NFL

Could RG3 be headed for Ohio?

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL , ,
RG3
Griffin was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2012.

With the second pick in the 2012 draft, Washington selects…

I bet that’s a moment fans in the Nation’s capital would love a do-over on. 2012 turned out to be one of the most talent-filled drafts the NFL has seen in some time. Between Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Luke Keuchley, Bobby Wagner, Chandler Jones and the list goes on.

Washington gave up eight picks to move up to second overall in that draft. The belief was that there were two franchise-altering quarterbacks set to join the league in Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III. Washington put itself in the position where whichever quarterback Indianapolis didn’t select would fall to them at two.

Indy took Luck and the rest is history. The Colts have been one of the best teams in the AFC over the last three seasons while Washington has gotten progressively worse.

After one fantastic year in DC that ended with a shocking knee injury, RG3 has had a rough time in the NFL. Griffin threw 20 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions his rookie year. In the last two years, he has only managed to throw 20 more scores while 18 of his passes were picked off. Griffin has been notorious for fumbling throughout his career as well. Not to mention the numerous reports that Griffin has a bit of an attitude problem and blames his teammates. It is clear that he has strayed from the path of franchise QB.

However, there is some upside to the former Baylor quarterback. His career completion percentage sits at a healthy 63.9 for his career, including last year when he completed 68.7 in limited appearances. He also has a respectable 7.62 yards per attempt passing during his career.

Robert Griffin III
Griffin has missed 10 games over the last two seasons due to injury and benching.

Teams could do a lot worse than having Griffin as their starting quarterback. He is definitely injury prone but still has the ability to be successful. Part of his being prone to injury might be due to the number of times Griffin has been hit when he drops back. Washington’s line has allowed more sacks each year since Griffin entered the league, ending last season with a whopping 53 sacks allowed, representing the second worst mark in the NFL. Griffin sustained a concussion during this preseason after he was sacked on three of his eight drop backs against Detroit as well. That stuff doesn’t happen to Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or Drew Brees.

The management in Washington has also ruined any chance RG3 has of succeeded there. The coaching staff has made it clear that they want him out, as has the management, but rumor has it that Dan Snyder is insistent on keeping Griffin on the team. Washington is in a state of complete disarray at the moment and the best thing for both sides would be to trade or release Griffin. Washington simply needs to wash their hands of the terrible trade they made in 2012 and move on.

It seems unlikely that a trade would happen but it is more than possible that Griffin could hit the open market. Several teams have mentioned that they would have “medium” interest in RG3 if he was a free agent. No one seems overly eager to bring him in.

Johnny Manziel
Manziel, a former first round pick himself, has taken strides but is not ready to be the starter.

One team that makes more sense than probably anyone else to sign him has to be Cleveland. The Browns have had the worst luck in terms of quarterbacking play over the last three decades. They have their project Johnny Manziel in progress right now but he is nowhere near ready to roll quite yet. They also have Josh McCown under contract and he will likely be the team’s starter come week 1.

Believe it or not, Griffin would probably be a major upgrade for Cleveland. Bringing him in from Washington on a contract that doesn’t have a ton of guaranteed money over the next two years or so could make a lot of sense. Griffin desperately needs a fresh start and the Browns are searching for the answer at quarterback. Letting Griffin take the reins in Cleveland might just be the spark they need.

The Browns probably still aren’t going to be in the playoff picture but it could be a step in the right direction. It also gives Cleveland another option at quarterback to ensure that they will not need to prematurely throw Manziel on the field.

While moving to Cleveland would be a downgrade for Griffin in terms of his offensive weapons around him, he would have a much better offensive line. Cleveland allowed 31 sacks last season which was in the top half of the league. With five-time All-Pro Joe Thomas protecting his blindside and two-time Pro Bowler Alex Mack organizing the line at center, Griffin will have some time to survey the field from the pocket.

Josh_McCown_Browns_2015
McCown spent most of his career as a backup and had a very inconsistent year with Tampa Bay last season.

When given time, Griffin has proven that he can be an above average quarterback. He still has to learn how to play without relying on his legs quite so much but there is some hope for him. He is only 25-years old and has plenty left in the tank. He might be fragile but if the Browns can limit the number of times he is hit, then that shouldn’t be a problem.

A strong defense and an run-first offensive approach could benefit Griffin as well. Washington’s poor defense often meant that he was playing from behind but if the Browns can control the clock and the defense improves against the run then Griffin will be in a much better system.

Griffin moving to Cleveland makes a lot of sense. Washington already has a contingency plan in the form of Kirk Cousins. For the Browns, it means bringing in a quarterback with some potential without risking much. Griffin could be the ultimate low-risk high-reward type of player that Cleveland should take a chance on.

As a football fan, I hope Washington releases Griffin and he gets a chance to start elsewhere. I think RG3 could succeed in the right environment and I think it would be a lot of fun to see him in a Browns uniform. If Griffin has something of a turn around and survives the season, Cleveland suddenly would have someone to attract free agents for the first time in years.

Who knows, maybe three years from now we will be talking about how good the Browns are with their stud QB Robert Griffin III. Probably not, but all the same, it really couldn’t hurt the Browns to try. He can’t be much worse than McCown right?

NFL Power Rankings: Preseason Week 4

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL, Power Rankings

1. Indianapolis Colts (Last week: 1)
Andrew Luck finally found the endzone and the Colts offense got some much needed game reps. It will be really interesting to see how Frank Gore changes this offense.

2. New England Patriots (Last week: 4)
After months of waiting and debating, Brady’s suspension has been overturned. He will be on the field against Pittsburgh and the Patriots look like favorites to run away with the AFC East once again.

3. Green Bay Packers (Last week: 2)
After talking about how happy Green Bay was to have Randall Cobb back, Cobb suffered a shoulder injury himself. It is not believed to be anything serious but if it persists, the Packers could be in a lot of trouble. Also, the defense needs to figure out what went wrong after giving up 25 points in the first quarter against Philly.

4. Seattle Seahawks (Last week: 3)
For the third straight week, the Seahawks struggled to move the ball and score points. Seattle’s new look offense has to be scaring some fans who are watching. Marshawn Lynch is not involved as much as he usually would be but still, the offense needs to click Week 1 to restore confidence.

5. Denver Broncos (Last week: 5)
No one knows quite what to expect from Peyton Manning and the Broncos this year. Until I see otherwise though, I see no reason to drop them from the top five.

6. Dallas Cowboys (Last week: 6)
Darren McFadden had success running the football for the first time in a long time. It was a limited number of carries but McFadden showed he could still cut well and had some good open field speed.

7. Arizona Cardinals (Last week: 7)
I think most people forget just how tough it was to beat the Cardinals before they lost Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton this year. Bruce Arians’ team is as much a title contender as the rival Seahawks.

8. Kansas City Chiefs (Last week: 9)
Another sharp week for Alex Smith has to make Chiefs’ fans think this offense has turned the corner. Three straight convincing wins for Kansas City makes you wonder if Denver still has a grip on the AFC West.

9. Philadelphia Eagles (Last week: 10)
Alright, two preseason games with a lot of success can maybe be written off as nothing, but after a third straight week where the Eagles offense went off, that has to put the league on high alert. The defense also shutout the Packers in the first quarter. Most teams aren’t going to blow a 25-point lead. The Eagles look dangerous in the NFC.

10. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last week: 8)
Martavius Bryant will now miss the first four games of the season with a drug suspension and the Steelers’ defense looked helpless to stop the Bills. THE BILLS?!?!? Tyrod Taylor, E.J. Manuel and Matt Cassel ripped the Pittsburgh secondary apart.

11. Cincinnati Bengals (Last week: 11)
The Bengals bounced back from a really rough second preseason game. Andy Dalton looked very good in limited action and the running game got going. If Cincy gets hot then they are really good but when they are cold, they are among the worst teams in the league.

12. Minnesota Vikings (Last week: 12)
Minnesota has had a very convincing preseason and that was without Adrian Peterson on the field. The Vikings could be a tough out and could challenge the beaten up Packers for the NFC North if all falls into place.

13. Miami Dolphins (Last week: 14)
Same deal as last week. Ryan Tannehill looked great while Lamar Miller struggled. It is starting to look like Tannehill has finally come into his own entering his fourth year. He and a strong Miami defense could push them into the playoffs.

14. San Diego Chargers (Last week: 13)
Defense looks like it will not be an issue for the Chargers this year. The running game is downright awful. Donald Brown, Melvin Gordon, Danny Woodhead and Branden Oliver had a combined 2.7 yards per attempt on 27 carries.

15. Detroit Lions (Last week: 15)
The defense took a step back as it failed to reach Blake Bortles even once and the Jacksonville QB had a field day. Ameer Abdullah has looked like a dud since his first week explosion. Should be interesting to see how he fairs in the regular season.

16. Baltimore Ravens (Last week: 16)
He might be 36, but Steve Smith Sr. still has a lot of fight in him. Smith torched the Washington secondary for 95 yards and a touchdown on four receptions. Unfortunately, that was about all the offensive production the Ravens had that night.

17. Buffalo Bills (Last week: 18)
Everyone though the Bills lacked a starting quarterback. It turns out, all Rex Ryan had to do was rotate them throughout the game. Buffalo played four quarterbacks who went a combined 30 of 33 passing for 386 yards and three touchdowns. One of them can start, right?

18. Houston Texans (Last week: 17)
Running the ball is not something the Texans have shown they are particularly adept at when Arian Foster is not on the field. Their running backs combined for 78 yards on 33 attempts. Houston might make a push when Foster is back but it looks unlikely before that point.

19. Atlanta Falcons (Last week: 19)
The Falcons offensive line struggled big time against the Miami defense. Allowing six sacks and only managing to pave the way for 2.1 yards per carry is mediocre at best. If this persists, Atlanta has more to worry about than their porous defense.

20. New York Jets (Last week: 21)
Ryan Fitzpatrick seems to be settling down in this offense and the Jets ran the ball effectively. Antonio Cromartie flashed his big play ability, something New York desperately lacked last year on defense. This team is far from a contender but things are starting to come together.

21. New Orleans Saints (Last week: 20)
New Orleans didn’t leave their starters on the field too long and they seemed effective while they had the chance. There are a lot of question marks surrounding this team heading into the regular season.

22. New York Giants (Last week: 22)
Odell Beckham Jr. finally caught the ball on Saturday night. It didn’t help much as the Giants still lost and the defense was bullied by a strong Jets’ running game for most of the night. The Giants have a lot of holes to fill before week one.

23. Cleveland Browns (Last week: 27)
With rumors that Robert Griffin III might be released in Washington, the Browns have to be licking their chops. With all of the quarterback issues going on in Cleveland, Griffin is far from a sure thing but he does offer some promise and give them a potential starter.

24. Carolina Panthers (Last week: 25)
The offense got creative and the defense looked strong in a tough loss. Two interceptions of Tom Brady was huge for the Panthers secondary. If the Carolina offense can find a way to score even 20 points in a game, the Panthers have a good shot to win.

25. St. Louis Rams (Last week: 24)
Nick Foles rebounded from a pathetic performance a week prior but the Rams ground attack stalled. St. Louis better hope that Todd Gurley is healthy soon and that he can start playing as well as he did while he was at Georgia.

26. San Francisco 49ers (Last week: 26)
Colin Kaepernick looked very effective running the ball and completely lost when throwing it. This San Francisco offense has to figure out exactly what kind of team it wants to be.

27. Chicago Bears (Last week: 27)
Once again, the Bears defense looked like it was just about game ready while the offense spun its wheels. Generating 194 total yards of offense is not going to win you too many football games.

28. Oakland Raiders (Last week: 28)
There is a little bit of hope in Oakland for the first time in what seems like years. The Raiders are making the right moves and are slowly beginning to develop a young nucleus to build this team around. The results won’t come in 2015 though.

29. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last week: 29)
Blake Bortles had a great outing against the Lions, throwing for 285 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately, he also led the Jaguars in rushing with only 38 yards. Good to see this type of play from Bortles. Very concerning that the running game was nowhere to be found. And with Julius Thomas missing the first three weeks, that could mean a slow start for the Jags.

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last week: 30)
Jameis Winston will maintain that he didn’t take a step back but he certainly didn’t take one forward either. Completing 40 percent of your passes and throwing a pick shows Winston still has a lot of growing to do before this team can start challenging even in the NFC South.

31. Tennessee Titans (Last week: 32)
Tennessee finally moved up! Although that is more due to the short comings of Washington than the Titans success. The defense looked pretty bad this week getting shredded by Alex Smith and Aaron Murray all game long.

32. Washington (Last week: 31)
Washington announced the Kirk Cousins will start the year at quarterback. That’s not the reason for the fall though. The disarray between ownership and management is apparent and Washington lost Junior Galette for the year. This team is floundering at the moment.

Browns find themselves in a tough situation

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL , ,

The Cleveland quarterback carousel. It is a running joke at this point. The Browns have had so many quarterbacks come and go it is borderline ridiculous. Actually, scratch that, it is ridiculous. The last time Cleveland has one quarterback start all 16 games in the regular season was 2001, when Tim Couch was the quarterback. And before that it was Bernie Kosar a decade earlier. A couple of other have come close like Derek Anderson in 2007 or Branden Weeden in 2013, both of whom started 15 games. 

Brian Sipe
Sipe on the sidelines of a game in 1979.

That right there is the definition of mediocrity at the quarterback position. Since 2005, the Browns have had 16 different quarterbacks start under center for them. Even the Jaguars haven’t been that bad, having only 11 different players start in the same span. The Browns have not had true stability at quarterback since Brian Sipe started every game from 1978 to 1981. That was about 35 years ago! And over those three and a half decades, no quarterback has started every game in back-to-back seasons. That is simply mind boggling to me. How there has been no one to have enough success in Cleveland to start all 16 games two years in a row is beyond me.

Johnny Manziel
Manziel has avoided mistakes this preseason and shown flashes of his development.

However, the Browns do actually have some talent now on their roster at the quarterback position. Johnny Manziel came with a whole lot of question marks but he also oozed with untapped potential. He was an athlete with a great arm still trying to learn how to play quarterback.This offseason has been a major turning point for Manziel in his development, starting with rehab stint and continuing with his much improved play on the field. The Cleveland coaching staff got Manziel to buy in to really working on becoming a better player and so far that is very evident.

Johnny Football isn’t ready to be the starter yet in Cleveland though. If the Browns decided to throw him in week one because he looked good in the preseason, it would undo everything that they had worked on. Manziel would likely return to scrammbler he was in college and forget his coaching in an effort to make plays on a talent devoid Browns’ offense. Waiting a year for Manziel to really know the playbook and fully develop tendencies would be very wise.

Josh_McCown_Browns_2015
McCown joins the Browns as sixth team of his career.

Unfortunately, that means that Cleveland will have veteran journeyman Josh McCown become the 17th starting quarterback for the Browns since 2005. McCown is still riding the coattails of his 2013 success in Chicago. He only made it 11 games last season before being benched in favor Mike Glennon. His stats weren’t pretty either as he posted a 56.3 completion percentage and threw 11 touchdowns to his 14 interceptions.

This preseason has underlined his inconsistency as well. In his first game against Washington, McCown completed all five of his passes and tossed a touchdown. Then last week facing Buffalo, he proceeded to complete seven of ten passes, but threw two of the ten to the other team. Part of McCown’s struggles are definitely due to the lack of talent around him. In fact, no Cleveland receiver has more than three receptions in either of the Browns’ two losses. That being said, if McCown has another poor performance tomorrow in Tampa against his former team, fans could be looking for the Browns to start someone else at quarterback.

Johnny_ManzielThe problem is, there really isn’t anyone else to start. As I have already mentioned, starting Manziel would be a mistake this early on in his development. Outside of McCown and Manziel, the other quarterbacks on Cleveland’s roster are Thad Lewis, Connor Shaw and Pat Delvin, who combined have won two NFL games, both by Lewis. With the news that Connor Shaw could miss the whole season after thumb surgery, the selection is even more limited.


The Brown really have put themselves in a tough position here. It is pretty much a no-win scenario. Either the team suffers through an up and down season with McCown at quarterback, maybe winning six games or Manziel takes over, exciting fans, but potentially ruining all the progress he has made.  

So once again, the Browns have a big hole at quarterback. It should be interesting how they proceed. I think Brett Farve has a pretty free schedule this fall…

NFL Power Rankings: Preseason Week 3

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL, Power Rankings ,

1. Indianapolis Colts (Last week: 2)
Things seem to be finally falling into place around Andrew Luck. If the defense can be even average this season, Indy should win a lot of games.

2. Green Bay Packers (Last week: 1)
I mentioned last week that they avoided injuries. That didn’t happen this week as the Pack lost Jordy Nelson for the season. Green Bay has to be very happy it didn’t let Randall Cobb walk during the offseason.

3. Seattle Seahawks (Last week: 3)
The offense struggled again failing to score a touchdown against the Chiefs. The defense managed to score though. Seattle probably can’t count on that happening every week though, no matter how good that defense is.

4. New England Patriots (Last week: 6)
Pats fans had to be nervous after the first week of the preseason based on Jimmy Garappalo’s performance. He quieted some of the critics with a much more successful night this week.

5. Denver Broncos (Last week: 5)
Who will Peyton be targeting this season outside of Demarius Thomas. With Wes Welker injured and Julius Thomas in Jacksonville, Denver is going to need someone else to step up in the offense. Cody Latimer is rumored to fill the Welker-like role, but only time will tell.

6. Dallas Cowboys (Last week: 4)
We finally got to see Darren McFadden and Joseph Randle in game action. Neither looked amazing but Randle looked a lot better than McFadden. The defense looked good too but that before losing Orlando Scandrick for the whole season. That could really hurt Dallas’ chances at a deep playoff run.

7. Arizona Cardinals (Last week: 8)
This team didn’t lose many of the pieces from it’s 12-4 season a year ago. Assuming one of the Arizona quarterbacks can stay healthy, the Cardinals could end up as the team to beat in the NFC.

8. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last week: 7)
Ben Roethlisberger led the league in passing yards a season ago and LeVeon Bell finished second in yards from scrimmage. It will be hard for either of those players to repeat that success with Maurkice Pouncey in a walking boot.

9. Kansas City Chiefs (Last week: 10)
Alex Smith finally threw a touchdown pass to a wide receiver. Now let’s see if he can do it when it counts. The Chiefs offense on the whole didn’t look great but the defense held the Seattle offense under 250 total yards.

10. Philadelphia Eagles (Last week: 11)
It might only be preseason but the Eagles notched their second big win in as many weeks. Sam Bradford took some shots in his first game action and seemed to hold up just fine. Kenjon Barner displayed once again why the Eagles brought him in this offseason with another ridiculous return.

11. Cincinnati Bengals (Last week: 9)
Andy Dalton finished his preseason appearance against Tampa with two interceptions, including a pick six, and only 46 yards passing. Jeremey Hill lost the ball on one of his four carries. The fact that Bengals can play that poorly, against a team that was the worst in the league a season ago, is terrifying for Cincy fans.

12. Minnesota Vikings (Last week: 13)
Another sharp outing for Teddy Bridgewater as he finished 10 for 14 with 89 yards and a touchdown. Charles Johnson had a good night as well with four catches for 40 yards and he was on the receiving end of Bridgewater’s touchdown pass. That could be a good combination for Minnesota this season.

13. San Diego Chargers (Last week: 12)
23 carries for 46 yards against Arizona isn’t exactly confidence instilling. Granted Melvin Gordon did not play but that has to fall somewhat on the offensive line. Not time to panic yet but the Chargers need to run the ball to take all the pressure off Phillip Rivers.

14. Miami Dolphins (Last week: 14)
Mixed result for Miami as Ryan Tannehill looked fantastic while Lamar Miller sputtered. The next step for Miami is getting the offense to click all at once. The revamped defense continued to impress, as the first team only allowed nine points.

15. Detroit Lions (Last week: 15)
I thought Detroit was in trouble when Ndumakong Suh and Nick Fairley left but the first team defense hit Robert Griffin III on six of his eight dropbacks and knocked him out of the game. If that is the kind of pressure Detroit can produce this season, they might not even realize though other guys are gone.

16. Baltimore Ravens (Last week: 16)
Cincy showed this week that it can still falter at any time which gives the Ravens hope. However, Joe Flacco looked even worse than Andy Dalton did this week, toss two interceptions on only seven passes. Could be a rough season in Baltimore.

17. Houston Texans (Last week: 20)
Naming Brian Hoyer quarterback is a step in the right direction but it is merely a stop gap solution. Hoyer is already 29 and is not exactly a franchise quarterback. Houston are going to need to find a real long term solution soon.

18. Buffalo Bills (Last week: 18)
Tyrod Taylor faired well in his start against Cleveland. It wasn’t anything eye popping. Rumors are that Rex Ryan wants to start Taylor but the rest of the coaching staff isn’t on board. Should be interesting how that pans out.

19. Atlanta Falcons (Last week: 20)
Atlanta might have lost this week but Matt Ryan came out firing and the Falcons first team offense put up 14 points in the first quarter. The Falcons need to find a way to get their defense to hold up though through the whole 60 minutes.

20. New Orleans Saints (Last week: 21)
The Saints ruled the first half of their game with New England, which was all that really mattered. Drew Brees threw two touchdowns and the Saints offensive line didn’t allow a sack the whole game. The defense didn’t generate any sacks though either so that has to count for something.

21. New York Jets (Last week: 22)
The Jets’ offense showed some signs of life. Take it with a grain of salt though as they started slow once again and the Falcons did have the worst statistical defense in football last year. The defense looked good, but is still getting killed by big plays.

22. New York Giants (Last week: 19)
Yet another Giants safety went down with an injury this week in Bennett Jackson. That makes three in two weeks. Even more concerning, Odell Beckham Jr. doesn’t have a reception through two preseason games. Slightly worrying but not cause to panic just yet.

23. Cleveland Browns (Last week: 27)
Another strong outing from Johnny Manziel paired with a really poor one from Josh McCown makes you wonder how much longer Manziel will play with the second team. He is playing decently well with zero talent at the wide receiver position. Go back and watch the game film to see what I’m talking about.

24. St. Louis Rams (Last week: 24)
Nick Foles looked dreadful against Tennessee this week. He completed 3 of 7 passes for 18 yards and threw a pick. Tre Mason carried the ball for six yards on three carries. St. Louis, like Carolina, needs to find their offense.

25. Carolina Panthers (Last week: 23)
Life without Kelvin Benjamin began for Cam Newton and it didn’t look pretty. Newton finished four for ten with an interception against Miami. Carolina needs to find some source of offense to have any hopes of repeating as division champs.

26. San Francisco 49ers (Last week: 26)
Jarryd Haynes did it again this week, picking up 138 all-purpose yards. He might be the spark that this San Francisco team needs because otherwise, the cupboard is pretty bare in terms of talent.

27. Chicago Bears (Last week: 27)
Jay Cutler had a good outing against Indy this week. However, the Bears offense still failed to score a touchdown in the first half. Chicago won’t win too many games by just kicking field goals.

28. Oakland Raiders (Last week: 28)
Latavius Murray is primed for a breakout season. This young core of Murray, Derek Carr and Amari Cooper could be a lot of fun to watch this year in Oakland. They might not win a ton of games, but they will definitely compete in more of them.

29. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last week: 30)
Allen Robinson might be the best player on the Jaguars team. Jacksonville needs to find some other players to step up and start moving this team in a positive direction.

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last week: 31)
The Bucs defense balled out on Monday night against Cincy. This Tampa group forced 3 turnovers and didn’t allow the Bengals to score a touchdown until the fourth quarter. Jameis Winston looked solid as well as he scored his first professional touchdown. Good signs for the Bucs’ future.

31. Washington (Last week: 29)
A concussion for Robert Griffin III likely means the end of his time in Washington. He will be out for a several week most likely and the Redskins will probably just leave in someone else even after he returns. Washington is in for a long season.

32. Tennessee Titans (Last week: 32)
The Titans looked good this week against St. Louis and if any of that success carries over to the regular season, don’t be surprised if Tennessee finally climbs out of the NFL cellar.

Falling stars

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL , , , ,

Football is a brutal sport. You know that going into it. It is still demoralizing to have your season cut short by injury nonetheless. It is even more so when that injury occurs in a game that counts for absolutely nothing. The season ends before it ever really begins.

Jordy Nelson Already this year, we have seen stars get hit hard by preseason injuries. Jordy Nelson and Kelvin Benjamin have both torn their ACL. Robert Griffin III is out with a concussion. And those are just some of the bigger name stars that have gone out due to injury. There are dozens of other players who already have seen their season’s cut short or put on hold.

The problem is that the NFL doesn’t really have a solution to this. You play preseason games as an attempt to develop chemistry or give guys fighting for a roster spot an opportunity to play in a game like setting where the coaches don’t have to worry about the outcome. They are essential to team development and preparation. No one has yet to come up with an alternative to these games. The NFL also isn’t the only one who plays preseason games but that doesn’t make these injuries much easier to stomach for fans.

However, these injuries could provide new opportunities for other players. In Green Bay, Davante Adams showed flashes of his ability particularly in the team’s playoff win against Dallas. Now, he has an opportunity to show what he can do as a main target.

RG3For Washington, this could spell the end of the RG3 era if the concussion is serious. That could be a good thing though for both sides. Griffin probably needs a fresh start away from Washington and the team definitely needs to wipe its hands clean of the franchise altering trade and move on.

Down in Charlotte, Cam Newton might have to showcase his running abilities once again with Benjamin out and this could be a chance for other young receivers like Corey Brown and Devin Fuchness to display their skills in a much bigger role. 

This is an optimistic approach to these terrible situations. It is not easy for teams to rebound from monumental injuries. Very few teams in NFL history are built to. And yes, it sucks that these guys were hurt in completely meaningless games.

Kelvin_BenjaminAt the same time though, they still should be playing. I know it’s easy to just say that starters should play in the preseason but that is just foolish. These few games allow players to work on timing, new plays, cohesion with new players. Without any of that, it is very likely that the first two or three weeks of the regular season would be fairly rough and probably even sloppy. Realistically, as a fan, would you be able to simply look on and say, “Oh, my team’s star player suffered a season ending injury. Well at least it was in a meaningful game,” and actually mean that? No. There is no way you could. Whether these injuries happen in week 3 or the preseason or week 13 of the regular season, they are going to be crushing either way.

My point is that this should not be a cause for every starter to sit out the entire preseason. Maybe there are ways to be more cautious when these players are in but overall, the whole point of preseason is to put players in a game environment and see how they react. This grace period before everything starts to count is vital to the development of players in the league, especially rookies.

Can you imagine if Marcus Mariota had turned the ball over on the first two series of his career in a regular season game? That wouldn’t exactly be a confidence booster. There would be no chances for the coaches to say, “OK, don’t worry about the score, just try to learn from those mistakes.” The NFL is a win now league. Teams always want to win as soon as possible. There is simply no room for complacency.

Preseason helps avoid those situations and gives players a chance to grow. In the end, it makes for much better games to watch once the regular season rolls around because now these guys are warmed up and ready for the long haul.