Redskins Confirm Robert Griffin III Will Be Their Pick In NFL Draft

“It’s more of running to your left and flicking your wrist and throwing the ball 70 yards,” Washington’s backup quarterback Rex Grossman said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

The Redskins might be able to call RG3 “The Mouth,” too, considering how good he is at interviewing.

Mike Florio at ProFootballTalk reports that Redskins general manager Bruce Allen confirmed Thursday on the NFL Network’s “2012 NFL Draft Kickoff Show” that Griffin will go to the Redskins at No. 2.

Now that this officially puts to rest the speculation about Luck and Griffin, the attention can firmly turn to the rest of the field.

The Washington Redskins are going to select Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III. The writing has been on the wall since the team made a blockbuster trade with the St. Louis Rams. Nevertheless, head coach Mike Shanahan took the day before the draft to remind the world that things even the most certain outcomes have uncertainties.

Shanahan, having a little fun ahead of the draft, said via the Redskins’ official Twitter feed that there was a 99.9 percent chance that Griffin would be the team’s pick with the second-overall selection.

This would all go over so much easier if somebody was scouting the scouts. As it is, we don’t really know whether a player without a criminal record getting the “character concerns” tag means he’s robbed a car-full of scouts at gunpoint (the scouts didn’t alert police, most of whom aren’t waist-benders), been the subject of a long gaze by a scout’s wife, or said one abrupt thing to one scout a year ago.

Imagine if reporters were able to cite scouts of scouts when evaluating scouts.

According to Will Brinson of CBS Sports, Griffin had a chance to respond to these criticisms.

Ultimately, this will all blow over in short order and won’t affect the fact that Griffin is nearly a lock to be selected as the No. 2 overall pick in the draft.

According to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob McGinn, two scouts noted that Griffin’s personality leaves a bit to be desired.

For more on Robert Griffin III and the 2012 NFL Draft, visit SB Nation’s Mocking The Draft.

This comes as no surprise at all. Ever since the Colts secured the No. 1 pick in the draft, Luck has been the target. The Colts flirted with Robert Griffin III but didn’t even ask him to come in for a visit which should tell you all you need to know about their draft plans next week.

The Colts could start negotiating with Luck immediately but it sounds like they won’t do that until he’s officially selected No. 1 next week.

The 2011 draft class of quarterbacks saw six players drafted in the first 36 picks, which is a lot. There was a run on quarterbacks last year which caused some teams to select a player higher than they may have in previous years. While the 2011 class had quantity, the 2012 class has more quality.

The Green Bay Press-Gazette posted a story this week where one anonymous NFL scout said he thinks there are five quarterbacks in the 2012 class who are better than any of the players in the 2011 class. That may be stretching it, considering Cam Newton exploded onto the scene in his first season, but the 2012 class ends up being a better overall group of quarterbacks than last year’s group. And when I talk about these quarterbacks, I’m talking about the ones most likely to make an impact -- those drafted within the first two rounds.

For more on the NFL draft, visit SB Nation’s NFL draft blog, Mocking The Draft. And for more on the Redskins, check out Hogs Haven and SB Nation DC.

Before the 2006 NFL draft, Mike Shanahan, former Broncos head coach and current Redskins head coach, never worked out Jay Cutler before selecting him with the 11th overall pick, so this wouldn’t be a first for Shanahan.

Redskins fans can find out all the information they need on RGIII from SB Nation’s YouTube scouting report:

It’s not clear why RGIII wouldn’t work out for the Colts.

The vast majority of people believe the Colts will be selecting Luck with the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NFL draft but Irsay indicated last week that the Colts hadn’t yet made their final decision. RGIII has said publicly that he wants to be the No. 1 pick. So why won’t he work out for the Colts? Seems that there’s probably more to the story.

Dan Graziano of ESPN reports that Colts owner Jim Irsay says the team has not decided on whether to select Luck or Griffin as the top pick in the draft. The Colts, apparently, like both quarterbacks.

It’s possible that the Colts are just unwilling to publicly tip their hand. Either way, both the Colts and the Redskins will wind up with a talented quarterback. But this is certainly an interesting development.

Griffin of course won the Heisman Trophy last season, throwing for 3,998 yards, 36 touchdowns and just six interceptions. Since the end of the season he has been nothing but impressive, showing well in interviews and running a 4.41-second 40-yard dash at the 2012 NFL Scouting Combine last month.

For more on the Redskins’ draft plans, head over to the SB Nation blog Hogs Haven, and stay tuned this StoryStream for more on Griffin.

So, RG3’s pro day at Baylor University won’t be the spectacle we once figured it would be, but it’s noteworthy nonetheless. It takes place on late Wednesday morning and will be televised on ESPNU, ESPN3 and NFL Network. It will start at 12 p.m. (ET). RG3 didn’t throw at the NFL Combine, electing instead to throw to his own receivers at Baylor’s pro day, which means this is the first time he’ll be throwing publicly since the end of the college football season.

The Colts will be in attendance although many believe it’s a foregone conclusion that they’ll pick Luck and the Redskins will pick RG3. It would take a stunning turn of events for the top two picks not to go that way.

Of course, that ability to inspire is based on a lot more than his mental makeup. Griffin helped take the Bears from 4-8 his freshman year to a 10-3 record in 2011 that saw them win the Alamo Bowl and finish ranked No. 13 in the final AP Poll.

The Redskins are reportedly prepared to send their No. 6 overall pick in this year’s draft, next year’s first-round pick and assorted other picks to St. Louis for the chance to pick Griffin.

Whoever gets Griffin will be getting a player that would probably go No. 1 many years. He recently clocked a 4.41 40 time and finished off his college career by throwing for 4,293 yards, 37 touchdowns and just six interceptions. Mocking the Draft considers him the No. 5 overall prospect, but almost every mock draft has him going at No. 2.

It’s just about the easiest choice EA Sports has had in years. Not only was Griffin college football’s best player last year, he’s also a high draft pick with a spotless off-field reputation, and one whose style of play matches up with the way many video gamers play. He won’t actually be in the game, you see, but he’ll be in that other famous football game the company makes every year.

For more on Bears football, visit Baylor blog Our Daily Bears, plus SB Nation Dallas.

2012 NFL Combine 40-yard Dash Results - Quarterbacks

If you’re wondering how fast Griffin III is, here’s a spliced GIF that compares him to Cam Newton and Andrew Luck.

Griffin III alluded that it was simply because he wouldn’t have any chemistry with the players he was throwing to, saying he’d rather help out his own wide receivers during the Baylor pro day, according to the transcription provided by Pro Football Talk.

It’s probably not the answer everyone was hoping for, but it does make sense. It doesn’t hurt that Griffin III was impressive in the drills he did take part in, either.

Robert Griffin III arrived in Indianapolis for his media session at the 2012 NFL Combine and confirmed previous reports that he will not throw while he’s here. Griffin III said he isn’t comfortable throwing to receivers he doesn’t know and instead will hold a workout in March for NFL teams.

This is usually what the top quarterbacks in the draft do. At the Combine he would be throwing to receivers he’s not familiar with, which could reflect negatively on his abilities. Instead, Griffin III will throw to former teammates at Baylor’s pro day.

“I’m excited to wow them in the interviews with the type of offense that we run, just so they can understand it’s not as simple as some people make our spread out to be. It’s a different kind of spread,” Griffin told Sports Illustrated. “Although I don’t agree with it, but people say I just burst on the scene this year, so no one knows much about me, whether NFL GMs or analysts, so I get a chance to put my best foot forward.”

“It’s like a performance when it comes to your pro day and when you’re throwing. It’s exactly like a performance, you’ve just got to memorize the script and go out and execute to the best of your ability,” Griffin told Sports Illustrated about throwing at his Pro Day.

If Griffin can really impress -- and if Luck is less impressive than expected -- there would at least be a possibility that he could move into the top spot and guarantee himself a few million dollars more. Conversely, there’s almost no downside to making this change.

For more on RG3, visit Baylor blog Our Daily Bears. For more NFL Draft, head to Mocking the Draft.

For more on RG3, visit Baylor blog Our Daily Bears. For more NFL Draft, head to Mocking the Draft.

Via @PaulPabst:

Even Barney looks a little sad about losing Griffin to the pros.