This past week the Washington Redskins benched quarterback Robert Griffin III (again) for back up and now starter Kirk Cousins.  By watching the two during the first three preseason games, you can understand why Cousins was named the starter as he is clearly more comfortable in Jay Gruden’s offense. The Problem is not in the decision itself but the history and drama that surrounds the presumable end of the Griffin era in Washington.  

The biggest issue to start the Griffin era is easily him never having a good relationship with his coach. Mike Shanahan reportedly didn’t want to take Griffin in the 2012 draft—a fact that was driven home by him being higher on Cousins. That relationship began to fall apart after Griffin refused to continue running the read-option offense.

Currently it’s unknown if RGIII and Gruden were ever on each other’s good side.  Gruden was brought into Washington mainly to groom Griffin into a pocket passer. Early in their first season together, Gruden was publicly critical of Griffin in ways most football fans had never seen before. Both coaches benched Griffin for Cousins, and in a bizarre case last season, Griffin was given his spot back after poor play from Cousins and Colt McCoy. 

Now we are here. After Griffin was named the starter in February, he has again found himself jettisoned from the lineup in favor of Cousins.  Both Griffin and Cousins are young quarterbacks with a lot of potential, but the concern is that Gruden won’t let either one develop into a starting quarterback.  

It is true that neither quarterback played exceptionally well last season. Griffin looked lost in the pocket and Cousins had a case of the turnovers.  But what did we expect of two young quarterbacks in their first year in an offense behind a suspect offensive line?

This has been a trending occurrence in the NFL, coaches and fans becoming increasingly impatient with young players, especially quarterbacks.  However, Jay Gruden seems to be increasingly impatient with his young quarterbacks, benching them mid season last year (Cousins and Griffin) and two games into the preseason this year in Griffin’s case.  

The Redskins offense will never see success with out a constant quarterback under center, and Cousins and Griffin will never grow if they’re playing to not mess up as opposed to playing to win. So in Griffin’s case, he’s a you quarterback learning how to play in a pro-style offense, and learning a new playbook. Mistakes will happen and it probably won’t look pretty. I was excited to see the improvements Griffin had made in year two of Gruden’s offense until he was benched after less than 20 drobacks. 

All of Grifin's preseason dropbacks. 

The issue I have is that Gruden refuses to make a decision and stick with it. In Griffin’s case, after being named the starter, there was no reason to go to Cousins so soon. This team probably won’t make the postseason and may even finish last in the NFC East again. Why not start Griffin four or five games to see where he actually is?  And if it was an open competition from the start, say that and give both players a fair shake in the preseason.  As it stands Griffin has 16 preseason drop backs on tape. Cousins had 14 in the first week alone.  

Kirk Cousins and the team vs the Baltimore Ravens. 

So Kirk Cousins is the now the new starting quarterback in Washington and Gruden has all but run Griffin out of town.  It would be hard to see any scenario where Griffin took another meaningful snap for the Redskins, and may even be cut when the roster is trimmed to 53.  But what’s next? If Cousins doesn’t perform to Gruden’s standards, will he work with Kirk? Groom him into a franchise quarterback or at least a starter that can when you games?  Or, like Griffin, will he be run out of town for the next quarterback in typical Washington fashion. 

My advice is don’t make the same mistake twice. If Cousins is really who you want to go with be patient for once Washington, let him make mistakes and learn from them.  Give him the season to learn and grow without looking over his shoulder scared to make mistakes. 

Or stick to the current formula. 

It seems to be working so well.