NFC East Roundup: The Rise And Fall Of RGIII

Let’s take a spin around the NFC East to see what’s going on with the rest of the division:

Jason Reid of ESPN did a longform piece on Robert Griffin III detailing some of the dysfunction that accompanied his time in Washington.

Feb. 5, 2013 — Griffin called for a meeting. He declined to tell Mike Shanahan what he wanted to discuss, saying only it was important. Griffin, Mike and Kyle Shanahan and quarterbacks coach Matt LaFleur gathered in the offensive meeting room at the team headquarters in Ashburn, Virginia. With the coaches seated, Griffin walked to a blackboard and wrote:

1. Change things.
2. Change our protections.
3. Unacceptable.
4. Bottom line.

Griffin instructed the coaches to let him speak uninterrupted and rolled through a list of grievances, stressing that substantive changes had to occur immediately. Scrap the pass protection scheme and start over, Griffin demanded. There were 19 plays — primarily those from the 50-series and quarterback draws — that were unacceptable. Griffin, who supported his presentation with video clips of each play, expected them to be deleted from the playbook. Bottom line, Griffin said, he was a drop-back quarterback — not a running quarterback.

The Shanahans had planned to increase the number of drop-back plays in the offense as Griffin developed. Their timetable wasn’t fast enough. Griffin ordered his coaches to let him play in a manner in which they believed he could not succeed. Throughout Griffin’s lecture, one name was stuck in Shanahan’s mind: Snyder.

“When Robert is standing there going through all of that, I know it’s coming from Dan,” Shanahan said.

Nine in 10 Native Americans are not offended by the Redskins name, according to a new Washington Post poll.

The survey of 504 people across every state and the District reveals that the minds of Native Americans have remained unchanged since a 2004 poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found the same result. Responses to The Post’s questions about the issue were broadly consistent regardless of age, income, education, political party or proximity to reservations.

Among the Native Americans reached over a five-month period ending in April, more than 7 in 10 said they did not feel the word “Redskin” was disrespectful to Indians. An even higher number — 8 in 10 — said they would not be offended if a non-native called them that name.

Dan Graziano thinks it may be time for the Giants to move Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

The Giants made a couple of major moves at his position this offseason, signing free agent Janoris Jenkins to a five-year, $62.5 million contract and selecting Ohio State’s Eli Apple with the No. 10 pick in the draft. Veterans always say the one thing they hope about the draft is that the team doesn’t pick anyone who plays their position. Rodgers-Cromartie is certainly veteran enough to read those kinds of tea leaves.

The chances of Rodgers-Cromartie being on the 2017 Giants are incredibly small. His contract has no guaranteed money left, and he’d be a $4.5 million cap savings for them if released next spring, when he’ll be turning 31. His cap number this year is $8 million, same as Jenkins. But Jenkins’ cap number jumps to $15 million in 2017, which strongly indicates that Rodgers-Cromartie’s 2017 number of $8.5 million isn’t in their plans. He’s an extremely likely cut if he’s still on the roster after this season.

That makes you wonder if it’s a sure bet he will be.

Pro Football Focus gave the Giants a ‘B’ for their offseason moves.

New arrivals: DE Olivier Vernon, DT Damon Harrison, CB Janoris Jenkins, LB Keenan Robinson, LB Kelvin Sheppard
Re-signings: TE Larry Donnell, DE Jason Pierre-Paul, K Josh Brown
Departures: DE Robert Ayers, OL Geoff Schwartz, CB Prince Amukamara, WR Rueben Randle, DT Cullen Jenkins, S Brandon Meriweather, S Craig Dahl, DE George Selvie, DT Markus Kuhn, CB Jayron Hosley, OL Dallas Reynolds, CB Trumaine McBride…

Over the course of the offseason, the Giants made sure their 2016 team would be an improvement over the 2015 version. After using 14 different players on the defensive line last year, they should have a much smaller rotation that, on paper, is one of the best in the league. Despite turning one big negative into one big positive, they still have several areas of weakness that will make it difficult to make a run in the playoffs if they are able to get there. They are a team that needs to win now, because Eli Manning isn’t getting any younger, but a lot of players need to improve quickly in order to make that happen.

Matt Mosley of Dallas News answers: Who’s going to enjoy a breakout season for the Cowboys in 2016?

Matt Mosley: I think Ezekiel Elliott better have a “breakout” season in 2016. There’s certainly a lot of pressure on him to do that. I think Dez will get his conditioning in place and have a monster season. In fact, I’m anticipating this will be the best season of his career. Zeke will help keep defenses honest. And I think Romo is dying to have a monster season to shut up the critics on age/injuries. He’d like to make sure that no one’s calling for Prescott before about 2019. On defense, I’d look for Scandrick to put up some impressive numbers. I think he’ll come back extremely hungry. And grateful the Cowboys didn’t go for Ramsey. Smith and Scandrick will be players to watch.

Jerry Jones is among the NFL power brokers in support of the Raiders moving to Vegas.

In the NFL’s prospects for a potential move into the Las Vegas market, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft saw the hand of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones — and raised him one on Friday.

In an interview with USA Today Sports, Kraft said he would support theOakland Raiders’ relocation to Las Vegas.

“I think it would be good for the NFL,” Kraft told the newspaper. “I know Mark Davis has tried so hard in Oakland. If they won’t do it … I want to support him.”

Last week, Jones said he would not be opposed to seeing Las Vegas discussed as the NFL’s next destination.

Jones,Kraft and Goodell = a green light. The only remaining issue is, can they put together the deal. https://t.co/P0MP3sYqcQ

— Joe Banner (@JoeBanner13) May 21, 2016