The Vindication of Mike Shanahan

This weekend's loss to the Buccaneers has presented Redskins fans with the most sobering reality they could possibly imagine.  Mike Shanahan may have been right all along.  Griffin's performance on Sunday was the coup de grace of a season that has seen his fall as the savior of Washington to an oft injured, insecure, indecisive passer who is not living up to the price tag this franchise put on him.  You know who alluded to that during his tenure in Washington?  The same guy who, along with his son, were nicknamed "The Klanahans" for their insistence on running read option with Griffin even though it was obvious that those plays were putting him in harm's way.  Oh, what a difference 2 years makes.  Now we have people stating that Griffin needs to run read option to be successful.  Remember the uproar when we drafted Kirk Cousins?  All of a sudden that does not seem like a completely heinous move considering Griffin's injuries, although Cousins has proven to be a less than adequate replacement.  But remember that part of the scuttlebutt surrounding the Cousins pick was that Shanahan did not want to trade up for Griffin in the first place.  Rumor had it that he wanted to stay at six and draft Ryan Tannehill.  Look at what Ryan Tannehill has done in Miami with considerably less talent around him this year than Griffin.  And while were on the subject of talent, let's look at what Shanahan brought in in the way of talent.  He had the foresight to see the talent in Pierre Garcon who up to that point had been Reggie Wayne's understudy in Indianapolis.  He showed the restraint to pass on Blaine Gabbert and draft Ryan Kerrigan.  He took a flyer on a sixth round running back coming off a winless season at Florida Atlantic.  Trent Williams, Perry Riley, Keenan Robinson, Niles Paul, Roy Helu, David Amerson, and Jordan Reed round out a decent class of draft picks that still make contributions to this team.

These players comprise the backbone of the talent for the Redskins on both sides of the ball, and they are the centerpiece of Griffin's recent comments about needing his players to "play great".  Remember last year when he made equally polarizing comments?  People pointed to Shanahan as the problem. It was Shanahan who had lost the locker room, and Griffin's outbursts were a cry for order and leadership.  Now with a new regime in place it is apparent that Shanahan may not have been the sole cause.  Jay Gruden's comments about Robert Griffin on Monday show that Shanahan's apprehension about Griffin may not have been totally unfounded.  His reliance on the read option in Griffin's rookie year may have been disastrous to his Griffin's health, but it also may have been a passive aggressive way of Shanahan showing his opinion of what Griffin can and cannot do as a quarterback.  Finally, with all the talent that Shanahan brought in, it may be the one piece he possibly was forced to take that he was most right about.  With every waning moment, it seems that Griffin may not be the best fit for this offense here in Washington, and when the Redskins pass on a much needed safety or tackle to have Roger Goodell call Marcus Mariota's name in April; Mike Shanahan will be watching and loving every second of it.