The Bob Griffin Trade

[rams24/7]

The second the news broke in 2012, I knew this trade would change our franchise. All due respect to Griffin, he has all pro talent, but so does Sam. It's like comparing a Lamborghini to a Prius. Sam may not be as flashy when doing his job, but he gets you where you need to go and does it efficiently.

I look at this trade as having 3 parts:

1. Quarterback

Had we decided to stay pat at #2 and take Griffin, we would have traded Sam. As I said above, Sam may not have the athletic ceiling of Griffin, but he is still an incredible athlete in his own right. Also, the only way Sam is injured is if protection breaks down; Griffin increases his chances of being hurt every time he crosses the LOS. As we stand today I think Griffin has more long term health concerns with the torn ACL in 2010 & torn ACL & LCL last year, compared to Sam's shoulder injury he suffered in 2009.

2. Direct picks
These are the players the Rams added the past 2 years through the draft that were a direct result of the picks received from Washington.

So far they have turned these picks:

1st (#6 overall) 2012

2nd (#39 overall) 2012

1st (#22 overall) 2013

1st (TBD) 2014

Into:

DT Michael Brockers (starter)

CB Janoris Jenkins (starter)

RB Isaiah Pead

OG Rokevious Watkins

OLB Alec Ogletree (starter)

WR Stedman Bailey

RB Zac Stacy

3 picks have turned into at least 3 starters so far, with Pead, Watkins, Bailey, & Stacy competing for starting spots. 3 picks turned into 7 players. Well done FO.

3. Indirect Picks

Although Tavon Austin was not a direct pick from the 4 we accumulated from Washington, the #22 overall pick gave us the flexibility to trade up for Tavon at #8, knowing we still had a 1st round pick at #22 that we could use or trade back from to add more picks. So Austin is as much of a part of this trade as anyone.

4. Finances

At least for the 4 year window we have some of these guys (we can't resign all, & some won't pan out), we will be getting a great discount compared to what we'd pay on the free agent for comparable players (albeit proven, but often older).

So ultimately when thinking of the Griffin trade, these names should pop in your head:

Washington:

1. Robert Griffin

St. Louis:

1. Sam Bradford

2. Tavon Austin

3. Michael Brockers

4. Janoris Jenkins

5. Isaiah Pead

6. Rokevious Watkins

7. Alec Ogletree

8. Stedman Bailey

9. Zac Stacy

*Fun Fact: Sam Bradford is 1-0 vs Robert Griffin*


Thoughts?

 

[A55VA6]

Rams got the better trade. RG3 has health concerns, and the Rams got several pieces that we needed to compete.

 

[-X-]

I don't think there's any question.
We haven't even received everything we can get in return for that trade yet.

Griffin's a good kid. Good athlete. Good player. But c'mon. He's not worth the multitude of very good players we got in return. If something happens to that ONE player, that team just literally threw away two years' worth of prime draft picks. Though, they might have hedged their bets with Cousins. Despite how much I loathe that Franchise, that was a pretty good backup plan.

That said, they'll have to change their entire offense to suit Cousins. He can't run that offense the way Griffin does. And also, I'm not entirely sold on the idea that Griffin is going to have even close to the same success this year. People really do underestimate how beneficial a year's worth of tape can be to defensive coordinators.

 

[rams24/7]

I don't think there's any question.
We haven't even received everything we can get in return for that trade yet.

Griffin's a good kid. Good athlete. Good player. But c'mon. He's not worth the multitude of very good players we got in return. If something happens to that ONE player, that team just literally threw away two years' worth of prime draft picks. Though, they might have hedged their bets with Cousins. Despite how much I loathe that Franchise, that was a pretty good backup plan.

That said, they'll have to change their entire offense to suit Cousins. He can't run that offense the way Griffin does. And also, I'm not entirely sold on the idea that Griffin is going to have even close to the same success this year. People really do underestimate how beneficial a year's worth of tape can be to defensive coordinators.

Not only a years worth of tape, but the injury will have a huge affect on the way he plays the rest of his career. Not saying he can't be great, what I mean is following the 2nd torn ACL in 2 years Shannahan is faced with 2 options:

1. Run Griffin just as much as 2012 and risk everything.

2. Run Griffin less to save him from ending his career before he reaches 25. This option is the more logical of the 2, but it will decrease the amount of times teams can get burned by Griffin on the ground. Simple math: Griffin runs less, he has less opportunities to burn teams with his legs.

 

[-X-]

I don't think there's any question.
We haven't even received everything we can get in return for that trade yet.

Griffin's a good kid. Good athlete. Good player. But c'mon. He's not worth the multitude of very good players we got in return. If something happens to that ONE player, that team just literally threw away two years' worth of prime draft picks. Though, they might have hedged their bets with Cousins. Despite how much I loathe that Franchise, that was a pretty good backup plan.

That said, they'll have to change their entire offense to suit Cousins. He can't run that offense the way Griffin does. And also, I'm not entirely sold on the idea that Griffin is going to have even close to the same success this year. People really do underestimate how beneficial a year's worth of tape can be to defensive coordinators.

Not only a years worth of tape, but the injury will have a huge affect on the way he plays the rest of his career. Not saying he can't be great, what I mean is following the 2nd torn ACL in 2 years Shannahan is faced with 2 options:

1. Run Griffin just as much as 2012 and risk everything.

2. Run Griffin less to save him from ending his career before he reaches 25. This option is the more logical of the 2, but it will decrease the amount of times teams can get burned by Griffin on the ground. Simple math: Griffin runs less, he has less opportunities to burn teams with his legs.

Yeah, that too. I think Griffin throws a decent ball, but he was also mostly playing with half a field and utilizing two plays. Run, or chuck the ball deep on the isolation route. Yeah, he would mix in some underneath stuff, but that wasn't his bread & butter. It was all big play potential, and his receivers did a nice job of helping him out on some of those throws too.

All-in-all, I think we're WAY better off than they are. And I think a lot of outsiders would feel the same.

 

[jap]

It's always a pleasure doing business with Mr. Snyder. :twisted: :cheese:

 

[iBruce]

RG3 jerseys were the most popular selling jersey last year. That should tell you that the trade worked out for the Redskins as well. I mean... they made the playoffs. No way they could have done that w/o RG3.

It just worked out really well for us too.

 

[MDAlum]

I have to agree. The real test of a trade is to see if both teams would do it again, after time has passed. I think the clear answer is YES. It was that proverbial Win-Win situation. The Redskins were mired in mediocrity, and QB was the missing piece. They had some other issues, but none that couldn't be dealt with, other than QB. So rather than reach for a QB and hope it works out (they could have stayed and grabbed Tannenbaum), they went for it. Remember all that for moving up a few spots, not 12 spots.

The skins are happy. This isn't a one-sided Herschel Walker deal.

The Rams are happy, and have a chance to make noise this year.

 

[Thordaddy]

I don't think there's any question.
We haven't even received everything we can get in return for that trade yet.

Griffin's a good kid. Good athlete. Good player. But c'mon. He's not worth the multitude of very good players we got in return. If something happens to that ONE player, that team just literally threw away two years' worth of prime draft picks. Though, they might have hedged their bets with Cousins. Despite how much I loathe that Franchise, that was a pretty good backup plan.

That said, they'll have to change their entire offense to suit Cousins. He can't run that offense the way Griffin does. And also, I'm not entirely sold on the idea that Griffin is going to have even close to the same success this year. People really do underestimate how beneficial a year's worth of tape can be to defensive coordinators.

Not only a years worth of tape, but the injury will have a huge affect on the way he plays the rest of his career. Not saying he can't be great, what I mean is following the 2nd torn ACL in 2 years Shannahan is faced with 2 options:

1. Run Griffin just as much as 2012 and risk everything.

2. Run Griffin less to save him from ending his career before he reaches 25. This option is the more logical of the 2, but it will decrease the amount of times teams can get burned by Griffin on the ground. Simple math: Griffin runs less, he has less opportunities to burn teams with his legs.

Make that plural ,injuries, don't forget the concussion he got trying to go down.
What we have gotten NOW is enough to tilt the trade in or favor.
What I think has some serious potential is the Shanahan hate that was unleashed over leaving RG in the game too long.Dan Snider is a guy who'll fire/hire a coach on gut feelings and if RG were to have a close call on a run next year or get hurt again Snyder is the sort of guy who'd go off half cocked ,fire his coach and make them a team with an interim and we ALL know that rarely works out.
I can easily see Washington going sub .500 this year getting us a top 12 pick which could be parleyed into two more starters OR we could trade up again for another "franchise" type player.

We so won that deal I doubt anyone who tries to spin it win/win is being objective.

 

[nighttrain]

Tell you in 4-5 years if either side got the best of the deal, maybe sooner. All depends on how RG holds up to me
train

 

[RamsNation]

If our players can become even good but not great players and if RG3 doesn't become elite all pro every year ppl will look back and say the Rams ripped the Redskins off.And lets imagine even half of the players we get from the trade can become elite/pro bowlers w/e you wanna call it,then we would of made out like bandits.Truly an amazing job by the FO for making the trade and what looks like major efforts to capitalize with the picks.

 

[F. Mulder]

For me it's never win or lose on trades. If we end up on the right side obviously all the better. Bob is a great athlete and a rookie-type QB. If he becomes the next all-star then so be it. I have a hard time believing one great player is better than 5-7 solid to above average ones (and that's saying Bob ends up being great). All I can say is that the players we have and will receive SHOULD be 100000# above Bob. With that said, I saw what the Rams did with the Dickerson trade so who knows. :boohoo:

 

[LesBaker]

If our players can become even good but not great players and if RG3 doesn't become elite all pro every year ppl will look back and say the Rams ripped the Redskins off.And lets imagine even half of the players we get from the trade can become elite/pro bowlers w/e you wanna call it,then we would of made out like bandits.Truly an amazing job by the FO for making the trade and what looks like major efforts to capitalize with the picks.

Well put.....made out like bandits would be a perfect description if the Rams get that kind of talent from this trade. I'd like hearing years from now that the Rams fleeced Snyder and that it was the beginning of their dynasty.

 

[shaunpinney]

On paper:
Last year we came third in our division and Washington reached the playoffs, so on paper Washington Win.

The numbers:
RGIII jersey was the NFLs best selling jersey, not only in 2012, but in ANY year. So Washington Win.

On the field:
The way I see it, the Redskins had a need, they were short of a QB to take them to the next level, I believe they got it. The Rams have their QB, just needed to improve his supporting cast, we're definitely improving it.

IMO:
We can't take injuries into it really the likelihood of RGIII getting hurt is the same as Sammy getting hurt, or for that fact all 7 of the our RGIII picks being hurt, lets not forget the epidemic that hit the Rams in 2011...

We'll have to wait until the end of next season to really analyse this trade as it was / is a 3 year trade deal - our FO seem to have a mercurial talent at trading up-down-sideways so I hope we'll come out smiling.

Verdict:
So in conclusion for me it's a Win-Win for both sides.

 

[Angry Ram]

I'd do the trade again. Getting a bunch of good starters/solid contributors is better than one player.

 

[max]

This trade has always hinged on Bradford. If Sam needs to be replaced or is just an average QB, then the trade may not be a success for the Rams. It's not easy finding a franchise QB. The Bears and Browns have been searching for one for generations.

But if Bradford delivers the goods, then the trade was a win for the Rams.

I'm not blind to the fact that you win with star QBs in this league, now more than ever.

If John Elway was playing today, there is no amount of solid to very good players I would give up for him unless I had Dan Marino.

 

[CGI_Ram]

I'd do the trade again. Getting a bunch of good starters/solid contributors is better than one player.

This topic has been discussed many times, but I like how you framed it rams24/7. Nice job. You are un-banned. :lmao:

I'm with you Angry... and others who have said the same thing.

Our team was void of talent, this trade fixed that. Our rebuild takes much longer with out it.

I think RG3 is a good player. Potentially great. But if he needs to reel in the running I don't see him being a Peyton Manning-like difference maker.

I make this trade every time.

And... we've still got more coming!

 

[rams24/7]

I'd do the trade again. Getting a bunch of good starters/solid contributors is better than one player.

This topic has been discussed many times, but I like how you framed it rams24/7. Nice job. You are un-banned. :lmao:

I'm glad that was resolved. I prefer this board over any other

 

[-X-]

I'd do the trade again. Getting a bunch of good starters/solid contributors is better than one player.

This topic has been discussed many times, but I like how you framed it rams24/7. Nice job. You are un-banned. :lmao:

I'm glad that was resolved. I prefer this board over any other

That's always nice to hear. Thanks bro.