What Can The Redskins Do Specifically To "Protect" RG3?

[kleese]

The news today is relatively "good" in my eyes. Obviously had he never gotten hurt that would have been the best news, but I would be very surprised if RG isn't participating in camp and then starting week one.

So, assuming he is set for 2013, I keep hearing the team needs to "protect" him. But what I think people fail to realize is that there simply isn't much anyone can do. At some point RG has to play football again and every time he steps on the field he will be in extreme danger. Just a fact. It is a dangerous game... Even more so for someone that has undergone two major surgeries already.

The "haters" (just realists) were right. RG is a smaller, "stringier," guy than Luck. RG is built like an Olympic hurdler... Luck is built "like luggage" (as Colin Cowherd likes to say). Prior to the draft I said I'd absolutely take Luck over RG for this reason... The Colts absolutely made the right choice.

And I think the Redskins made the right choice as well. Luck was off the board, so even though it cost us picks, we made the move we had to make even knowing the risks. He was/is worth the risk. He has already delivered one great year and I suspect him will do so on several more occasions. I also think that he is likely to miss more time due to injury (hopefully not major injuries) and that ultimately he will not play as frequently or as long as Luck.

But I still think he can win championships in DC... His window just might be smaller.

So, RG is ready to go next year.... What can the team do to protect him?

1. I have no doubt he will be participating in camp at some level. No matter what, no matter how fast he is progressing, I would not play him in a preseason game until the last preseason game on the schedule. And then, I'd only put him out there for a few series to let him experience game speed and gain some confidence.

2. Limit designed runs. They were already doing this as the year progressed. I don't think you can scrap designed runs completely... It makes him dangerous and helps other areas of the offense. And especially around the goal line, a well timed sneak, etc is often a good call. But I would certainly scale back the read option plays and only allow him to run it enough to where defenses have to plan for it.

3. By far the most important... Don't play him after he shows signs of injury. I doubt this will be an issue considering the events of this year. Coaches can't listen to RG anymore...if he doesn't look right, keep him out. There is a danger here of course of over-correcting. Do you take him out for the day every time he is slow to get up or takes a hard shot? That is going to happen weekly. They will need to be tuned in to what is a real potential issues and what's just a typical football bump or bruise.

4. Take him out of non-critical situations. Err on the side of caution in blowouts, etc. again that rarely happens, but if a game is out of hand, they can remove him.

That is about all you can do.

RG will have to plant, cut, burst, get hit, jump, sprint, etc whenever he returns. And every time he does those things, he will be at risk.

There isn't a ton the Redskins can do. It will be more up to RG himself. Not only will he need to learn to slide and run out of bounds, but he will need to understand when a play isn't worth saving. But there will be times when RG HAS to run and HAS to get hit. If RG never scrambles and never uses his legs as a weapon, then he is no longer special. He doesn't need 76 yard TD runs, but a Houdini act on 3rd and 13 is what makes him special and so dangerous. He can't abandon that because that is who he is.

Bottom line, there are minor things RG and the coaches can do, but once he puts those pads on, he is instantly at risk. Just gotta cross our fingers that he has learned a few lessons and that luck is on his side.

[Symbol]

The only thing they can do is either stop the read option or teach him to slide at the correct time.

[DixieFlatline]

I think the two biggest things might be to limit the designed runs and be more conscious of not playing him when he shows signs of injury. I don't think we need to teach him to slide. He was already taking better care of himself after the concussion. I think people tend to forget that when he got hurt in Baltimore he was laying it on the line because he thought it would be the season. I don't fault him for that. If anything, I fault the team for putting ourselves in that position so early in the season.

[Burgold]

Can design a few more quick hitters, maybe improve the oline a bit, but then it's about football.

[HogNose]

Cut down on the designed runs and he needs to learn how to slide when he does .....maybe he can get with Brady and get some tips.

[jservs7]

Fix the ****ing grass!!!!

[daveakl]

Throw the ball away (and this goes against how he is wired). The play against Atlanta, the second and goal on the second drive, the play before the bad snap where he took a sack, THROW THE BALL AWAY and live to fight another play. This will get ingrained in him this offseason.

[The Robert Griffin Experience]

To really "protect" RGIII you'd have to change the offense not only from what RGIII is used to, but what Shanny has coached his entire career. And you'll have to coach his rare playmaking genius out of him - you trade 3 picks for RGIII because he believes he can make something out of nothing. The play against the Falcons and the play against the Ravens were examples of him attempting to make something out of nothing. But guess what? So was the play against the Giants on 4th and forever that led to the go-ahead score. That's what kept us in the Bengals game. That was the plays against Tampa Bay that gave us the chance to win that game too. So you have to take the good with the bad. As he matures, he will know better when to "hold" and when to "fold", so to speak.

If you look at what the QBs that don't get hurt have in common, they run quick strike offenses, and feature talented skill position players that get open easily. Getting the ball out quickly is prioritized. Brees can drop back 3 steps, and either sling it to Colston downfield on a slant or check down to Sproles, etc. Now, compare with offenses like what Aaron Rodgers runs, like Ben Rothlisberger ran with Arians, and what Shanny has always run - lots of deep drops, lots of attacking downfield. Shanahan QBs have always gotten hit and always missed games. Young missed games. Elway missed games. And so on. We need to prioritize fixing the last few remaining holes on our OL and making it better at pass blocking though. On both injuries by RGIII, Polumbus got beaten badly by his man which flushed RGIII from the pocket and forced him to run.

I have no problem with the zone read runs. Oftentimes on those runs he is so wide open that he has ample time to slide or get out of bounds.

RGIII didn't blow his ACL because he took too many hits - he blew his ACL because he needs to run out of bounds when there's clearly no more yards to be gained (he should have folded there), because we have a hole at RT and mediocre WRs that forces him to make something out of nothing more often, and because Shanny made an awful, awful decision in the heat of the moment.

[DCsportsfan53]

To me it's got nothing to do with the scheme or designed runs and everything to do with him needing to play smarter. All the nasty hits he took this year were stationary in the pocket or on desperate scrambles and, while the pocket ones are going to happen it's incumbent on him to protect himself on broken plays in the same manner he was learning to do on the designed runs. If he can learn to sacrifice the last 3 yards and just slide he'll be fine. Time will tell if he is capable of making the adjustment.

[2cents]

Start Cousins and only play RGIII when ahead by five TDs.

[WhoRUSupposed2Be]

Good thread Kleese.

The only thing that seperates Robert and Luck is body and one less ACL repair.

[NikoBellic]

To really "protect" RGIII you'd have to change the offense not only from what RGIII is used to, but what Shanny has coached his entire career. And you'll have to coach his rare playmaking genius out of him - you trade 3 picks for RGIII because he believes he can make something out of nothing. The play against the Falcons and the play against the Ravens were examples of him attempting to make something out of nothing. But guess what? So was the play against the Giants on 4th and forever that led to the go-ahead score. That's what kept us in the Bengals game. That was the plays against Tampa Bay that gave us the chance to win that game too. So you have to take the good with the bad. As he matures, he will know better when to "hold" and when to "fold", so to speak.

If you look at what the QBs that don't get hurt have in common, they run quick strike offenses, and feature talented skill position players that get open easily. Getting the ball out quickly is prioritized. Brees can drop back 3 steps, and either sling it to Colston downfield on a slant or check down to Sproles, etc. Now, compare with offenses like what Aaron Rodgers runs, like Ben Rothlisberger ran with Arians, and what Shanny has always run - lots of deep drops, lots of attacking downfield. Shanahan QBs have always gotten hit and always missed games. Young missed games. Elway missed games. And so on. We need to prioritize fixing the last few remaining holes on our OL and making it better at pass blocking though. On both injuries by RGIII, Polumbus got beaten badly by his man which flushed RGIII from the pocket and forced him to run.

I have no problem with the zone read runs. Oftentimes on those runs he is so wide open that he has ample time to slide or get out of bounds.

RGIII didn't blow his ACL because he took too many hits - he blew his ACL because he needs to run out of bounds when there's clearly no more yards to be gained (he should have folded there), because we have a hole at RT and mediocre WRs that forces him to make something out of nothing more often, and because Shanny made an awful, awful decision in the heat of the moment.

Couldn't have said it better. Ultimately, no matter what the team does, though, it will be RG3's own tendencies that will be the biggest risk to his body.

[Skins Wingman]

To me it's got nothing to do with the scheme or designed runs and everything to do with him needing to play smarter. All the nasty hits he took this year were stationary in the pocket or on desperate scrambles and, while the pocket ones are going to happen it's incumbent on him to protect himself on broken plays in the same manner he was learning to do on the designed runs. If he can learn to sacrifice the last 3 yards and just slide he'll be fine. Time will tell if he is capable of making the adjustment.

bingo. limiting the designed runs is taking away his best weapon. why draft him if you're not going to let him run?

this is all on the man himself. i thought after the concussion, he would play smarter. then after the lcl injury, i thought the same thing. dude just doesnt know when to quit. sometimes you dont need an 18 yard run, when a 15 yarder will do. he needs to slide way earlier, and PROTECT HIMSELF. this isnt about the redskins trying to protect him, its about him not being so careless with his body.

on that final play, with a bad knee, he should have just fallen on the ball. take the loss, live to play another down.

[Bonez3]

When I saw him running options in Sept against Cincy, I just thought, WTF is this. Absolutely outrageous. I said it in Sept, if we have division on line in Dec against Dal/NYG, than I could see it. But staff needs to wake up.

If they never scheduled one read option, RG3 still gonna run the ball 6-7 times a game. It's who he is. Why heap on extra risk .

How to protect him. Simple. Call 0 designed runs unless it's palyoffs or late Dec.

If we're not good enough with him as pocket designed passer, than keep building.

[Btubes18]

Honestly, I would work on building the muscles around his knee for better stablization. He needs to be stronger in his legs to withstand the NFL.