To the surprise of absolutely no one who paid attention to college football last season, the story of the NFL Scouting Combine over the weekend has been Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III.
The Baylor quarterback known as RG3 blazed the 40-yeard dash in 4.41 seconds, the fastest time run since Michael Vick clocked a 4.33 in 2000. He also charmed the Dockers off of the media in attendance with his intelligence and charisma.
Now, he apparently has QB-starved NFL franchises – think Washington, Cleveland, Miami – “clamoring” to move up in the draft to acquire him.
RG3’s knockout performance begged the question: This kid is coming out of Baylor? High-school talent evaluators like Geoff Ketchum of Orangebloods.com were wondering how they and the college coaching community could have missed so badly on the modestly recruited quarterback and track star out of Copperas Cove, Texas, just south of Waco. (Check out Ketchum’s Twitter timeline from Sunday morning for a nice breakdown of RG3’s recruitment.)
What would have happened if Griffin had gone to a power program such as Texas or Oklahoma? It’s an interesting exercise, but if your answer ends with him where he is now, you’d be wrong.
In high school, Griffin initially committed to Houston, where coach Art Briles was one of the few coaches recruiting him as a quarterback, let alone recruiting him at all. When Baylor hired Briles to breathe a little life into its moribund football program, RG3 decided to to become a Bear as well.
The two went all-in together. Griffin got a head start by enrolling early, skipping the second half of his senior year in high school. Briles, a disciple of Mike Leach, tailored his spread offense to build around his freshman quarterback’s arm and athleticism.
Four years later, Baylor enjoyed arguably its best season in history. Briles received a nice little contract extension. Griffin raised that coveted bronze bust and will now be one of the first players selected in April’s draft.
| Year | Comp. % | TDs | INT | Rating |
| 2008 | 59.9 | 15 | 3 | 142 |
| 2009 | 65.2 | 4 | 0 | 142.9 |
| 2010 | 67 | 22 | 8 | 144.2 |
| 2011 | 74.2 | 36 | 6 | 192.3 |
Griffin’s progress in his four years in Waco was nothing short of remarkable, and that includes a sophomore season essentially lost to a knee injury. If the stats don’t convince you, just go take a look at the difference in his accuracy and decision-making from 2008 to 2011. It all led up to an otherworldly senior season.
Extrapolate and you’ll understand why the NFL scouts are so excited.
But RG3 was far from a sure thing coming out of high school. Obviously, no one deserves more credit for Griffin’s development than Griffin himself. That kind of growth doesn’t just happen spontaneously.
However, in terms of his recruitment, how many other programs would have given him four years as a starting quarterback to hone his craft? What are the chances that Griffin becomes RG3 without Briles investing in the quarterback for the long haul?
True freshmen don’t usually get the starting nod right away for the big boys, unless it’s by necessity. Had RG3 been the DGB of his class and gone to Texas, he’d have been sitting behind Colt McCoy for two seasons before he got his shot. That would have almost assuredly been the case at any major program with experience at the position. And do you honestly think a Nick Saban or a Bob Stoops would drop everything they’re doing offensively just to suit a quarterback like Griffin? The kind of pressure they’re facing makes the prospect of rolling the dice with a freshman quarterback cost-prohibitive – as in “costing” them their jobs.
The reality of life as a college coach is that while you’ll never win at a place like Baylor to the degree that you can at Ohio State, no one really expects you to. Between a less demanding media market and fan base, Briles simply doesn’t face the same level of scrutiny as the head coach at Alabama or Oklahoma. If Mack Brown defies convention, he will catch hell if it doesn’t work; Briles is expected to buck the system to get anywhere. As such, he has a little more room to gamble at Baylor than Brady Hoke might at Michigan.
Briles’ wager paid off handsomely for himself and his program. Ultimately, all that on-the-job training played a big part in turning RG3 into a coveted NFL prospect, too.
So, did the scouting gurus miss on Griffin as a high schooler? I guess you could say that – luckily for him.
