Daniel's Debacle: The Washington Redskins quarterback misery matrix (DIAGRAM)
Only three seasons after mortgaging their future in a trade with the St. Louis Rams for the right to claim Robert Griffin III with the second pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, the Redskins have turned RGIII into a well-paid pariah at the end of their bench. And soon he may be out the door.
Before RGIII's knee gave out at the end of an electric rookie season that left the league spinning wheels over the read-option, it looked like the Redskins had scored, even if they gave up too much (a move that the rising Rams threw in Washington's face). Now it looks as though Griffin's career in D.C. ended during the January 2013 wild-card round loss to the Seahawks.
In case you missed the Cleveland Browns quarterback misery matrix, a slightly more depressing version of this one, check here. That graphic spans the 1999-2014 seasons -- the same as this edition because as the re-establishment of the Browns in Cleveland in 1999 coincides with the start of Daniel Snyder's ownership of the Washington Redskins.
Just like the Browns, Snyder's squad has courted, chewed up and spit out quarterbacks and coaches in rapid succession (Jay Gruden is Snyder's eighth head coach in 16 seasons). Re-treads and splashy moves, Snyder's made a few, including the hiring of Steve Spurrier (2002-2003) and Mike Shanahan (2010-2013). The Redskins have enjoyed more winning seasons (four) than the Browns (two) in the past 16 seasons (everything is relative) and even a pair of postseason wins (1999 and 2005 in the wild-card rounds). But above all, dysfunction and heartburn has triumphed.
As for the quarterbacks, Washington fans have witnessed the sad, tail end of both Jeff George and Mark Brunell's careers, sandwiched between Patrick Ramsey. They've watched in horror as Jason Campbell tried desperately to learn a new playbook every season. Then there was one brutal season of the post-Eagles Donovan McNabb plus some Rex Grossman. It hasn't been pretty.
Here are the nuts and bolts of the Washington Redskins QB Misery Matrix as outlined in the Browns edition:
We've plotted on the diagram (1) the quarterback rating for the player who started the most games for the team each season (on the Y axis) and (2) the number of games the team won each season (on the X axis).
On the X axis, the baseline colored blue represents the average games won by the most winning (13.265 games) and most losing team (1.875) in the league each season from 1999-2014. That number is 7.75. We felt this would give you a better idea of how the team fared against common team records instead of 0 through 16.
On the Y axis, the baseline colored blue represents the average of the quarterback rating by the top-rated and bottom-rated QB in the league (among qualified passers with at least 224 attempts). Across 1999-2014, the high mark average tallied 109.4 while the bottom registered at 60.2. The average of those is 84.8. Typically, the league's top 10 QBs clock in at about 90 or better.
We've also added one data point from the Redskins three divisional rivals, one for each of their franchise quarterbacks. The Giants installed Eli Manning in 2004 and he has started every game since Week 10 of that season, leading Big Blue to two Super Bowl titles. Never much of a fantasy football QB, Eli's 2011 campaign that culminated in a title is plotted on the diagram below.
The Cowboys saw a carnival of quarterbacks from Quincy Carter to Drew Bledsoe until Tony Romo's rise in 2006. Romo has established himself as one of the league's best even as the "choker" narrative persists erroneously. Romo's league-leading 113.2-rated 2014 season is plotted, just for fun. Philadelphia enjoyed 11 seasons of Donovan McNabb (five straight Pro Bowl nods from 2000-2004) and four consecutive trips to the NFC Championship game (by "enjoyed," I mean they hated him but occasionally acknowledged that he was pretty good). You'll see McNabb's 2004 season below -- as well as a point representing his short-lived stint in Washington!
Compared with the Browns, the Redskins have done a better job of avoiding a bunch formation in the lower left corner. Still, a lasting franchise quarterback has eluded them and the one player they invested so much into cost them dearly in resources and time.
During a radio interview last week, former 3-time All-Pro Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington addressed the team's current quarterback situation and a strange phenomenon that he believes clouds the organization:
"Every year that the Hall of Fame inductees go in and I watch it, I just sit there and I think about, I gave my best years to dysfunction," Arrington told Sportsnet 590 The Fan. "It just kind of bothers me a little bit ... because it's like if you had the structure in place to have success, my track record kind of speaks for itself. Guys that have come in there, Robert Griffin III, guys that have been there, their track records speak for themselves. How does a guy go from being special on every level, and then they come to the Redskins and it's gone? The magic is gone. I can't explain it. It's almost a weird phenomenon, and I hate that I'm a statistic of that weird phenomenon."
We will all find out soon if Kirk Cousins is just another glitch in the matrix.
By the way, there will be no Buffalo Bills matrix. Sure, they have the longest running playoffs drought in the NFL (coincidentally, 1999 was the last year Buffalo made the dance) but the organization had the stability of a still-in-his-prime Drew Bledsoe from 2002-2004. The J.P. Losman era wasn't pretty and no one envisioned Ryan Fitzpatrick as a franchise cornerstone, plus the E.J. Manuel experiment blew up, but viewed as a totality, the QB situation has been worse or at least more unstable in Washington and Cleveland.
Also, the Bills had this:
