Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III was sacked a ridiculous amount of times for how many passes he threw in 2014.
Robert Griffin III threw a relatively small amount of passes in 2014 on the season, but he was sacked a whopping 33 times.
How unusual is that? Well the last time it happened was 1992 when Hugh Millen of the Patriots was also sacked an inordinately high amount of times compared to the number of passes he threw.
"The NFL started counting quarterbacks’ times sacked as an official statistic in 1963, and in the 52 seasons since then, only six quarterbacks have been sacked as many as 33 times while throwing as few as 214 passes: Griffin, Millen, Randall Cunningham in his first season, Mike Rae of the horrendous expansion Buccaneers, Bobby Douglass of the 1969 Bears, and Archie Manning — who did it twice while playing behind the awful New Orleans Saints line of the 1970s. (via Pro Football Talk)"
Of course, the offensive line usually gets the immediate blame when a quarterback takes such a high amount of sacks, but in RG3’s case, the offensive line isn’t the problem. The Redskins started two other quarterbacks this season and both threw a comparable amount of passes, but their sacks were way down in comparison. Colt McCoy threw 128 passes and was sacked 17 times, while Kirk Cousins threw 208 passes, nearly as many as RG3, and was only sacked eight times.
More from NFL
- Joe Burrow owes Justin Herbert a thank you note after new contract
- Chiefs gamble at wide receiver could already be biting them back
- Chargers loosen grip on checkbook to pay Justin Herbert: Best memes and tweets
- Patriots backup plan for DeAndre Hopkins is a shot in the dark
- Raiders: Saquon Barkley’s new contract may have screwed over Josh Jacobs
If it’s not obvious by now, it should be. The reason RG3 took a ridiculous amount of sacks, despite throwing so few passes, is because he isn’t good at getting rid of the ball when he’s under pressure. This isn’t the first season, after all. He’s been sacked at least 30 times in each of his three seasons in the NFL. He’s also never thrown over 456 passes in any of those seasons. A good comparison is Peyton Manning, who has thrown at least that many passes in all 16 of his seasons, but has never been sacked 30 times.
For those who have doubts about Griffin’s ability to be a solid franchise quarterback in the NFL, this statistic has to make those doubts much stronger. In his first year in the league, Griffin relied heavily on his legs to get him out of trouble. It worked for a short time, but then he started getting hammered by opposing defenses and finished the year gravely injured.
In 2014, defenses adjusted strongly to running quarterbacks and many of those quarterbacks did not adjust back. However, Griffin’s issues are just a bit more glaring than any other potential franchise quarterback at this point.
More from FanSided
- Joe Burrow owes Justin Herbert a thank you note after new contract
- Chiefs gamble at wide receiver could already be biting them back
- Braves-Red Sox start time: Braves rain delay in Boston on July 25
- Yankees: Aaron Boone gives optimistic return date for Aaron Judge
- MLB Rumors: Yankees-Phillies trade showdown, Mariners swoop, India goes to Seattle