Robert Griffin III was introduced at a press conference in Baltimore on Wednesday, and he couldn’t help talking about himself as if he’s still some kind of difference-making quarterback. Again.
Griffin had a great rookie season with Washington, but that was six years ago. He’s 6-19 as a starter the last five years, with a whole bunch of interceptions, sacks, fumbles and injuries.
I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling when Griffin started talking about himself as if he’s still one of the league’s elite scramblers. Specifically, he says he’ll do a better job of protecting himself.
“When I do run, I'll be smarter about it," Griffin said. "I'll slide earlier, get out of bounds when I have to, and when it's time to run for 70, I'll run for 70. It just is what it is."
When he signed with Cleveland, of course, Griffin said the same kind of things about sliding and getting out of bounds. Then the first game came, and he promptly went out and tried to run over Jalen Mills instead of stepping out of bounds, landing himself on injured reserve.
To me, the mention of the idea that he’ll be ripping off 70-yard runs is evidence that he doesn’t get it. Way back when he ran for a 76-yard touchdown to salt away a win over Minnesota. That was great, but it was six years ago. Since then, his season-long runs have been 26, 23 and 20 yards. He didn’t even play in 2015 or 2017.
This reminds me when Griffin showed up for the first day of training camp in Cleveland and was asked to compare himself to the team’s other quarterbacks. "Obviously there's only one of us that runs 4.3.''
The tossing out of “4.3” rubbed me the wrong way. When Griffin showed up at the combine in 2012, he ran a 4.41. That’s really fast for a quarterback, but it’s not a 4.3, and it’s a time he ran a long time ago, before he shredded his knee. It’s 2018 now, and I would conservatively say Griffin has run under 4.5 for the last time. I don’t think he could even run under 4.6.
Reality is, RG3 isn’t even one of the fastest two Griffins in the league anymore. Shaquill Griffin (now a Seattle cornerback) ran a 4.38 at the combine last year, and his brother Shaquem also ran a 4.38, at this year’s event. They’re the twins who played at Central Florida. Shaquem was the big story of this year’s combine, putting up great numbers despite competing with only one hand.
—Ian Allan