The Ravens’ roster hasn’t featured a three-quarterback setup since the 2009 season, but circumstances this year may induce a change to their usual approach.
John Harbaugh said Thursday, via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com, that Robert Griffin III‘s roster spot will go down to the wire. Despite being out of football last season, Griffin has outplayed Lamar Jackson during the preseason to this point but hasn’t gotten nearly as many game reps as the rookie.
“He has played at a starting-caliber level in the games that he’s played, and he’s an experienced guy,” Harbaugh said, via Hensley. “I’d rather have him than not have him, for sure, but there are other factors that go into that and we’ll have to figure all that out. [GM] Ozzie [Newsome] ultimately will have to make that decision.”
RG3’s $1MM salary becomes guaranteed if he’s on the Ravens’ Week 1 roster. It’s possible Baltimore would release the 28-year-old quarterback only to bring him back after Week 1, but given the depth issues many teams have at sports’ marquee job, another team could swoop in with a better offer. Griffin could also serve as a trade chip, but Jackson’s struggled during most of the preseason. The 2016 Heisman Trophy winner’s completed just 42 percent of his passes. The 2011 Heisman recipient, Griffin’s only attempted 26 passes but has outplayed the younger prospect.
Joe Flacco‘s missed just 10 games in his 10-season career, and each came in 2015 after he tore an ACL. The Ravens are pleased by the strides Jackson’s made, per Jeff Zreibec of The Athletic (subscription required), who adds that Griffin’s roster spot will come down to how Jackson performs during the preseason’s remainder.
There should be no question. The obvious answer is to keep him
Exactly. LJax is the future, but the future isn’t now, even in a backup capacity. They need RG3.
I agree. The only reason there is a question is the round Lamar Jackson was picked. You shouldn’t have to keep a 3rd QB with a first rounder from the previous draft on roster. But let’s not forget how high RGlll was picked. That was more of a segue way than it was relevant. Let’s not forget how good he has been at least once before in the NFL! If Flacco misses any amount of time, you wish you had RGlll.
As much as I hate the ravens there is no reason they shouldn’t keep RGIII if you have no intention of starting Jackson anyway
Fire Flacco. Keep RGIII. Problem solved.
If the Ravens take your advice they will be as bad as the Orioles.
Except Flacco apparently has looked good. He’s got motivation to perform. That motivation comes from his competition. And that’s Jackson. That’s who he’s afraid of taking his spot. Not RGIII. They should still keep RGIII though as a running quarterback who learned the hard way that you need to be able to throw in the pocket instead of running the football 30 times a game. He can be the voice of reason to teach Lamar the important lessons before he injured himself to learn them
Yes keep him. Sometime teams draft a high profile qb only for them to flop in the nfl (Ryan leaf, Tim Couch, and many others) I’m glad rg3 is back I was actually upset he turned down playing for my cardinals last year!
Interesting. Curious why RG3 didn’t accept it. And curious what RG3 did last year as he didn’t play in the NFL.
They’d be stupid to let him go there’s probably no mentor better suited to teach Lamar
It would be fun to watch RG3 and Manziel go head to head in the CFL.
Who?
From what I’ve seen from Lamar Jackson, he isn’t ready to be an NFL QB. But that’s okay. He can learn the game this season. However, given how mediocre and injured Joe Flacco has been, do you really want to go in with a raw rookie being your only qb depth?
Well said
Yea i completely agree but sometimes you never know. Remember Flacco was not going to be the starter his rookie year but due to injuries to both QBs, he ended up starter and never looked back. While i believe they definitely need to keep RG3 theres no telling what could happen but Lamar could learn alot from RG3, mainly what not to do while running.