Cleveland Browns: Running game key to RG3’s success

The Cleveland Browns need a strong running game if they want quarterback Robert Griffin III to succeed this fall.

The Cleveland Browns are banking, at least for the 2016 season, on Robert Griffin III settling the ongoing quarterback crisis.

Griffin and the Browns have talked extensively about second chances and how it is time to put his experience in Washington behind him, but if they are serious about making this work that may not be the best of plans.

Griffin succeeded as a rookie because the coaching staff put in an offense that played to his impressive, but very limited, skill set, as Jason Reid highlighted in his article at The Undefeated:

"Immediately, coaches noticed major flaws in Griffin’s passing mechanics. There’s a beat to the three-, five-, and seven-step drop, and Griffin didn’t have it. If a right-handed quarterback is throwing to his right, he must close down his left shoulder so it’s in line with the midpoint of his target. Too often, Griffin’s shoulder was wide open. On passes to the left, which require more detailed footwork for right-handers, Griffin was repeatedly out of rhythm. Although Griffin had top-notch arm strength, his tempo was off. That’s a problem because if a quarterback isn’t in sync with the rest of the offense, the play is over before it starts."

“He’s got a guy who’s rooting for him in his head coach. Hue Jackson will put him in position to make plays.” – Warren Moon on RG3

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While the coaches knew the limitations of their rookie quarterback, Griffin did not share their thoughts, however, and reportedly called a meeting to let the coaching staff know that things were going to change.

If Griffin carries that same attitude into the quarterback meeting room in Cleveland, then this latest quarterback experiment may be doomed already. As Pro Football Focus points out, Washington’s offense worked when it utilized play-action and failed, spectacularly, when Griffin was tasked with doing anything else:

"No team ran play-action more often than Washington did that season, with 39.9 percent of RG III’s dropbacks featuring it—3.8 percent more than any other player. The team in second place was doing a similar thing to help Russell Wilson’s transition in Seattle."

"Griffin might not like it, but the key to his success in the NFL is working within an offense that suits him, but the same is true for most quarterbacks in the league. If he can put ego aside and the Browns are willing to structure an offense around him that plays to his strengths and masks his weaknesses, RG III can succeed in the NFL, at least in the short-term, despite his limitations as a pure pocket-passer."

“I believe that Coach Jackson can help me be a better player, and I feel like he can help this team win football games.” – Robert Griffin III

For the Browns to be able to succeed this fall they not only need to make Griffin accept his limitations, but they also need to have running backs Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson do their part if the offense is going to rely on play-action.

And that was not always the case last season, as Crowell (3.8 yards per carry) and Johnson (3.6 yards per carry) both struggled to run the ball on a consistent basis. They are going to have to do a lot better than that if the Browns want opposing defenses to respect the run and open up opportunities for Griffin.

But just like Griffin, Crowell and Johnson claim that will all change in Jackson’s offense.

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“We just have to erase the tape and move forward,” Crowell said this week. “I feel like Hue will do a better job so I am just happy about that  I know Hue likes to run the ball. I feel like running the ball is a very important factor in winning and losing. I am happy about it.”

“We are here to give him whatever he wants,” Johnson said. “We don’t really have a name for it, just whatever he wants. Split out, running the ball, whatever coach wants, that’s we are here for.”

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The Browns are relying on Griffin to bring some stability to the quarterback position and a large part of that responsibility rests on his shoulders.

But if Crowell and Johnson can take some of that weight off of Griffin, the Browns latest quarterback experiment may have a change at succeeding where others have failed.