Washington Redskins fans should be excited about the types of plays Robert Griffin III is excited about. While RG3's first touchdown pass was cool last week, the rookie pointed to another play as a revelatory moment.
The play was a second-and-10. Griffin's primary options were covered, but he stood tall in the pocket.
"The thought never crossed my mind to run," Griffin said Monday in reflection. "I went through my first three reads really confidently, knowing the protection was going to hold up, that at some point, one guy is going to be open, because on a lot of plays, one guy is wide open and the rest are blanketed."
He was right. Pierre Garcon came open over the middle; Griffin found him for a 20-yard catch-and-run.
"That was a great job. He looked out to the right, kept the tight end in the flat, and did a great job of coming to ... actually his fourth progression," Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan said. "But that is timing. The more you put him through it, the more comfortable he becomes. Also good protection, so a combination of a lot of people working together."
Peter King of SI.com wrote this week that the Redskins are molding their offense to Griffin's skills. They are creating some designed runs. RG3 will run; it would be crazy not to. But combing those runs with an ability to scan his receivers and stay calm in the pocket like a veteran will make him impossible to stop, even as a rookie.
Progress is not an all at once thing. These types of moments, stacked on top of one another, are what make a quarterback great.
"I think that the experience in the Buffalo game kind of reassured myself, reassured everybody else why they brought me here, reassured me, that this is still football and still the game we love, and love to play," Griffin said.