Nitpickin'

While discussing an upcoming draft, Bill Walsh once told his staff, "I don't want to know what he can't do. Tell me what he can do." The NFL Draft has come to be under such a microscope that finding holes in a player's game becomes more important than determining whether the player can help a team win games. Ray Lewis was too slow. Maurice Jones-Drew was too small. John Randle was too everything to even be drafted. Can he play football? Can he win games? Those should be the questions.

On his recent podcast, Rich Eisen asked Charles Davis what sort of nitpickin' will be done on Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III between now and the Draft. What will be found to separate Griffin from Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. I know that sparking debate and discussion is Eisen's job. I just don't see the need to separate players by tearing one of them down. It's likely that the Indianapolis Colts is the only team that has to make the decision between the two. My guess is that the choice will be Luck. I was more sure of that with the prior coaching staff but I still see Luck as the more likely choice. Rather than nitpick the abilities of Griffin I think a better discussion is what team best suits his unique skills. Any offense is going to look a whole lot different with Griffin running it. Bottom line is that Griffin is an excellent quarterback and football player. He can  play in any offense but he will change that offense. His speed will spread out the defense. Cam Newton's success this past season helps Griffin and Griffin throws the ball better than Newton coming out of college. Talk about that. Is he too short? Is he too slight of build? Too many times supposed physical limitations have proven ridiculous when called to nitpick an excellent football player. Talk about which teams might trade up to get the quarterback that the Colts don't take. Those questions are far more interesting. I suppose that it's the glass is half full/half empty view. I'd just rather see players judged by what they can do. Those are usually the skills that translate into wins on the football field.