COMMENTARY | The St. Louis Rams confirmed that they are willing to trade the second pick in this year’s NFL draft — let the games begin! This is great news for many teams in the league who are QB-hungry. While it’s still up in the air, most experts are expecting the Indianapolis Colts to take Andrew Luck out of Stanford with the first overall pick, which leaves Robert Griffin III (or RG3, as he’s known) the consensus second pick.
I had the pleasure this weekend of watching RG3 in action. In the biggest stage of his young career, the guy proved he has the “tangibles” needed to be successful in the NFL. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner put up ridiculous stats in his junior year at Baylor as well, throwing for 3,998 yards, 36 touchdowns with a 192.3 QB rating (tops in the country). So coming into the draft, I understand the hype. This weekend, RG3 further showed why the experts have been salivating over him, most notably running the 40 yard dash in 4.41 seconds, best by any QB this year. He seems to have all the tangibles — but what about the intangibles?
In an era of athletes constantly getting into trouble, you never hear a bad word about the guy. Listening to ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike show today (Feb. 28), Mike Greenberg stated that one conversation with him and you know he’s a great guy. To me, intangibles such as work ethic and the person’s overall personality cannot be discounted.
This is especially important for the person that will be the face of the organization. This will be the team’s leader on and ore importantly, off the field. You need someone mature (which is a tough seeing as these guys are 20-23 years old multi-millionaires), and willing to put the greater need of the team over their own. From the many interviews I have heard, RG3 fits the bill perfectly.
I have to admit, I wasn’t a fan of RG3 up until recently. Every time he’s in the spotlight though, he does and says the “right” things, showing he’s a man of character. That is more impressive to me than any 40 time or broad jump (but they are nice to have).
All the stories coming out of St. Louis allude to the fact that the Rams are going to be asking a lot for their pick, which makes what teams can actually afford to trade with the Rams prohibitive.
In looking at the teams that are in the best position, my feeling is that you will see the Washington Redskins make a move for RG3. The Redskins hold the sixth overall pick, and are in desperate need for not just a QB, but a long term solution (hence why I also don’t think Peyton Manning will end up there). If that’s where he does end up, I will be glad, as I’m just have a short ride down I-95 to watch him play.