Team news: Carolina Panthers | Page 97

New HC Jay Gruden commented again on how he plans to use QB Robert Griffin III...

“Robert’s the quarterback and ultimately Robert will play the position the way Robert plays it,” Gruden told Pollin. “You know, I’m not gonna turn him into a robot and say, ‘Stay in [the pocket] no matter what.’ Part of his effectiveness as a quarterback is his ability to run. But will we have designed runs for him? Maybe not as many as they had last year, but there’s a possibility of having those.

“Obviously when we call drop-back passes, we want him to be a drop-back passer, but if things break down like sometimes they do – sometimes guys are covered, they’re not open – he needs to be Robert and make good decisions. And sometimes throwing it away is a good decision, sometimes running for two yards is a good decision and getting down. So he’s got to play the position the way he plays it.”

Regarding the read-option...

“We’ll have sprinkles here and there,” Gruden said. “It’s not going to be a major part. I want to make sure that we have other things that we can do besides the read-option, because it takes a toll. You have to practice it a lot to be very good at it. It kind of takes away from the defense’s ability a little bit, it takes away from other plays that you need to work on, your protection schemes, your running game, all that stuff. It just takes away from that. So we want to make sure that we work on the core running game that we have, the core drop-back passes we have. And then once we get going, we get those implemented, maybe sprinkle in some read-option.”

Griffin is a major bounce-back candidate with the addition of DeSean Jackson and the arrival of Gruden, who coaxed top 5 numbers out of Andy Dalton. Rushing yards are a big part of his fantasy value, but he'll still be a threat in that area of the game even if the Redskins don't feature the read-option.

A couple days back, Santana Moss appeared on a podcast with ESPN’s John Clayton, and the topic of Robert Griffin III’s health came up. Clayton asked for a status report.

“He looks more comfortable, because he don’t have to worry about that brace,” Moss said. “I think the brace was the big discomfort last year. You know, he’s a young guy with those fiery legs that want to do so much, and that brace probably gave him a little pinch in the behind, because he couldn’t do the things that he was normally accustomed to doing. You can already see, when we’re out there in conditioning and stuff, he’s running around, looking like the old Robert Griffin.”

Which reminded me that Chris Cooley recently hit a local field with Griffin, and had a similarly rave review. This was before Griffin was permitted to work out with his teammates at Redskins Park; Cooley instead took the QB to his own gym, Lifetime Fitness near Ashburn. The men took turns running routes and throwing passes to each other.

“It’s unbelievable,” Cooley reported. “He’s another person right now. I was like, ‘you’re running unbelievably well.’ It was silly to watch….When you watch him run, you’re like ‘You’re a freak. You’re seriously a freak.’ ”

Griffin is a bounce back candidate now that he's another year removed from his ACL surgery and is able to discard the knee brace which obviously limited his mobility in 2013. Jay Gruden coaxed top 5 fantasy numbers out of Andy Dalton, so it's not inconceivable that he could do the same with RG3. It doesn't hurt that the Redskins have plenty of weapons in the passing game (e.g. Pierre Garcon, DeSean Jackson, Andre Roberts and Jordan Reed).

Hue Jackson is taking over as offensive coordinator after spending the 2013 season coaching Bengals running backs. In 2010, he was the offensive coordinator in Oakland before getting promoted to head coach in '11. The Bengals signed his quarterback from those two teams, Jason Campbell, last month in part to give Andy Dalton a veteran voice at the position that he hasn't really had throughout his career.

The hallmark of Jackson's Raiders scheme was running, and he has already vowed to do more of that in his new role with the Bengals in an effort of easing the pressure on Dalton.

"You have to have the threat of running the ball and the threat of being a physical unit in order to last for the duration of the season," Jackson said on the radio interview.

This is good news for Giovani Bernard and not so good news for the fantasy prospects of Dalton, A.J. Green and Marvin Jones. The Bengals were 12th in pass attempts in 2013 and it sounds as if that number (587) is going to drop in 2014.

Bengals HC Marvin Lewis believes in QB Andy Dalton. And he'd prefer an extension done. Soon.

"We are hopeful we can get a deal done that works and Andy can put it behind him," Lewis said. "He can get back focusing on football. He doesn't have to go into the season and worry about this contract thing, every week someone is going to ask him a question … all those things that come into play later on. Let's get it behind us."

Despite some early playoff exits, the Bengals are committed to keeping Dalton around. However, he's still a QB2/committee-type of fantasy QB.

Former Browns QB Jason Campbell reached agreement on a one-year deal with the Bengals. Now reunited with Hue Jackson.

The Bengals made it clear that Campbell is not a threat to starter Andy Dalton.

New Redskins HC Jay Gruden will be judged by wins and losses, to be sure, but also by whether he can coach and teach Robert Griffin III into becoming the franchise quarterback he was drafted to be.

“I worked with Andy Dalton for three years in Cincinnati, and built a foundation of concepts and protections that I think worked well with him,” Gruden said. “With Robert, we’ll obviously use his skill set differently. When it comes to the quarterback position, my job is to make him comfortable and productive. I’m not going to try to turn RG3 into Andy Dalton or Drew Brees. He isn’t them. They’re not him. I would be foolish to try to turn RG3 into a pocket passer. It would be foolish. The way he is as a runner, we have to take advantage of that. He strikes fear into defensive coordinators when he runs outside. I’m going to let him be himself.”

Griffin's fantasy value will be a hotly debated topic heading into 2014 drafts. On a per game basis he was the #3 QB in his rookie season, but finished #17 in the same category in 2013. If he's healthy, he should be a fantasy QB1.

Meanwhile, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis began his 12th season with a face-to-face endorsement of embattled quarterback Andy Dalton before reiterating it publicly at his Monday news conference.

“He’s won big games for us and he’ll continue to win big games. We ask a lot out of him, there’s no doubt about it. He just finished his third season of doing it. I believe in his abilities, I believe in his makeup, I believe in his maturity and I believe in his ability to let the last play go and move on to the next play. That’s probably one of his best attributes along with his abilities,” Lewis said. "He had another very good season. He’s progressed well. We need to continue to do things to make his job just easier and easier to do, and make sure to continue to be repetitive with what we do for him, and continue to let the players around him continue to get better, and they continue to get better and that’s all we have to work at."

Apparently Dalton was looking for that assurance. After taking part in three turnovers in his third straight poor postseason performance, Dalton is under terrific heat from fans and pundits despite his three-year starting record in the regular season of 30-18 as one of four quarterbacks in NFL history to lead his team to the postseason in his first three years as a pro.

It sounds as if the Bengals will not make a change at QB this offseason.

Former Colts general manager Bill Polian said it might take awhile for Bengals TE Tyler Eifert to get up to speed with the offense, but based on what we've seen he is pretty in tune right now.

During the first week of camp, the rookie tight end has pulled down 10 or more catches a day from Andy Dalton in 11-on-11 drills while also showing improvement as a run blocker. With A.J. Green out for all but one practice, the first-round draft pick is definitely Dalton's favorite target.

Isn't it looking like the backup Bengals QB job is Josh Johnson's to lose?

He's the crop's best runner, he can throw it deep, and he knows the system. Meanwhile, John Skelton is adjusting to the West Coast offense and Zac Robinson is bouncing back from missing the last part of the spring workouts when he rested his arm.

Johnson looks like the favorite to back up Andy Dalton, who we rank 17th with an ADP of the 12th round.

ESPN AFC North blogger Jamison Hensley on WR Mohamed Sanu: "I saw him at the mandatory minicamp and he looked rusty in the one practice that I watched. Sanu dropped a couple of easy passes. But that could have been an "off" day for him. I expect him to start next to Green this year."

Wer'e also expecting Sanu to start for the Bengals. He never broke the 50-yard mark in 2012, but he did score four TDs in three games and could surprise as the Bengals' WR2 in 2013. He'll benefit from all the attention teams will pay to A.J. Green and Andy Dalton is a capable quarterback.