Robert Griffin III Caught In A Game of Chicken With the Jets
No, we are not making a bad joke about African-American’s stereotypical love of chicken, my headline refers to the visit to the New York Jets by free-agent quarterback Robert Griffin III. RG III visited Gang Green on Friday night to discuss a potential deal. East Coast F&TS correspondent Dick Burns reported RGIII went out to dinner with Head Coach Todd Bowles. Burns couldn’t confirm who picked up the check or made the walk the shame, (just kidding, of course.)
The Associated Press reports that the Jets’ focus remained on re-signing Ryan Fitzpatrick, who set a franchise record with 31 touchdown passes last season. The discussions between RG III and the Jets could be normal due diligence or leverage for Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan. Mccagnan is locked in a stalemate with Fitzpatrick over his value.
Gang Green Can’t Solve The Quarterback Puzzle
We love laughing at Gang Green’s annual misery but their pursuit of a starting quarterback is ridiculous. On the one hand, the New York Jets are playing hardball with Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Usually, the journeyman’s beard is more impressive than his QB rating. Are we being too harsh about Fitz? Ask the St. Louis Rams, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Buffalo Bills, the Tennesse Titans, and the Houston Texans about their experience with Fitzmagic.
On the other hand, is RGIII. Once the most promising young quarterbacks in the league, reduced to being leverage in salary negotiations. Tragic. No matter the hire, who the GM signs, and what offense they run, without a franchise QB, there are no championships.
Here are some of the New York Jets’ recent quarterback failures:
- Drafting Mark Sanchez with the fifth overall pick in 2009; Sanchez won a grand total of 12 games at USC;
- Revamping the run-heavy offense after two seasons of success, exposing Sanchez’s inability to read defenses and propensity to throw interceptions;
- Signing Sanchez to an extension in the same off-season you acquire Tim Tebow as your “backup;”
- Drafting Geno Smith in the second round of the 2013 draft, who had only run a spread offense;
- Naming Geno Smith your starter; a quarterback so good, his own teammates punch him;
- Turning the reins over to Fitzpatrick, who did succeed for a while (until week 17, throwing 3 interceptions, two of which were in the fourth quarter);
- As of March 13, there is no starting quarterback on the roster.
We are excited to see the Jets screw up their quarterback situation. In our estimation, Robert Griffin III is a marked improvement over any other New York Jets quarterback on their roster. It looks like another season of the same old New York Jets. Oh, the pain.