RGIII, Redskins Should Channel Eagles Approach with McNabb

The Washington Redskins are returning 21 of 22 starters on both sides of the ball heading into the 2013 season, but their injury-ridden quarterback Robert Griffin III headlines their training camp storylines.

Courtesy: ESPN

The former Baylor Bear is coming off of a devastating ACL injury that has kept the Redskins signal caller from fully participating in team activities and his health going forward largely remains a question mark. Washington is set to open Monday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles Sept. 9 and head coach Mike Shanahan remains uncertain who his starting quarterback will be.

Isn’t it ironic that the Eagles take on the Redskins Week One? Not only are they NFC East rivals, but both have featured polarizing quarterbacks in recent memory.

Obviously, Washington has RGIII and Philadelphia currently pegs Michael Vick as their starting quarterback. However, former Eagles starting quarterback Donovan McNabb’s career and stint with the Eagles could teach the Redskins and Griffin a lesson or two.

Early in his career, McNabb found himself at the brunt of a lot of criticisms for the way he played the game. Much like Griffin, the former Syracuse gunslinger was an adept pocket passer as well as excelling in the run game by using his legs to create havoc on opposing defenses.

While the Eagles loved the production Donovan was creating for them and diversifying their offense, the volume of hits and the types of shots he was enduring were beginning to take a toll on his body.

So the Eagles asked him to change his approach slightly and rely more on his arm than his feet.

It worked.

McNabb was never able to capture that elusive Super Bowl title that may have further validated his “Hall of Very Good” career, but he will always be remembered as one of the better dual-threat quarterbacks to play in the NFL.

Sure, his best years were when Terrell Owens was catching passes and imitating Ray Lewis’ “squirrel” dance for the Eagles, but McNabb found ways to spread the ball evenly throughout his offenses, even without the best wide receiver options in the “City of Brotherly Love”.

RGIII faces a similar, yet somewhat different task in front of him.

Yes, both quarterbacks — McNabb and Griffin —  use their legs to create opportunities and draw more defensive backs into the box, opening up holes with the play-action pass attack, but the 23-year-old runs a read-option offense which focuses on the quarterback carrying out fakes and more often than not, getting hit by defenders.

Griffin was not only taking shots when he had the ball last season, but without it, and more than McNabb did early on in his gaudy NFL career because the offensive schemes both players ran were different.

In the option offenses throughout the NFL and especially in the NCAA, the offensive blocking alignment usually leaves a defensive end or outside linebacker unblocked to be optioned by the quarterback. Given that the player is untouched, that usually means a kill shot on the quarterback is soon to follow, or whoever is carrying out the fake. McNabb was never apart of an offense like this… imagine if he was.

The catch 21 here is that Griffin is an extremely efficient passer — 65.6% completion percentage, 20 touchdowns, 5 interceptions and a 102.4 passer rating.

His passing statistics were somewhat elevated last season due to the amount of times both he and running back Alfred Morris carried the rock last season — only 393 passing attempts for Griffin in 2012.

However, with the speed this Redskins receiving corps possesses and getting back guys like tight end Fred Davis healthy, there is no reason why the Redskins should over-commit to using RGIII in the ground game.

If his football and endorsement careers are that important to the city of Washington D.C., the Redskins fanbase and to owner Dan Snyder, the boys from D.C. might want to consider pumping the brakes on Robert… unless of course they enjoy the services of quarterback Kirk Cousins a little bit more.