Why RG3 didn’t throw
This morning, Robert Griffin III ran the best 40-yard dash of any quareterback here (4.41 officially) and the best vertical jump of any QB (39 inches). He couldn’t quite take home the triple crown as his 120-inch broad jump was fourth best.
Then he took the rest of the day off.
He decided not to throw for the assembled scouts and coaches when the time came for that. He explained why to on the NFL Network in response to a question from Rich Eisen (as transcribed by our friends at Pro Football Talk):
I thought it was in my best interests not to come and throw to guys I haven’t thrown to before, running a game plan I’m not familiar with, and in an environment that I’m not prepared for. So I’ll do it at my Pro Day, it kind of helps out the guys at Baylor that are coming out, they can get more scouts there and watch us do our thing.
Draft analyst Mike Mayock challenged Griffin’s decision. “Don’t your juices get going a little bit when all the boys are throwing out there and you’re standing there in sweats?” Mayock said. “Don’t you just want to get there and rip it?”
Griffin said that he did but not badly enough to go against what surely was the advice of his agent. And it was sound advice. RG3 had absolutely nothing to gain by throwing at the combine. If he looks good, it’s what’s expected. If he doesn’t, it ends what was a great few days at the combine on a sour note.
Not that it tends to matter much in terms of a player’s draft stock. A year ago, Cam Newton decided to throw and he displayed awful footwork and his passes were not accurate. He still went first overall in the draft.
There’s no doubt that Griffin will put on a show throwing the ball at Baylor’s pro day next month and then all he will have left to do is sit back and watch teams haggle over the second pick in the draft to determine who gets him.
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