Marcus Mariota and Robert Griffin III were both supremely athletic, spread-offense college quarterbacks, Heisman trophy winners and No. 2 overall picks in their respective draft classes. And while we all know there are clear differences between the two, you also don't have to be a veteran scout to see they have a lot in common. It's also clear that Griffin's career could serve as a blueprint for how Mariota could avoid pitfalls.
Although Tennessee Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt shouldn't be described as a proponent of designed quarterback running plays (at least not to his face), he nonetheless understands it would be silly to completely confine the nimble Mariota to the pocket.
"Let's just say this: We want him to do some of the things he's comfortable with," Whisenhunt told me this week. He knows the sooner Mariota becomes comfortable, the better it is for the Titans.
To help accelerate the process, count on Tennessee using some plays from the spread scheme Mariota directed at Oregon. That's a smart approach. Of course, as the Washington Redskins learned with Griffin, even a sound strategy to help a neophyte pocket passer comes with risks.
In Griffin's rookie season, his success as a runner provided the foundation of Washington's first NFC East division title in 13 seasons. He finished 2012 with 815 rushing yards on 120 total attempts, which came from a mix of designed runs and scrambles. But after struggling because of injuries -- which, it's important to note, didn't occur on designed runs, though he had 77 of those in 2012, second only to Cam Newton -- and his ineffectiveness in the pocket the past two seasons, the former offensive rookie of the year is at a crossroads entering what might be his final season in Washington. And to hear many league observers tell it, the Redskins' former coaching staff deserves much of the blame for Griffin's failure to improve. If Griffin had started in a traditional NFL offense, the argument goes, he would be further along. But anyone who makes the argument is wrong. On that, Mike Shanahan has never wavered.
Griffin's first head coach in Washington, Shanahan devised an effective strategy to maximize Griffin's skills and says, "You really just laugh a people who say" the team should have handled Griffin differently.
"As a coach, you have to understand your personnel; don't try to turn a quarterback into something he's not," Shanahan told me over the phone this week. "If you have a guy who's not used to playing in the pocket ... maybe he'll get there in time. Maybe he won't.
"But you have to utilize his ability. You don't stick with the coach's philosophy if that's not what the player can do right away. It just won't work. These guys, these defensive coordinators in the NFL, are pretty darn smart. Believe me, they see everything. You're not going to fool anyone. And if you try, you could wind up hurting the player. Before you know it, he could be out of the league."
The fact is Griffin was no more prepared to start out primarily in the pocket than Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck would have been to function well in a zone-read system. Washington's coaches took the right approach, and it's not like Shanahan, who rode the run game to a pair of Super Bowls with a no-longer-mobile John Elway at QB, was some passionate proponent of putting his QB in motion in the run game. He simply coached what he had. Griffin's out-of-control ego (the former team captain is not well-liked in the locker room, according to current and former team employees) and his often poor decision-making as a runner ruined the plan. Before his second season, Griffin, believing he was ready to become a drop-back superstar, pushed Shanahan to eliminate many of the running plays that helped create mismatches in the secondary because defensive coordinators were focused on trying to contain him.
The past two seasons, Washington has de-emphasized designed runs. The result: After setting all-time rookie records with a passer rating of 102.4 and a 1.3 interception percentage, Griffin's interception percentage increased to 2.6 and 2.8 in 2013 and 2014, and he hasn't registered a passer rating above 87.0. The film doesn't lie: Griffin hasn't challenged defenses much recently with his legs, but he's also still a project as a pocket passer. Bad combination.
Griffin wasn't the first young player who failed to realize that many factors contribute to an individual's success. Undoubtedly, he won't be the last. The most important lesson from Griffin's situation is that you have to trust your coaches.
Obviously, Griffin's problems don't offer clues about what Mariota's career arc will look like, only warnings regarding how to handle success and limit physical punishment.
The risk of injury always increases when quarterbacks are exposed on designed runs, and Whisenhunt won't have Mariota on the move nearly as much as Griffin was as a rookie. But designed runs don't always lead to big hits, either. Smart quarterbacks often have the option of protecting themselves. Watch Russell Wilson. As for the possibility Mariota could become difficult to work with if he has a spectacular first season, Whisenhunt isn't concerned.
"We spent a lot of time with him [before the draft]," Whisenhunt said. "We saw how people react to him and how his [Oregon Ducks] teammates wanted to be around him. We did our due diligence ... and feel we know who he is."
Mariota has quickly showed there's a lot to like. Coaches and teammates have raved about his performance in organized team activities. Being accurate and displaying a good command of the offense is always a good look. And for someone who hardly ever played under center and is using verbal play calls for the first time, Mariota has been in a groove. Then again, the Titans have been in only helmets and shorts. We'll see how Mariota does after he has been hit by Ndamukong Suh. To keep things moving in the right direction, the Titans must achieve the correct run-pass formula for Mariota.
"I'm not going to put a number on [designed runs], but you can't have a tremendous amount of them for him. He'll take a pounding at this level," Whisenhunt said. "But he's very athletic, so you want to have a blend of things he's got experience doing as well as the things he's going to be doing in the NFL as a conventional quarterback. That's what we're really trying to get to."
The Redskins and Griffin still strive to reach that hard-to-find place. Seeing the bumpy road Griffin has traveled might help Mariota get there.