Robert Griffin III believes his being the second overall pick by Washington in 2012 is impacting the decisions the Commanders will make in Thursday night’s draft.
Griffin, the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner at Baylor, was chosen second overall by Washington in the 2012 draft, in which Washington traded three first-round selections (2012, 2013, 2014) and a second-round pick (2012).
A guest on the “Rich Eisen Show” Tuesday, Griffin saw his choice as analogous to Jayden Daniels for Washington Thursday night.
“Where did Adam Peters come from?” asked Griffin. He came from San Francisco. What did San Francisco just deal with two years ago? They had a highly drafted quarterback in the first round, and they had the last pick in the draft, which they used to pick Brock Purdy.”
Now, Trey Lance, in all fairness to him, didn’t get a chance to play because he was hurt and didn’t get a chance to show that he could be that guy. But Brock Purdy was the last choice in the draft, was a guy’s guy. The whole team gravitated towards him. And I feel like Adam Peters was just trying to get a sense, which one of these quarterbacks do the guys gravitate towards?”
Griffin said that outside of Caleb Williams, the other quarterbacks are all athletic and very similar in ability. Griffin expressed that because there previously was such criticism of Washington, people still automatically wondered what they were doing last week, having all four quarterbacks in at once for a group activity.
“I would say, Rich, the highlights are on the film, but the character isn’t. The organization in Washington is just trying to find the right character guys to build a team around, and I actually applaud them for that. Because character is not really something the team has been associated with for the past twenty years.”
“So, I want fans to understand. If you create a negative environment for a guy like Jayden Daniels coming in, it’s only going to breed more negativity once he’s drafted.”
“I hope they just give these guys a clean slate, whoever Washington decides to take. It’s their decision; it’s who they believe in. I want that for them. The situation with me and Kirk Cousins in Washington in 2012 was a situation where the owner and the head coach were fighting against each other.”
“You don’t want that to be repeated. So, whoever they believe in, go draft that guy…I just believe, Rich, that Jayden is the best guy for them.”
Aside from Griffin presenting that he was a victim in 2012, this was actually his best interview regarding Washington in some time.
