NFL Rumors: Major upset if RGIII isn’t Cleveland Browns starter
By John Buhler
Robert Griffin, III is the overwhelming favorite to win the 2016 Cleveland Browns starting quarterback job. Anything less would be considered a major upset.
According to Cleveland Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, newly acquired veteran quarterback “Robert Griffin, III took all the first-team reps on the first day of Browns training camp on Friday, and is clearly the frontrunner at quarterback.”
While new Browns head coach Hue Jackson has yet to name a Week 1 starter for Cleveland, Griffin seems to have a huge leg up on all the other quarterbacks on the Browns roster. Though Griffin will face to some degree competition from veteran journeymen like Josh McCown and Austin Davis, Cabot expects that Jackson will name Griffin his starting quarterback shortly before the Browns’ first preseason game on August 12th versus the Green Bay Packers.
2016 will be Griffin’s fifth NFL season, but only the fourth he’ll see any playing time. Keep in mind that Griffin’s former employer in the Washington Redskins opted to go with Kirk Cousins as their starter all of 2015. Cousins led the Redskins to a 9-7 record and an NFC East division title. Griffin was inactive for all but one game in 2015.
Though Cleveland could use all the competition it can get in training camp, given that the Browns have one of the weakest rosters in the entire NFL, it might actually be in Jackson’s best interest to name a starting quarterback as soon as possible.
By doing this, it will take away much of the focus from Cleveland’s long-suffering position of quarterback and help Jackson bring the best out of many of the other lackluster position groups on the Browns roster.
Jackson is on his second NFL head coaching gig. He was briefly the head coach of the Oakland Raiders for a season but has re-emerged as a strong head coaching candidate after guiding a strong aerial attack with the Cincinnati Bengals the last two seasons as their offensive coordinator.
Could a strong working relationship between Jackson and Griffin be the cure to what has ailed the dysfunctional Browns organization for years? Regardless of if either Griffin or Jackson can take advantage of their next big opportunity, should Griffin not be the Browns’ starter Week 1, it would be seen as a massive upset.
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