February 03, 2016
First of all, thank you for the click. Got eem. :-)
I'll give the "too long, didn't read" version right off the bat. Robert Griffin III? No. Colin Kaepernick? No. Johnny Manziel? God no. However, since Kaepernick and Manziel were both in the news yesterday, this feels like the appropriate time to address this topic, and then move on with our lives.
Currently, Griffin is a Redskin, Kaepernick is a 49er, and Manziel is a Brown. All three may end up being free agents soon. Since the Eagles could be in need of a quarterback, each of those players are going to be discussed. Let's address each player, one at a time:
We're only a few days into February, so projecting the kind of offense the Eagles are going to run under Doug Pederson is a bit of a guessing game, but there's a decent bet it will employ its fair share of "West Coast" concepts, which means getting the ball out quickly.
In 2014, Kaepernick took 52 sacks. That was second worst in the NFL, behind only Blake Bortles. In 2015, at the time he was benched, he was on pace for 56 on the season. Over his career, Kaepernick has taken a sack every 10.1 pass attempts. That is emblematic of a quarterback who is not making quick decisions with the football.
As a passer, he was among the league worst in nearly every statistical category in 2015. Here is where he ranked among 34 quarterbacks with enough "qualified" pass attempts:
| Colin Kaepernick | Stat | Rank |
| Completion percentage | 59.0% | 30th |
| Yards per pass attempt | 6.6 | 31st |
| TD passes | 6 | 34th |
| QB Rating | 78.5 | 31st |
| Pass yards per game | 179 | 34th |
Typically, you see quarterbacks get better as they gain more experience. That has not happened with Kaepernick, as he has had a steady decline to awfulness:
| Colin Kaepernick | YPA | TD-INT | QBR | Rating |
| 2012 | 8.32 | 10-3 | 69.0 | 98.3 |
| 2013 | 7.69 | 21-8 | 65.9 | 91.6 |
| 2014 | 7.05 | 19-10 | 60.2 | 86.4 |
| 2015 | 6.65 | 6-5 | 47.6 | 78.8 |
And the decline hasn't just been as a passer. It has been as a runner too:
| Colin Kaepernick | Rush yards | YPC | TD | Fumbles |
| 2012 | 415 | 6.6 | 5 | 7 |
| 2013 | 524 | 5.7 | 4 | 3 |
| 2014 | 639 | 6.1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2015 | 256 | 5.7 | 1 | 4 |
Yesterday, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reported that Kaepernick wants out of San Francisco and that the Jets are his team of choice. Frankly, Kaepernick should just be happy if he can find a place to start anywhere next season. But it won't be in Philly.
In 2012, a number of offenses began implementing zone read looks, and opposing defenses weren't quite ready for it. 2012 was the year Griffin won Rookie of the Year honors and led the Redskins to an NFC East title. It was also the year the Niners went to the Super Bowl with Kaepernick at the helm. As they do with any "new" offensive look, defenses adapted, and quarterbacks who relied on those concepts to succeed are faltering years later.
Griffin's decline accelerated more quickly than Kaepernick's because he was seriously injured. He was eventually benched during the 2015 preseason in favor of Kirk Cousins, who at the time was the most interception-prone starting quarterback in the NFL.
In games Griffin played the majority of the snaps in 2014, the Redskins went 1-6. He threw four TD passes on the season, was picked off 6 times, fumbled 9 times and was sacked 33 times. That is absurdly bad.
It is a near certainty that the Redskins will release Griffin, and he'll land somewhere. Any team acquiring Griffin is likely going to have to build their offense around him to play to his strengths, and that's not something the Eagles should be asking of a rookie head coach who already has enough on his plate.
Do we really have to provide analysis here?
Just... No.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski
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