 |
| (photo credit: washingtontimes.com) |
The Cleveland Browns have officially announced that Robert Griffin III will be the Browns starting quarterback. Cleveland will play the Green Bay Packers in the preseason opener for both teams on August 12, which gives Griffin a little less than a month to prepare as the starting quarterback before the team opens up their season on September 11 against the Philadelphia Eagles. Griffin, 26, will be the 25th starting quarterback for the Browns since 1999, when they re-entered the league.
“It’s time,” Browns head
coach Hue Jackson said in a statement. “Robert has earned the right to be named
the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns. Since he was signed back in
March, Robert has made it clear through his actions that he is willing to do
everything that has been asked of him to earn this role.” Griffin beat out Josh
McCown (who started for most of last year), rookie Cody Kessler, and Austin
Davis, in order to secure the starting quarterback role for the first time
since 2014.
The decision to start Griffin didn’t come as much of a shock, since
Griffin has been taking all the first-team reps in training camp. Cleveland
signed Griffin to a two-year contract worth $15 million in March after the
Washington Redskins released Griffin weeks earlier. “Associate head coach Pep
Hamilton has done an outstanding job with that room to get us to this point so
we can make this decision at what I feel is the optimal time which enables us
to best prepare for the regular season,” Jackson stated. “It’s now on Robert to
show the organization and our fans that this is the right decision.”
Of those
25 quarterbacks that have started since 1999, only one quarterback has had a
winning record, (Brian Hoyer, 10-6). The 2011 Heisman Trophy winner out of
Baylor was selected by the Redskins with the second overall pick in the 2012
NFL Draft. The 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year had a phenomenal rookie
season, as he threw 20 touchdowns and just five interceptions, while rushing
for 815 yards and seven touchdowns. Griffin tore his ACL while trying to
recover a fumble in the NFC Wild Card game against the Seattle Seahawks.
Griffin
was able to recover, as he threw for a career high in yards (3,203), while throwing
16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Griffin’s career took a big downfall in
2014, after throwing for just 1,694 yards and four touchdowns, before a
dislocated ankle ended Griffin’s season. Griffin suffered a concussion in the
preseason last year, before ultimately losing his job to Kirk Cousins and Colt
McCoy. Griffin was inactive for all 16 games, before being released in the
offseason.
No comments:
Post a Comment