All-Twenty Tuesday: Bucs QB Ryan Griffin

We’re going to start our Ryan Griffin film review with the best preseason of his career, to date: the 2014 preseason when he was with the Saints. Due to the team already having Drew Brees and there being no reason for Brees to play in anything other than the third preseason game, Griffin and Luke McCown split most of the time evenly. Though Griffin was also treated as the No. 3 quarterback, he did some things well during that preseason campaign.

The clip above is a good mix of what to like about Griffin and what to be cautious of. The first, what you like, is his ability to move around the pocket. In each year that I observed Griffin’s preseason games, he always seemed to move very well up, down and to the edge of an established pocket. He’s not a guy you want escaping the pocket to pick up yardage with his feet, but in terms of shuffling movements up and down the pocket to avoid rushes, Griffin does that very well. You see that in the play above.

But, as that play finished, you also see some limitations of Griffin: his arm strength. Griffin just doesn’t have a naturally strong arm, especially with velocity. You see some starting quarterbacks in the NFL be able to just flick their wrist and the ball goes 40 yards or so. That’s not the case with Griffin – and is the main reason why he’s never been anything more than a No. 3 quarterback on a team, to this point.

There’s a term in scouting used to describe arm strength in quarterbacks that sometimes reads “he throws it on a rope.” That means that the quarterback can make a short or intermediate throw with such velocity that it looks like the ball just travels in a straight line to the target, not dipping down due to gravity.

As you can see in the clip above, due to Griffin’s throwing motion, which helps him be more accurate, he does not throw the ball on a rope. When the ball leaves Griffin’s hand, it often dies quickly. That’s not ideal when making tight window throws or throws to the sideline. You have to be able to gun those kinds of throws in there, and I’m not sure Griffin has the arm strength to do that – and that’s not really something you can teach. That’s something a QB has to naturally possess.

Griffin is sort of also a one-read guy, but I don’t mean that to be as negative as it sounds. Rather, it’s actually a compliment to him knowing who he is as a quarterback, which includes his strengths and his limitations.

After being on a team with Brees and McCown for two years, Griffin seemed to learn pre-snaps reads pretty well. He knew where the ball was likely going before the ball was snapped due to how the defense was set up, and you get a lot of play like the one above because of it – quick throws for short yardage but effective drives. That’s where Griffin shows his best work as an accurate tactician.

This also makes Griffin an ideal quarterback to pick a part zone defenses. If Griffin really is as good as it seems with pre-snap reads, that means he can recognize positioning and isn’t fooled easily. I know that’s the case because I’ve seen him hit the hot reads and get the ball out of his hands quickly when unblocked rushers are coming his way. It also allows him to be confident in throws like the one above, ones that are ideal for a two-TE offense like the one the Bucs run.

If Griffin were to get reps with the first team over the next month of training camp, expect a lot of throws like the one above where tight ends are used as easy targets in zone coverage right in the middle of the field – ideal vision placement and an ideal big target.

Now just because Griffin doesn’t have the arm velocity needed to really pick a part man coverage and stretch the field doesn’t mean he can’t get the ball down there at times – it just takes a while for it to get down there.

Though Griffin does have to put his whole body into longer throws, he can get a decent amount of distance on his passes. This is crucial if he wants to thrive in a Dirk Koetter offense. Koetter runs a lot of go routes, post routes, deep out routes, deep ins over the middle of the field and seam routes with the tight ends where you’re having to hit a receiver in stride roughly 12-25 yards down the field. Griffin can get the ball there, but you don’t want to ask him to do it too often, and that’s the big difference between he and Fitzpatrick, who might actually have a slightly stronger arm. Griffin has to fully be able to set his feet and get into a throw to make vertical concepts worth calling. It’s risky to bet on a quarterback having perfect conditions to set up and throw. It just doesn’t happen often.

In closing, if you ask me, the play above is everything you need to know about Griffin. It’s a good pre-snap read, great step up and ability to maneuver the pocket, a complete and accurate throw, but a velocity level to make you squirm the entire time the ball is in flight (a while).

Griffin showed some promise in that 2014 preseason with New Orleans, but really hasn’t been as on-point since then in preseason games. It’s hard to blame him. I mean, imagine parts of four preseason games being your only game action and only time to really improve each year. That’s not ideal.

Quarterbacks that get the most leeway and the ones that get the first crack at chances are often the ones with the arm talent or mental “it” factors to make things happen either out of structure or in less-than-ideal situations. You’re hoping that because of that they’ll be even better in more ideal conditions. That just doesn’t seem to be what Griffin does well.

He’s a competent quarterback, but how much upside does Griffin have? He might be able to manage a game better than Fitzpatrick, but he’s likely not going to give you those “wow” throws as often as a Koetter offense seems to need.

I do wonder what would have happened last preseason had Griffin not injured his shoulder. After all, live reps are the only way to improve. Would last year have been his breakout year to get the most out of what he does best? Would that have been enough?

That discussion continues on the next page.