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In his first two NFL seasons, Washington Redskins QB Robert Griffin III has showed flashes of brilliance. He is a dynamic athlete who can take off for big chunks of yardage, and he can excel as a pocket passer as well. To me, he has the skillset to be fantasy football gold. Unfortunately in the eyes of many, his abilities have been overshadowed by an inability to stay healthy.
He has missed a total of four regular season games in his first two years in the league. When you think about it though, that really isn’t all that much. In fact, most of the games he missed (three) were last season, a year where he clearly came back too soon from a knee injury.
The archaic way he plays is risky and it definitely could get him hurt, but he has yet to miss enough games in a single season to really impact fantasy owners in a major way.
His doubters may point to his down season last year, but he really had no business coming back that soon as I said before, and it limited his production and mobility. Watching him thus far in the preseason, he appears to be fully healthy for the first time since his rookie year in 2012. That year, he completed over 65 percent of his passes, passing for 3,200 yards, 20 touchdowns and five interceptions. He also had 815 yards rushing and seven touchdowns on the ground that year.
Another reason why he is worth drafting in fantasy this year is because of the weapons around him. The Redskins added several impact receivers to help Griffin this season. They brought in Desean Jackson and Andre Roberts via free agency, and they signed WR Cody Hoffman as an undrafted free agent.
The Redskins also have Pierre Garcon and Santana Moss returning and TE Jordan Reed is in the mix as well. RG3 now has an explosive core of pass catchers that play to his strengths. He should see a spike in his numbers as a result if he is indeed healthy.
You should definitely be aware that Griffin could get hurt, but he should still be one of the top QBs off the board in your fantasy football draft. Just know that if you draft him, you may want to take a flier on Kirk Cousins as an insurance policy. With that said, he is worth the risk and could end up being a steal in fantasy drafts this year.
Will Gellman is a New England Patriots writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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