Q&A With: Greg Cosell

[MTK]

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Q&A With: Greg Cosell

Cosell watches as much game tape as anyone, save for coaches perhaps. And as the executive producer of “NFL Matchup,” and the senior producer of NFL Films for 33 years, he’s learned how to judge talent. He’s also the co-author of “The Games That Changed The Game.” And he’s a tough guy: He called back after seeing the doctor for a sinus infection. Follow him on Twitter @gregcosell.

By the way, though he listed Robert Griffin III as the top QB in the draft, he has Alabama RB Trent Richardson as the top player.

Q: You rated Robert Griffin III ahead of Andrew Luck as the top QB in the draft. Why?

A: Andrew Luck was not asked to do an awful lot in terms of throwing. I’m told he was asked to do a lot at the line, and he’s phenomenal in that area, but when you watch film it’s a lot of short, safe well-defined throws. I won’t say he’s not capable of making better throws, but when you watch tape of RG3 there’s a number of wow throws every game. I’m a believer in arm strength. I’m a believer in making difficult throws. I’m a believer in being able to drive the ball down the field. I think if you didn’t know who each guy was and you just put in tape you would say RG3 throws the ball better than Andrew Luck. Because I don’t know [what they were being asked to do], there might be people that tell me I’m a moron. I’ve been called a lot worse.

Q: Are you surprised you came to the conclusion you did?

A: I was surprised I didn’t see more big-time throws by Luck. Don’t take that out of context. I’m not saying he’s not capable of that. I think Luck can throw. But you don’t see it.

Q: When you watched RG3, what jumped out at you?

A: He throws a great deep ball. That jumps off the film. I would say what impressed me most is that for the most part he stayed in the pocket. I thought he was fairly patient. I heard what a great athlete he was and I guess maybe prejudicially I thought I’d see a guy who ran around a lot, and I didn’t see that. Did he do that on occasion? Yeah, but he may have been told to run around.

Q: Does he remind you of anybody?

A: The obvious would be Vick, but he’s a far better passer than Vick was at an equivalent stage and Vick was more focused on being a runner. I don’t sense watching RG3 that his focus is running.

Q: Onto the receivers. What has changed in the game that it perhaps makes having a defined No. 1 receiver unnecessary?

A: Teams play with more receivers now and better tight ends. It’s not the old days where you line up with an X and a Z and you have two runningbacks and a tight end who’s on the line of scrimmage in a conventional position. Those days are over. Now you’re playing with three receivers. A lot of teams do that as base personnel. And now with the tight ends. … Fred Davis can run vertical routes so you have a guy you can move around in the formation. What you do now is look for matchups. You’re not putting Pierre Garcon out wide and matching him up to Darrelle Revis and saying, ‘OK, win.’ Of course he’s not going to win, but if you move him around and put Davis out wide and Revis is out there and Garcon is in the slot and he’s matched up against Eric Smith, you feel good about that. That’s what the game has become. This notion of No. 1 receivers … there’s not a lot of Andre Johnsons or Calvin Johnsons. Justin Blackmon isn’t one of those guys.

Q: Do the Redskins get players open more through scheme as much as talent?

A: That’s what every team is now doing. That’s the game. It’s all matchups. Believe it or not a lot of it started when Mike Martz was with Norv [Turner], and they decided to run third-down packages on first down, and when Mike moved to the Rams he decided if we put four wide receivers out there. We’ll have Ricky Proehl and Az Hakim on the other team’s fourth corner, and they can’t match up. Now, if you put Isaac Bruce in the slot against a fourth corner that’s good. That’s the way the game has become for everybody now.

Q: What do you think of Josh Morgan?

A: He’s one of those big physical wideouts who needs the scheme to help him. But he moves better than people think. He’s a good player. If you use him in a multidimensional passing game, he’ll be a productive receiver. We’re in a passing league now. A lot of guys catch a lot of balls. That doesn’t make them great receivers. The scheme makes them great receivers.

Q: What about Pierre Garcon?

A: He’s a more vertical receiver than anything. He’s a guy who tends to run vertically first. He can run in breaking routes, digs, he can run posts and get vertical over the top. He’s big and he can be physical. He’s a quality receiver. A lot of people get focused on the money. But it’s the market in a given year. If you want Garcon, you sign him for that. The same people who bitch that they paid too much for him, if you don’t get a receiver will bitch that you didn’t get a receiver.

Q: Will he help the Redskins?

A: Assuming they get RG3, what they’re gearing up for is having multiple receiver weapons in spread offense. He won’t run a pure spread on every snap because Mike [Shanahan] believes in the run game. But he’s also going to be in shotgun with Griffin. That’s why I’m not sure if Moss is gone. He’s an intriguing element. He’s a great move guy, and he’s a tough matchup. … But if you draft RG3 No. 2, you’re expecting him to be a quality player, theoretically an All-Pro at some point. Look at the Patriots, they have nothing on the perimeter. So the notion of a No. 1, that’s falling by the wayside a little. Granted, if there’s a guy who’s like that then that’s great. But there aren’t a lot of those guys.

[Chico23231]

awesome, now this is a guy who knows his sh*t. an expert. Very cool he is impressed with RG3 over Luck. He really puts WR and their use in good context here.

[Ruhskins]

Excellent read.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

[mooby]

Loved it. Very informative. This is just getting me hyped to see some quality offensive football by the Redskins hopefully in the near future.

[MTK]

Cosell is great to follow on Twitter. He's on NFL Radio a lot in the mornings with Ross Tucker. Always a good listen.

[Lotus]

Excellent stuff Matty, thanks for that.

[IrMitchell]

Great insight from Cosell.

I'm really excited about the idea of having legitimate threats on offense.

[Coff]

Are the prognosticators 100% sold that the Colts are taking Luck? I'm getting to the point at which I would rather the Skins have RGIII than Luck, and I'll actually be dissapointed if they land Luck on draft day (can't believe I just wrote that sentence). What do people think are the chances the Colts draft RGIII? As far as I know they haven't opened up contract negotiations with Luck yet, right?

[Paintrain]

I was going to post excerpts from this as well.. For those that don't follow him or read his stuff, Keim is probably the best on the Redskins beat.. Tells it like it is but no JLC-type agenda or Johnny Sunshine treatment either.

Cosell made a few really good points about the need for a 'true #1 WR' with the way offenses are being played now. With Hankerson, Garcon, Morgan, Moss (eh), Paul/Robinson/2012 draftee plus Davis we should have adequate options in the passing game. The YAC that Gaffney, Moss, Stallworth, etc. left on the field should be eaten up by Garcon and to a lesser extent Morgan. Hankerson's YAC will be interesting to see because he's a little thin so battling for yards may be a challenge and didn't show much propensity to get a lot of YAC on his catches across the middle last year.

I was watching some of our games again recently and it was pretty obvious how much the play calling/production was limited by our QB. There were plays to be made that Grossman or Beck simply couldn't make. Underthrown deep balls, yards on the boot that weren't picked up, areas on the field that Rex/Beck didn't have the arm strength to make the throws. The more I see and read about RGIII and our offense, the more I feel like we are going to be in for something really special the next few years.

[SBXVII]

Originally Posted by Coff

Are the prognosticators 100% sold that the Colts are taking Luck? I'm getting to the point at which I would rather the Skins have RGIII than Luck, and I'll actually be dissapointed if they land Luck on draft day (can't believe I just wrote that sentence). What do people think are the chances the Colts draft RGIII? As far as I know they haven't opened up contract negotiations with Luck yet, right?

Your fears are mine. Everyone thinks of the Colts and Luck comes to mind. They pretty much write it off with the reasoning that Luck is the better QB, he's the most pro ready, and they assume the Colts definitely want him. But what if the HC is more infatuated with RG3? What if RG3 fits what the HC really wants to do better? If I'm a HC I'm thinking... yea Luck is the most pro ready, but in the long run we will get more out of RG3. We are rebuilding, we are not expected to do very well so why not bring in RG3 so he can extend the plays to help out the offense?

The kicker.. everything people are saying about RG3 and why we should take him and how he will help out would make me think longer about possibly taking him if I was the HC of the Colts. but everyone is so quick to pass this off because they assume the Colts are set on Luck and god forbid they took the Redskins RG3. If we don't think about it it won't happen right.

[SBXVII]

Originally Posted by Paintrain

I was going to post excerpts from this as well.. For those that don't follow him or read his stuff, Keim is probably the best on the Redskins beat.. Tells it like it is but no JLC-type agenda or Johnny Sunshine treatment either.

Cosell made a few really good points about the need for a 'true #1 WR' with the way offenses are being played now. With Hankerson, Garcon, Morgan, Moss (eh), Paul/Robinson/2012 draftee plus Davis we should have adequate options in the passing game. The YAC that Gaffney, Moss, Stallworth, etc. left on the field should be eaten up by Garcon and to a lesser extent Morgan. Hankerson's YAC will be interesting to see because he's a little thin so battling for yards may be a challenge and didn't show much propensity to get a lot of YAC on his catches across the middle last year.

I was watching some of our games again recently and it was pretty obvious how much the play calling/production was limited by our QB. There were plays to be made that Grossman or Beck simply couldn't make. Underthrown deep balls, yards on the boot that weren't picked up, areas on the field that Rex/Beck didn't have the arm strength to make the throws. The more I see and read about RGIII and our offense, the more I feel like we are going to be in for something really special the next few years.

Totally agree with you 100% except for one small detail which really is minor but big in the grand scheme of things... it also helps when you have a QB who can throw the ball in front of the WR to help them get YAC vs. a QB who is always throwing behind, too high, or in the dirt. I think Grossman saw Hankerson and figured he would toss the ball high to keep it away from defenders but that left Hankerson to have to jump for the ball and either get hit or drop to the ground to avoid getting hit.

[The Goat]

Very intelligent answers and practical insights. If Griffin (there you go Lotus ) can keep his head through the media circus and stay focused on the field he seems destined for greatness.

[NYCskinfan82]

Good stuff, damm I'm getting excited already is Late April yet.

[EEich]

He does a great interview with Ross Tucker every Thursday morning on Sirius/XM NFL radio.

[SkinzWin]

Now I just hope Indy doesn't read this and change their mind...