RG3 may be done in Washington, but he doesn’t have to be done for good

Robert Griffin III has been benched in Washington, which means his career there is all but over.

The writing was on the wall when Jay Gruden, hired as head coach in part because of his work with offenses in general and quarterbacks in particular, boldly called out RG3’s “fundamental flaws” a couple of weeks back. Rookie coaches don’t blast franchise quarterbacks unless the quarterback is not long for the franchise.

Gruden smartly knew the only way to keep the rest of his locker room behind him was to call out Griffin for the lousy play and worse decision-making that players were seeing, and seething over, on film each week. It’s too easy for fans and media to see a frustrated DeSean Jackson pouting on the field and figure he’s a diva just interested in getting the ball. The truth is, he was wide open, repeatedly, and Griffin couldn’t find him.

It's also too simple to frame things as a personality conflict, like the crowd of football neanderthals was hating on poor, nice Robert. That wasn't all true, or at all fair, either. A QB doesn't have to be liked by the other guys, he just has to be competent. The NFL is a job, and guys want the job done well long before they want a friend. At this point, that makes Colt McCoy popular.

Washington gave up a ransom for the Heisman winner out of Baylor – trading three first-round picks and one second-rounder to the St. Louis Rams to select RG3 second overall. The fallout for that will sting for years. In the end, the Redskins got a guy who wasn’t close to comparable to first overall pick Andrew Luck.

Not even three full seasons in and RG3 is slowed by injuries and more painfully hampered by a lack of development. Whether Luck-Griffin winds up in the Manning-Leaf bin (minus Leaf’s off-field and legal troubles) of draft history choices remains to be seen.

That the above sentence could even be written would have been impossible to imagine as recently as two years ago, when Griffin was revitalizing the Washington franchise and thrilling the nation's capital and the nation at large with what appeared to be revolutionary ability.

He had 4.3 speed, a strong arm, a dynamic presence on the field. He filled up almost as many commercials as Peyton Manning. Everyone loved him.

Now what?

Griffin's contract calls for Washington to decide by May whether to pick up an $18.4 million extension for the 2016 season. So that isn't happening, which means he's done for that team.

His future will come down to how Griffin handles what must be a humiliating setback. He’s known almost nothing but success, so the emotional toll here could be significant. Does he wallow, or rededicate? We’ve seen too many top quarterback picks go bust who never really fought for a second chance.