Cooley's Weekly Breakdown

[DarthMonk]

I figured it was time for a thread where I can post this every week. I happen to be driving home at the exact time he does this each week on "The Drive."

Here is text as well as a link which has the photos:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc- ... s-offense/

Chris ey: RGIII was so bad, I can’t assess the rest of the Redskins’ offense

By Dan Steinberg November 19 at 10:38 AM

(By Patrick Semansky / AP)
Former Redskins tight end Chris ey has spent the past couple of seasons doing weekly film breakdowns of every Redskins starter on his ESPN 980 afternoon program. Whether or not you trust ey’s analysis, he offers a detailed level of praise and criticism that isn’t always easy to find, filled with specifics and a sometimes startling frankness.

This week, during his weekly look at the team’s offense, ey changed things up. He spent an entire half-hour dissecting the play of just one man: the quarterback, Robert Griffin III.

“What we are going to do is we are going to give incomplete to the entire offense,” ey said. “Because I don’t know how to grade them….I can’t grade the pass game. Our quarterback does not allow a proper grading of the pass game, because there was something I’ve never seen go on on a football field before.

“There was a game plan initially installed, which was not run or operated in any way shape or form the way it should have been,” ey went on. “There was a quarterback not reading the field when he should have been, there was a quarterback scrambling when he [shouldn't have been]….You can’t grade anyone else around Robert because of the way Robert played.

“And I want this to be really clear as we move forward with this breakdown,” ey said. “I’m not making fun of Robert. I like Robert. I like him as a person. This is not a personal attack. I am not going to make fun of him. I think he handled the media afterward improperly; we’ve discussed that. And I think he played poorly. And because of that, I’m going to now walk you through the game.”

What followed was 24 minutes of detailed criticism of Griffin’s performance, and it was ugly, far uglier than any analysis of Griffin’s leadership or social-media missteps or news conference hiccups. ey said Griffin often looked to the wrong part of the field. He said Griffin repeatedly failed on basic fundamentals. He said Griffin missed what should have been easy reads, didn’t see open receivers, didn’t interpret defensive formations correctly, didn’t understand basic game-management principles, could not allow his team to run any semblance of its offense.

In the second half, things bottomed out.

“At this point in the game, our coaching staff came up with the conclusion, now we will run simple, Day-One offense,” ey said. “This is all we can do. We have eliminated the game plan. We’ve [gone] back to Day One of training camp install.”

It’s kind of impossible to go through the entire half-hour in this space, and I’d encourage you to listen yourself. But I did go grab a few images to pair with ey’s analysis of some particularly bad moments.

Here’s the first play of the game, an interception.

“It’s a pop-pass that he is looking to throw to the tight end,” ey said. “He takes no drop, which is fine. Jordan Reed (the red circle) is open. It’s a read-option look. Jordan Reed is open over the middle. You throw the ball. Boom. Ball out, throw. You’ve got to throw the ball into coverage, and he’s not even that covered. Throw the ball.

“Beyond that, he’s got a little bubble screen out to the right. [The wide receiver, the blue circle, is] wide open. So if you don’t like the pop pass initially, you go bubble screen outside of that. That’s the read. The read is if they collapse on pop pass — tight end over the middle, which is a 10-yard, easy gain — go directly to bubble screen.

“He doesn’t go to bubble screen,” ey said. “He goes to scramble left. And in the midst of scramble left — which he cannot do, he cannot move to his left, at all… — he looks to see Niles Paul (the purple circle).

“He has a little bit of time to at least set his feet to throw to Niles on the scramble,” ey said. “But he just gives this side-hop and wing, with a side-arm. Do I downgrade Niles for bopping that ball up in the air? I do. But it’s a bad throw off a missed read — a double-missed read — on a scramble that I don’t like.”

Griffin’s throwing motion

“He’s short-arming the ball,” ey said. “He has bad technique, he’s not setting his feet right….He has the yips. He does have the yips, where the ball’s just not coming out of your hand right, so now you’ve aborted all technique, because you don’t have a feel for the ball coming out of your hand, and you’re getting this shot-put throw action. You’re aiming. He has the yips. He does. He just does.”

Griffin on the move

“He can’t move left, he can’t slide [his feet], he always turns to run,” ey said. “When he’s moving in the pocket, it’s always a running gesture, it’s always a tuck-ball-and-run gesture. It’s not keep poised, keep shoulder back, keep ball pressed back ready to throw, shuffle and slide. It’s a tuck-ball-run, then look to throw. This takes all vision off the field for Robert. When he takes all vision off the field at this point, he loses where he wants to go with the football. Which means unless someone’s coming across the field, directly into his vision, he is not able to find them or throw to them.”

Griffin’s second interception

“They come and show blitz,” ey said. “We have four slants: two inside slants and two outside slants. (The receivers are circled in red) The inside slants are pretty much dead [on arrival]. Their job is just to run through the inside defender’s shoulder, to create space for the outside slants. There’s one linebacker dropping, the guy that [eventually] taps the ball (the purple circle). As he drops, he drops directly to Robert’s left, which is where Robert throws the football.

“So if you’re looking at the line of scrimmage and you see one guy start to bail [to the left], work the right side of the field. See that coverage. Don’t just say ‘I have slants and I’m gonna throw slants.’ See where your backer’s dropping and work slants to the other side, because if you do complete the ball [to the right side], it’s a big play, if you work it away from where the backer’s dropping”

You can see the backer drop, watch Griffin’s eyes, move to Griffin’s left, and then tip the ball, leading to the game-changing interception.

The sacks

“He’s setting at nine yards, and he’s sitting,” ey explained. “He takes a four-step drop, he doesn’t make a throw, he’s unwilling. At nine yards, you’re a sitting duck. You have got to step up and slide, move in the pocket. You can’t remain at nine yards. Offensive linemen don’t block defensive linemen with their quarterback at nine yards. They block expecting their quarterback to step up at six yards.

“These guys are going to really struggle with the idea of how are we going to block for this guy? I don’t know how to block for this guy. He’s going to make us look bad. Because he’s setting up at nine yards, and I’m giving up a sack, but my entire career has been based on the idea that an edge set at nine yards is good enough for a quarterback to step up and throw the ball. He will not.”

Here you can see that Griffin sets up exactly nine yards behind the line of scrimmage. Then he is swallowed whole by the defensive line, still exactly nine yards behind the line of scrimmage.

The first red zone sack

The most disheartening sequence of the game came when the Redskins turned a first-and-goal from the 6 into a missed 47-yard field goal. Here’s ey on the first sack that contributed to that nightmare.

“He’s got hitches on the outside, he’s got an inside seam and an inside stick,” ey said. “It’s an easy cover-2 look. That means the hitches are dead on the outside. That means it’s a two-man read on the inside: DeSean (the red circle) is running a seam, Niles (the purple circle) is a running a stick route. Two-man read. Two-man show. He’s looking at the hitch on the [far left] side of the field. I’m like, what?

“Then he looks to Niles (purple), who’s open on the stick inside. You throw the stick unless the outside backer collapses on the stick, in which case you then would have the seam over the top. This is an easy concept….What’s more, he can run for six yards right up the middle of the field in the A-gap.”

Instead, with Paul breaking open, Griffin tucked the ball, meandered backward, and took a sack.

There was so much more. Incorrectly handing off the ball on a read-option when the fullback had already committed to blocking for the quarterback. Missing a “wide open” Pierre Garcon on a drift because he waited too long. Missing a 12-yard tight end hook — “the easiest throw in the book” — because he was reluctant to throw the ball to an open Jordan Reed. (“It’s just unbelievable,” ey wailed.) Overthrowing DeSean Jackson.

And then there was what ey called a “wow moment” late in the third quarter.

“It’s four vertical routes, trips to one side,” ey said. “It’s single-high coverage. Robert chooses to work the middle two vertical routes. If you’re going to work the middle two vertical routes, you work the inside interior receiver (Andre Roberts, in red) who’s running across the field vertically, and then you would look to see if the safety chooses the crosser (again, Roberts). If he goes with him, then you would throw the vertical route running up the numbers, which is DeSean Jackson (in purple).

“He works the middle vertical route (Roberts). DeSean Jackson is screaming open. I mean, this is DeSean Jackson. You’ve just created an entire lane to throw the football. And you continue to [look at Roberts], to where now you’re getting sacked. This was amazing. You actually start to throw [to Roberts], which would have been a pick. Hands down, a pick….

“You end up getting sacked. This would have been a pick [on a throw to Roberts]. And DeSean Jackson is walking into the end zone. DeSean Jackson’s part of the read. You didn’t have to fall into that. You worked the middle safety on the middle route [to Roberts], should have turned it down, to say thank you, you just gave this to me. I made a star, and said some of this would make a high school coach mad. Some of this is really easy stuff.”

And that all eventually led to ey’s grand conclusion.

“My ultimate evaluation is: he is gun-shy in the pocket. He is so so concerned about anyone putting a hand on him in the pocket…he doesn’t feel what’s going on around him, he doesn’t see what’s going on down the field. He’s not capable of moving and scrambling to make a good throw, he’s inaccurate when he’s on the move, and he’s really inefficient,” ey said. “And as a player, if I were on that team — and I will promise you, all the players would feel this way, because I would feel this way, and you’re wrong to not feel this way — he will not allow you to get better as a player, the way he played in this one week.

“This was one week,” ey emphasized. “And this was an evaluation of one week. I thought he played okay in Minnesota. So keep this in mind. If he continued to play like this for one or two more games, he really decreases the value of who he is moving forward at any point in the NFL, with any other team. He really hurts what he can do potentially. Because any scout, coach, fan can look at this film and say, if this is who he is, we can’t get better as a team.

“If I’m Sean McVay and Jay Gruden right now — no joke, if I’m them right now — I’m sitting in an office on a Tuesday, scratching my head and saying I don’t know what we can put in. We’re really struggling to execute and get the ball in the right direction on easy plays. Like, EASY plays. So I don’t know what we install. I’m not sure, as a staff, how you walk into that install meeting [Wednesday] and say these plays are gonna be great, this is gonna be good here, these spots are [gonne be] here against this coverage. Based on that performance, it’s a real struggle to continue to grow as an entire group of guys.

“That’s where I say you’ve installed an offense, and you want to get better, but the quarterback has to be good enough to see how other things work, see how what you’re doing can work,” ey said. “You can fail. You can throw the ball and fail. You can have misses. But he’s not even taking chances to miss. In this one game.”

[OldSchool]

ey has been pointing out this problem for awhile. It's time to cut Griffin and start to work with the guys that have a chance for a future in DC.

[DarthMonk]

Cooley has been pointing out this problem for awhile. It's time to cut Griffin and start to work with the guys that have a chance for a future in DC.

He also gave Griff a B in Minnesota and emphasized this was an evaluation of this one week.

Cutting Griff now is an absurd idea ... IMO.

[StorminMormon86]

Yes. Cutting Griffin right now is an absurd idea. Benching him on the other hand...

[Deadskins]

Cooley has been pointing out this problem for awhile. It's time to cut Griffin and start to work with the guys that have a chance for a future in DC.

He also gave Griff a B in Minnesota and emphasized this was an evaluation of this one week.

Cutting Griff now is an absurd idea ... IMO.

Cutting Bob would be monumentally stupid. The guy has trade value.

[hanburgerheel]

"Offensive linemen don’t block defensive linemen with their quarterback at nine yards. They block expecting their quarterback to step up at six yards.

“These guys are going to really struggle with the idea of how are we going to block for this guy? "

[OldSchool]

Trade value for Griffin? Well, if they think Griffin can be traded for something do it but I can't imagine them getting much for him.

[DarthMonk]

Interestingly (to me) we've all seen the Griff who is the antithesis of the Griff described above. We have all seen "1st read" Griff who DOES trust the offense, who has confidence, who pulls the trigger. Heck, we've even see "throw covered guy open with the perfect throw" Griff.



This guy could return in an instant. We could run a skiiny post to Jackson on the first play of the game for an 80 yard TD. Then again, he could be open, Griff could wait for him to be open for 4 strides, throw late (or not at all) and ...

To cut him now would get nothing in return and would cost a LOT of money. Playing him the rest of the year gives him a chance to flip the switch and suddenly become a weapon.

I'm SURE Oldschool would agree (I've read him write it), it's all mental. The plays are there. The arm is there. The intelligence is there. I think the only thing missing is confidence.

In poker terms - we are getting great pot odds with a draw to the nuts. Folding would be idiotic. Calling a rather small bet gives us a chance to stack our opponent.

I say we call and at least see the turn. Depending on what happens there we can consider playing to the river.

[mastdark81]

Good organizations are patient and they allow their young qb to grow in a system suited for his strengths.

Obviously we are not a good organization and not patient just from past tenures. RG3 preinjury worked. RG3 post injury has not worked. I'm like the previous poster, allow this thing to ride out full way and hope if he is in a slump he can get out. We are not going to the playoffs so you have to ride with him and see if you can see improvement.

I don't care about pampering the players and putting in a short-term bandaid (Colt, Kirk). They had their chance with them as well and guess what? Even without RG3 we are still below the .500 mark!!

[StorminMormon86]

Weren't we overly patient with Jason Campbell?

[DarthMonk]

Weren't we overly patient with Jason Campbell?

I would say yes. I believe the man picked right before him was a fella named Aaron Rodgers. If the Packers had not selected him I wonder if we would have traded up to get him.

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

If Colt isnt the answer- the options are limited..
Ride rg3 and see what happens- or what else? Not like u can go scoop up a Brady in the off-season.
Robert needs to develop- and thats on him and the staff. If he IS missing easy things, they should ve easy to correct

[StorminMormon86]

I know I might get blasted for this, but I'm fairly certain that most Skins fans agree that Colt McCoy isn't the answer for the long term. And it seems like Gruden doesn't believe Griffin is either. But we still have Cousins. I know, I know, he's an interception machine, blew his "audition", etc. But, IMO, there is still a faint hope that his interceptions can be corrected. The guy has been in the NFL for 3 years, but still only has 10 total games as a starter. I don't think people should be so quick as to write him off just yet. This was actually brought up to C00ley on the radio the other night, Czabe asked him if he thought the coaches/organization still believed in Cousins and he said, "absolutely." There was even speculation about going back to him over McCoy if Griffin were to continue to struggle.

[RayNAustin]

Interestingly (to me) we've all seen the Griff who is the antithesis of the Griff described above. We have all seen "1st read" Griff who DOES trust the offense, who has confidence, who pulls the trigger. Heck, we've even see "throw covered guy open with the perfect throw" Griff.



This guy could return in an instant. We could run a skiiny post to Jackson on the first play of the game for an 80 yard TD. Then again, he could be open, Griff could wait for him to be open for 4 strides, throw late (or not at all) and ...

To cut him now would get nothing in return and would cost a LOT of money. Playing him the rest of the year gives him a chance to flip the switch and suddenly become a weapon.

I'm SURE Oldschool would agree (I've read him write it), it's all mental. The plays are there. The arm is there. The intelligence is there. I think the only thing missing is confidence.

In poker terms - we are getting great pot odds with a draw to the nuts. Folding would be idiotic. Calling a rather small bet gives us a chance to stack our opponent.

I say we call and at least see the turn. Depending on what happens there we can consider playing to the river.

If you examine your video clip carefully, what you see is RG3 leaving the ground quite unnecessarily to make the throw, off balance. That, regardless of the positive outcome in that particular instance is poor mechanics.

The very detailed analysis by CC basically calls RG3 totally incompetent as a QB. Suggesting that many of his mistakes are so elementary, they would make a High School coach angry. This is DEEPLY DISTURBING, given that this is year three for what was supposed to be a top franchise talent.

Basically, CC said "Robert sucks, big time".

[riggofan]

I know I might get blasted for this, but I'm fairly certain that most Skins fans agree that Colt McCoy isn't the answer for the long term. And it seems like Gruden doesn't believe Griffin is either. But we still have Cousins. I know, I know, he's an interception machine, blew his "audition", etc. But, IMO, there is still a faint hope that his interceptions can be corrected. The guy has been in the NFL for 3 years, but still only has 10 total games as a starter. I don't think people should be so quick as to write him off just yet. This was actually brought up to C00ley on the radio the other night, Czabe asked him if he thought the coaches/organization still believed in Cousins and he said, "absolutely." There was even speculation about going back to him over McCoy if Griffin were to continue to struggle.

Not going to blast you. I just still don't see why skins fans should agree that McCoy isn't the long term answer any more than they should completely write off Kirk Cousins. These are both relatively young QBs. I'm not sure what exactly should lead me to believe that Kirk Cousins is a potentially better QB than Colt McCoy? Because he has played less games?

[StorminMormon86]

Not going to blast you. I just still don't see why skins fans should agree that McCoy isn't the long term answer any more than they should completely write off Kirk Cousins. These are both relatively young QBs. I'm not sure what exactly should lead me to believe that Kirk Cousins is a potentially better QB than Colt McCoy? Because he has played less games?

Not going to lie, I hope one of the three is the long term answer. I guess the upside with Cousins is how well the offense looked during certain games, and the amount of points scored. With McCoy we've basically had a forgettable half and two solid halves of good, mistake free football. There's not much to go on with McCoy to anoint him as a potential franchise guy, IMO.

[chiefhog44]

Listen, Griffin had a bad game. It happens. He took the blame. Move on.

As long as he shows the ability to stay healthy, and continues to improve on being a pocket QB, I'm gonna give him plenty of time. Hell I sat through what seemed like an eternity waiting for Jason Campbell to play well. If we had the defense now that we did back then, we'd be in the playoffs. As an organization, we need to continue developing these young players. By next year, the starting line could look pretty bad ass. Williams, ???, Lightensteiger, Long, Moses with Compton as the swing. Hopefully we use a third rounder on a G to start grooming.

We should spend most of the draft next year on top defensive players. If Leonard Williams is there, I'd love to grab him. Seems like a difference maker. Pick up a safety or Denzel Perryman in the 2nd round.

Bottom line is that this team is going nowhere with the defensive talent we have on the field, so why give up on Griffin. We have some pretty solid young players developing right now. Keep patient and don't go out and spend on free agents. Use that money to resign our own players and when, and only when we are one player away, pick someone up like a Desean. But for now, we just need to keep gathering talented players. When we finally get to the point of having solid talent all over the field, Griffin should be ready, and if he's not, pick up a QB in the draft like the Steelers, Ravens, Seattle and San Fran did. We don't have the talent right now. What i'd really like is to get a quality GM and promote Allen to President. These are very crucial years of finding the right talent and if we have someone qualified to do that, it will speed up the process.

Sorry folks, this is a very long rebuild from what we inherited from Vinny. Last decade, everyone said we would pay for all those expensive free agent signings. It's time to pay the piper.

[riggofan]

With McCoy we've basically had a forgettable half and two solid halves of good, mistake free football. There's not much to go on with McCoy to anoint him as a potential franchise guy, IMO.

Definitely not! But not anything to write him off on either, yeah?

If I was betting, I definitely wouldn't put any money on Colt McCoy going on to become a full time, quality starting QB. He's at least still intriguing to me because of his recent success. I know what you're saying about Cousins only having played X number of games. But damn, he seems like he just went downhill so quickly after the Eagles game. I can't help but look at him and think "John Beck".

[riggofan]

Sorry folks, this is a very long rebuild from what we inherited from Vinny. Last decade, everyone said we would pay for all those expensive free agent signings. It's time to pay the piper.

That's the truth!

[DarthMonk]

Interestingly (to me) we've all seen the Griff who is the antithesis of the Griff described above. We have all seen "1st read" Griff who DOES trust the offense, who has confidence, who pulls the trigger. Heck, we've even see "throw covered guy open with the perfect throw" Griff.



This guy could return in an instant. We could run a skiiny post to Jackson on the first play of the game for an 80 yard TD. Then again, he could be open, Griff could wait for him to be open for 4 strides, throw late (or not at all) and ...

To cut him now would get nothing in return and would cost a LOT of money. Playing him the rest of the year gives him a chance to flip the switch and suddenly become a weapon.

I'm SURE Oldschool would agree (I've read him write it), it's all mental. The plays are there. The arm is there. The intelligence is there. I think the only thing missing is confidence.

In poker terms - we are getting great pot odds with a draw to the nuts. Folding would be idiotic. Calling a rather small bet gives us a chance to stack our opponent.

I say we call and at least see the turn. Depending on what happens there we can consider playing to the river.

If you examine your video clip carefully, what you see is RG3 leaving the ground quite unnecessarily to make the throw, off balance. That, regardless of the positive outcome in that particular instance is poor mechanics.

The very detailed analysis by CC basically calls RG3 totally incompetent as a QB. Suggesting that many of his mistakes are so elementary, they would make a High School coach angry. This is DEEPLY DISTURBING, given that this is year three for what was supposed to be a top franchise talent.

Basically, CC said "Robert sucks, big time".

There is no arguing the ey stuff. I listened to it live and agree.

However, I'm gonna disagree with you ON THIS PARTICULAR PLAY, Ray. Here's why.

First a little history then this play.

When he got hurt in college, Griff worked with his dad throwing out of a chair. This developed his arm strength as well as an array of arm slots and launch angles and accuracy when unable to set his feet. This happens to QBs all the time when they throw on the move. As a rookie, Griff displayed amazing accuracy on boots, roll outs, and such.

On this play, Griff did not have the luxury of stopping and setting up. The ball had to be thrown EXACTLY WHEN AND EXACTLY WHERE it was. Just before jumping, Griff's torso is parallel to the target line. When he jumps his upper body and lower body rotate in opposite directions (conservation of angular momentum, his left shoulder moves counterclockwise while his left leg/hip move clockwise) allowing his torso to get perpendicular to the target line, i.e., allowing him to square up. In the given situation, these are EXCELLENT MECHANICS.

If YOU now examine the clip even more carefully, you will see he is not off balance AT ALL. He lands comfortably after performing a skill few others could have with such elegance.

Griff has developed some bad habits and is currently not nearly as fit as he was then. He has tried similar moves recently and HAS BEEN off balance, even falling after landing without being touched. He's out of practice and out of shape.

[hanburgerheel]

A case can certainly be made for McCoy and he should be allowed to prove his merit and worthiness. Cousins had potential, but the way he folds under pressure is very suspect as far as long-term starting QB potential. When he folds, he folds bad! I can't really tell if McCoy can evolve into a great starting QB or not from what I've seen.

[StorminMormon86]

I can't help but look at him and think "John Beck".

It's funny you mention Beck, because he's the first person I thought of after watching Griffin against the Bucs.

[SkinsJock]

Robert has not become the incredible QB that we hoped for but IMO anyone that really thinks that this kid is not going to be a good NFL QB is making a bad call

totally agree that he's not at the level we want him to be but I also think that his talent and abilities will help him become one

for sure there's a lot of work to do but there's also a lot more to work with than with Kirk or Colt


Robert has been a disappointment but it's way too early to write him off - concerned? yes ... but do not write this kid off

[riggofan]

for sure there's a lot of work to do but there's also a lot more to work with than with Kirk or Colt

I don't agree with that. I think McCoy and to a lesser extent Cousins are pretty much ready to play. I don't think either of those guys are what you would call "works in progress". The question for them is are they good enough? But I don't believe there is really a lot more work to do with them. They've played the type of offense in college that RGIII is trying to learn now, right?

[Deadskins]

Weren't we overly patient with Jason Campbell?

I would say yes. I believe the man picked right before him was a fella named Aaron Rodgers. If the Packers had not selected him I wonder if we would have traded up to get him.

Then the question has to be, "Would Rodgers be the same player if he had not sat behind Favre for three seasons, and been thrown to the wolves like Campbell was?" I'm not saying JC has the talent that Rodgers has, but rather that Rodgers might have been ruined had he come here and not ever developed into one of the best QBs in the league.