[Om]

Nice to find a little substance admidst all the hype. Short piece by Maske at the WP talking about the RG3 run options...I highlighted the quotes that jumped out at me.

Redskins studied many options for Robert Griffin III
By Mark Maske

The Washington Redskins studied offenses of both NFL and college teams as they put together the package of plays that resulted in rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III carrying the ball 10 times Sunday at New Orleans in his pro debut.

“You look at all the different type of options that work,” Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan said during his news conference Monday. “When I first came into coaching, I was with Oklahoma for a couple years. We ran the wishbone and then you ran the veer and then you ran the counter-option and the speed option. So you’ve been through a lot of these things through your years of coaching.

“It’s kind of fun to do some of those things you haven’t done for a while. When you’ve got a guy like Robert who has the ability to really keep a defense off balance with his ability to do a lot different things, then you’ve got to make decisions [about] what you think works best with his talents. There are a lot of different directions we can go and we’ll experiment as the year goes on.”

Shanahan said the Redskins studied Griffin’s offense at Baylor. They also looked at the Carolina Panthers’ offense last season with Cam Newton and the Denver Broncos’ offense with Tim Tebow.

Tweaking an offensive system to take advantage of a quarterback’s skills is a normal part of coaching, Shanahan said.

“I think you always tailor your offense to whoever your quarterback is, taking a look at what he can do,” Shanahan said. “I think with Robert, the difference is you have a guy that can run under a 4.4[-second] 40[-yard dash] and then has the capabilities of really putting pressure on the defense.

“You only have to run the option or the option scheme one or two times a game. You may run it 10 times a game. But in the back of their mind, a defense knows you have the ability to do it. So you have a chance to keep them off balance even if you don’t run it a lot, and you can run whatever kind of offensive system you want. So the fun part about being able to experiment with some of the things we’ve done is keeping the defense honest because it’s them not knowing how many times you’ll run the option.”

 

[Goaldeje]

I thought we ran the option too much against the Saints, but part of me has wondered if perhaps that was to get it on tape and give D coordinators something to think about. One additional wrinkle that we may use at any time that they have to perpare for.

 

[Neophyte]

I think you are right Goal. In fact, I rather expected the amount of runs we saw on Sunday and I think we will continue to see that from Griffin for the next 4 to 6 weeks, depending on who we are facing that week before it starts to tapper off. I think the coaches want other teams to think they are going to get a heavy dose of it consistently so defensive coordinators loose sleep over it.

But I think it's use will drop to just a couple times a game later on once teams get a handle on it. Unless, of course, they never get a handle on it and in that case I think the coaches would be foolish to not keep using it.

 

[Om]

The Saints adjusted by keeping a LB wide of the DE; it appeared to effectively shut down the run option. Of course, in turn that opened up the middle of the field for the pass. The key will be to keep RG3 from getting hurt running enough options to force the defenses to adjust...

 

[micks113]

The best part of all is that Griff has learned the whole playbook, he is ready to go. Rams won't see anything we've shown thus far imo.

 

[Jimbo]

The best part of all is that Griff has learned the whole playbook, he is ready to go. Rams won't see anything we've shown thus far imo.

OR...we may show them something they've seen and then blow them up with something else out of the same formation. Gotta keep 'em guessing.

 

[Om]

If Sunday was a legitimate barometer of the base line for RG3 and this offense (something we'll have a better sense of after the Rams game), the potential upside for this offense in the years to come is almost mindboggling. What a coach like Shanahan can do with the schemes, building layer on layer...you don't want to defend that a couple years from now. And personnel? The OL is going to get more attention. We'll keep throwing RB's out there until one of them takes off like T. Davis did back in the day. The unit will develop continuity, chemistry, flow.

As much as I'm hoping we beat St. Louis and head into October thinking we might even contend for a playoff spot in year one, I'm already letting my mind wander to where this might all be headed.

Winning.