Damn, first they love you, then they hate you. Last year, everyone was singing RGIII’s praises and now they are calling for Kirk Cousins to be the starting quarterback in the District of Columbia.
Should Kirk Cousins be the starting QB for the Redskins? Yes and no. If this was a playoff berth situation or the playoffs, Kirk Cousins should be the starter. He’s the best option to win right now in the short-term. If we’re thinking long-term, then RGIII needs to be the starter.
Griffin III hasn’t looked like himself these first two weeks and it’s obvious. He’s not running, nor is he planting his feet into his throws. He’s started slow in both games, but has played well in the second halves of those games this season (albeit againt prevent schemes). But an NFL game isn’t a Usain Bolt 100m race where one man can make up a bad start, it’s a team sport, so RGIII needs to be on the same page as the rest of his teammates for four quarters.
The funny thing is that people expect RGIII to be RGIII after no preseason. As impressive as RGIII’s return is, everyone was expecting some Herculean Adrian Peterson-esque effort, which just isn’t realistic. Do people not remember when Edgerrin James tore his ACL in 2001. In 2002, he was visibly a different back and the stats showed, he only rushed for 989 yards. In 2003, he hit ‘em for 1289 yards and then hit back-to-back 1500 plus yard seasons in ’04 and ’05.
At this point in their careers, RGIII is a better quarterback than Kirk Cousins. I mean, Cousins didn’t go in the first round for a reason. Sure, there are the Tom Bradys and Tony Romos of the world that get overlooked and are drafted in the later rounds, but most of the times, the good GMs get it right. The Redskins and their fans need to be patient with RGIII. There have been plenty of bright spots in his two games this season. He’ll work out his kinks and get back in the swing of things by week 10.
The NFC East is up for grabs and there’s plenty of time for RGIII to get back to being RGIII and lead the Skins to the playoffs again. The NFL season is a marathon, not a sprint. The best team to start the season normally doesn’t win the Super Bowl. The last two Super Bowl winners have been terrible at some point in the regular season, but they got hot in the playoffs and that’s all that matters.
