It took Robert Griffin III just three days to eliminate first doubts. (Getty Images)

The news has the same surprise quotient you'd expect from Andrew Luck getting all the reps right away with the Indianapolis Colts, or the idea that the Denver Broncos will be doing pretty much whatever the heck Peyton Manning wants. That said, you Rex Grossman and Kirk Cousins fans will have to shine it on. At the end of the Washington Redskins' rookie minicamp on Sunday, head coach Mike Shanahan made it clear that Robert Griffin III, the Baylor quarterback selected second overall in the 2012 NFL draft, will be his starting quarterback from his first official professional snap.

Shanahan watched Griffin in five practices over three days, and saw enough to put it as simply as possible: "He's the starter. Period,"

So there.

"Anytime you pick a player with the second pick of the draft and you give up another two No. 1's and No. 2 and you move up four spots, you've got a game plan in mind," Shanahan said. "We're going to adjust our system to what he feels comfortable with, and we'll watch him grow, and we'll do what we feel like he does the best."

Griffin, the Heisman Trophy winner and consensus second-best player in this draft class behind Luck (actually, we tend to think he'll be the main man over time), was originally thought to be an eventual starter on a progressive plan as he transitioned to a West Coast offense after the spread/three-digit system he excelled with in college. But it didn't take Shanahan long to see and know: The kid is ready — or, at least, ready to learn the ropes at the highest level.

Griffin and Kirk Cousins get reps in over the weekend. (Getty Images)

The more teams got to know Griffin through the pre-draft evaluation process, the more they were impressed with his overall intelligence and ability to pick up different schemes at an accelerated pace. To that end, when the Redskins return to the practice field for OTAs on May 21, the coaching staff will have a plan in place around RG3 as the top kick.

Cost analysis isn't always what it's cracked up to be. (IMDB.com)

Any website can post "offseason grades" for NFL teams, mixing the draft and free agency into transaction soup, then straining it through the mind of some sportswriter who doesn't know who half the players are. Only the Shutdown 50 has the resources to get actual players, coaches, and executives from each team to evaluate their own offseasons! That's right: over the next few weeks, you will get transaction evaluations straight from the horse's mouths: straight talk about who was signed, who was lost, who was drafted, and why.

(For the satirically challenged: all player, coach, and executive remarks are made by an impersonator).

In this segment, Vikings Vice President of Public Relations and Stadium Development Lester Bagley talks about his team's offseason moves.

LESTER BAGLEY: Please kill me.

Find me, slip quietly behind me, and strangle me with an extension cord. Finding me will be the hard part: I am trapped in some government council committee meeting, trying to convince politicians to commit hundreds of millions of dollars to constructing a facility that will be used ten times per year. I haven't seen daylight in months, and somebody just took my stapler.

I agreed to do the Shutdown Corner team needs, even though I am not in the personnel department, because I desperately want to talk about anything except cost-benefit analyses of downtown stadium construction, liquor tax proposals, or anything that has to do with the community of Arden Hills. But I also hope to send the message that I no longer fear death but welcome it, because the stadium approval process is far worse.

Let's see. The Vikings allowed 34 touchdown passes and recorded just eight interceptions last year, so the secondary was one of our top priorities. Our offensive line gave up 50 sacks, which was another area of need. That is why we drafted USC tackle Matt Kalil and Notre Dame safety Harrison Smith in the first round instead of players we could build a marketing or stadium-referendum campaign around. Kalil and Smith are fine prospects, but you cannot exactly put them on a billboard and expect fans to rush to the firehouse basement and vote "Yes" on Column One.

(Getty Images)

By the way, did you notice that my title is Vice President of Public Relations and Stadium Development? That's like being Vice President of Company Morale and Firing People on Christmas Eve. Or Vice President of Environmental Awareness and Dumping Medical Waste in Snugglebunny Creek. My life has become an oxymoron.

Alex Tanney wants to show the NFL that he's more than a one-trick pony. (lostthatsportsblog.com)

The draft scouting process is generally a long and complicated one, but there are times when various outliers jump up for other reasons than the usual height/weight/speed concerns. You may remember former San Jose State defensive end Jarron Gilbert getting a great deal of notoriety for a 2008 YouTube video, in which he displayed his athleticism and explosiveness by jumping out of a swimming pool just before the 2009 NFL draft. He was originally selected by the Chicago Bears in the third round of that draft. Since then, he's also spent time on the New York Jets roster, and he's now with the Buffalo Bills.

Turns out that the Bills are open to other YouTube sensations, as they made clear this week. When Monmouth College quarterback Alex Tanney put this video up last year, the buzz started quickly -- and it hasn't stopped.

Several NFL teams asked Tanney to compete in their rookie minicamps this month, and he accepted the invitation of the Bills, who start their camp May 11.

"I'm from a small school, and the only thing I've ever really wanted was an opportunity to get into a camp," the 23-year-old Tanney told SI.com about the chance. "And now I have that in Buffalo, so I'm anxious to get out there and compete for a spot."

Tanney enjoys the notoriety  from the video, but he's now focused on making his next dream come true. "The success and the numbers I put up speak for themselves rather than the YouTube video," Tanney said. "But obviously, that's what people are going to talk about ... We really didn't expect it to take off like it did. It kind of blew up. We had fun with it. It was a good experience. But I kind of think that's past me. I'm just looking forward to getting my shot in the NFL."

Of course, NFL teams aren't just going to call up any trick-shot guy; Tanney does have some pretty impressive qualifications from a purely football perspective. The 14,429 yards he passed for at Monmouth gave him the all-time Division III record, and his 157 touchdown passes is the all-time NCAA mark. Tanney worked with Chad Pennington at the TEST Football Academy in Boca Raton, Fla., before the draft, and though he suspected that he'd miss out on hearing his name called, Tanney wanted to be as prepared as possible.

The Indianapolis Colts' 2012 rookies assemble for a class picture. (Getty Images)

The Shutdown Corner Podcast: Wrapping up the draft with Greg Cosell

Now that the 2012 draft is a thing of the past, we thought it was time to get back on the phone with our good buddy Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN's NFL Matchup. OF course, we talked with Greg pre-draft regarding all the best players per position, and if you'd like to review, you can find those podcasts here:

Related: [Cosell on quarterbacks, running backs/wide receivers, tight ends/offensive line, OLB/DE/DT stars, and the ILB/DB class]

Instead of going team-by-team and discussing who won or lost based on grades that make no sense at this point, we followed Greg's lead based on an article he wrote for the NFL Films blog regarding draft philosophy per team, and what an NFL team's draft can tell you about their future plans. Greg covered the Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his piece. We discussed those three teams in the podcast, but we also stretched that out to talk about more teams, general trends regarding players, and where the NFL stands at this point from a personnel and strategic perspective.

The Shutdown Corner Podcast: Wrapping up the draft with Greg Cosell

As Greg wrote in that article, "Organizations and coaches express their world view — what they want to be as a team — with their draft picks. I am not talking about the selection of individual players (i.e. this particular player over that particular player); I am speaking more generally about the positions targeted, and then more specifically, the attributes of those players. That addresses what kind of team they envision themselves being, how they believe they can best compete and win in the NFL."

As always with everything involving Greg Cosell, this podcast is a must-listen for those fans of advanced tape analysis. Subscribe to the Shutdown Corner iTunes link (in iTunes, go to "Advanced/Subscribe to Podcast," and paste this link in: http://ysportspods.podbean.com/category/shutdown/feed/). You can also use the link below to either left-click and listen, or right-click to save to your computer.

The Shutdown Corner Podcast: Wrapping up the draft with Greg Cosell

James Laurinaitis and Sam Bradford have great challenges ahead. (Getty Images)

Any website can post "offseason grades" for NFL teams, mixing the draft and free agency into transaction soup, then straining it through the mind of some sportswriter who doesn't know who half the players are. Only the Shutdown 50 has the resources to get actual players, coaches, and executives from each team to evaluate their own offseasons! That's right: over the next few weeks, you will get transaction evaluations straight from the horse's mouths: straight talk about who was signed, who was lost, who was drafted, and why.

(For the satirically challenged: all player, coach, and executive remarks are made by an impersonator).

In this segment, several coaches from the St. Louis Rams will help linebacker James Laurinaitis break down their team's moves. Take it away, guys.

CHUCK CECIL: Hello, I am Chuck Cecil, and I will be filling in as defensive coordinator for the suspended Gregg Williams.

DAVE MCGINNIS: Hello, I am Dave McGinnis, and I will also be filling in as defensive coordinator for the suspended Gregg Williams.

LAURINAITIS: Greetings, fans. Hey, don't worry about the confusion in the defensive staff. I may have a bunch of brand-new coaches with no clearly-defined leadership structure giving me orders, but trust me, these guys are always on the same page.

CECIL: That's right, James. Tell the fans about the new faces in the secondary.

MCGINNIS: No, James, tell them about the changes along the front seven.

LAURINAITIS: Well, I guess I will start with the secondary, where Cortland Finnegan and Janoris Jenkins are our new starting cornerbacks. These guys represent a major upgrade, because we only intercepted 12 passes, two of them by me. Of course, Finnegan is a hothead and Jenkins is a pothead, but both have outstanding talent, and with our clearly defined coaching structure, both will have well-articulated expectations and rules.

MCGINNIS: Tell them about Michael Brockers now.

CECIL: No, tell them about the free agents on the defensive line.

LAURINAITIS: How about I do both! Brockers was a fine first round pick. He is an athletic interior lineman who will help us get pass pressure without resorting to non-stop blitzing. Trevor Laws and William Hayes add a lot of depth on the line, so whichever of these guys is in charge of substitutions will be able to keep fresh players in the game.

Jim Irsay is waiting for the sun. (Getty Images)

Any website can post "offseason grades" for NFL teams, mixing the draft and free agency into transaction soup, then straining it through the mind of some sportswriter who doesn't know who half the players are. Only the Shutdown 50 has the resources to get actual players, coaches, and executives from each team to evaluate their own offseasons! That's right: over the next few weeks, you will get transaction evaluations straight from the horse's mouths: straight talk about who was signed, who was lost, who was drafted, and why.

(For the satirically challenged: all player, coach, and executive remarks are made by an impersonator).

To kick off the series, Colts owner Jim Irsay (a must-follow on Twitter, by the way), breaks down his team's offseason. Take it away, Mr. Irsay:

JIM IRSAY: Incense and peppermints, meaningless nouns.
Turn on, tune in, turn your eyes around.

Dudes! I didn't see you there. I was just rockin' out with some tunage. So, you have come to my mushroom mountain seeking wisdom. Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream. It is not dying. Last year was dying. Curtis Painter … ugh.

Like, the Peyton Manning era was an everlasting summer, but you could see it fading fast. So I gave Peyton his freedom. Though are any of us really free? I am! I can sit around in a bathrobe strumming George Harrison's old guitar while wearing a Super Bowl ring. That's freedom.

Anyway, Andrew Luck is from Stanford, which is not quite as groovy as being from Berkeley, but the kid is so smart that he will blow your mind. He's going to have two good rookie tight ends to throw to in Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen. And we kept Reggie Wayne because, like, Wayne is the only guy who knows where I parked half the time.

We are also changing to a 3-4 defense, which means Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis will have to move to linebacker. Now I know what you are thinking: two tight ends? A 3-4 defense? Have I become a sellout? Am I just following trends instead of letting my freak flag fly? Have I joined the establishment? No way, man: this is about going with the flow, and being flexible.

Be the willow, and not the oak. Read the Tao. Expand your mind.

Roger Goodell thinks he's officiating; the NFLPA says he's obfuscating. (Getty Images)

With all the talk about the right or wrong behind the NFL's decision to suspend four current and former New Orleans Saints players for the roles (both alleged and admitted) in the recent bounty scandal, perhaps the most troublesome aspect of the process is the extent to which the NFL Players' Association has asked the league for specific information regarding the process Roger Goodell and his minions went through ... and hasn't received it.

Yahoo's own Mike Silver and Dan Wetzel have written well this week about what needs to happen on both sides for this process to seem fair and equitable. When Shutdown Corner spoke with NFLPA lead outside counsel Richard Smith on Friday, we were surprised to find that the post-suspension appeal process isn't even about the right and wrong of bounties at this point -- right now, it's about jurisdiction and due process. In other words, folks, the repercussions of the bounty scandal have just begun.

[Related: Read the NFLPA's filings here]

NFLPA counsel Richard Smith. (Pro Player Insiders)When the NFL made its decisions known -- that Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma would be suspended for a full season, current Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove for eight games, defensive end Will Smith for the first four games, and current Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita for the first three -- the NFLPA attempted to do what it does. According to Smith, the PA received nothing but a summary statement and the ability to review a PowerPoint presentation the league put together regarding the particulars of the violations.

Beyond that, Smith says, the NFLPA was given nothing requested -- no player names, no interview transcripts, no dates of violations per the NFL's investigations ... they weren't even allowed to take a copy of the PowerPoint with them to review it. Based on Smith's recollection of the process, the NFLPA's attempts to get that information and properly represent the players resembled the student court in "Animal House" -- a kangaroo court process from start to finish.

"All the PA ever physically received from the NFL were the report and the coaches' suspension decision [attached as Exhibits A & B] to the Burbank grievance, and the suspension letters to the 4 players, attached as Exhibits C-F to the Burbank grievance," Smith told us. "This the sum total of the "facts" that have been provided by the NFL.  The League exhibited the PowerPoint in a meeting in March, 2012, but refused to make a copy available.  They refused to make anything else available, even under an agreement of confidentiality.  The PA's multiple requests to the NFL  for documents and for the ability to interview witnesses have all been denied.  The letters that were sent asking coaches to give interviews  to the PA have all gone unanswered."

[Silver: NFL needs to publicly release evidence of players' bounty involvement]

The Burbank grievance smith spoke of is the grievance the NFLPA felt it had to file, given its unsuccessful attempts in the post facto discovery process. On Thursday, the PA  filed a grievance with the NFL's vice president of labor arbitration and litigation, Buckley Briggs, and a System Arbitration with the System Arbitrator, Professor Stephen Burbank of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. You can find the filings here, but in a nutshell, these are the PA's contentions:

1. Roger Goodell's punishments "violated the [league's] duty of fairness to the players" and went against several aspects of the new collective bargaining agreement. First, per the filing, authority for any on-field conduct rests with the System Arbitrator (Burbank has served in this capacity for years) and not with the Commissioner.

2. Per the new CBA, Goodell is "prohibited from punishing NFL players for any aspect of the 'pay-for-performance/bounty' conduct occurring before August 4, 2011," which is when the new CBA was ratified. As we saw when the league came down hard of the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins for alleged salary cap violations at a time when the salary cap didn't technically exist, Goodell now feels that the timeframe in which the league operated in a vacuum is now completely in his jurisdiction. The PA argues that the league agreed to release players from penalties for any pre-CBA conduct.

Right now, what Vilma and the Saints did or didn't do isn't part of the NFLPA's argument. (Getty Images)

There are other issues here, but let's take a break from all that legalese and read the statement the NFL released on Friday as a response to the grievances.

Pete Carroll reviews who said 'Compete!' most often after the Seahawks' first 2012 OTA. (Doug Farrar)

RENTON, Wa. -- Former Green Bay Packers backup quarterback Matt Flynn may be the Seattle Seahawks' current clubhouse leader when it comes to contract size, but that is by no means an indicator of his future security as a starter for his new team. When Flynn, a free agent after spending four seasons as Aaron Rodgers' reserve, signed a three-year, $26 million on March 18 with Seattle, it set him on a path less certain than some with similar contracts around the league.

Not only is Flynn in the sights of head coach Pete Carroll's "Always Compete" meme, he's also in a parallel depth chart situation with Tarvaris Jackson, who fought though a pectoral injury in 2011 to play just well enough to keep his name in the hat ... and not well enough to keep other quarterbacks away from his once-assigned parking space.

"It's different because I know I'm going to be competing and I know everything I do matters," Flynn said after his first mandatory/voluntary workout session at the team's Virginia Mason Athletic Center facility. "In Green Bay, I kind of had the luxury of sitting back and learning and being able to take my time in the progression of becoming a better quarterback. Now I get to come in here and compete and get the opportunity. That's what I came here for and that's what I'm excited about."

"Who said 'competition' the most?", Carroll joked after practice, when asked who's in the lead. "Whoever said that word the most when they were up here getting interviewed, he's ahead right now."

Jackson, who won the job by default in a lockout-compressed 2011 offseason because he was familiar with the system run by new offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell from their days together with the Minnesota Vikings, understands the fight -- he's been in that battle his entire career. Now, unlike his time behind the will-he-or-won't-he versions of Brett Favre, Jackson at least has a shot against a former Packers quarterback.

Tarvaris Jackson: Nothing is guaranteed, especially when former Packers QBs are involved. (Getty Images)

"It's a lot different," Jackson said of 2012. "Last year was so last-minute. When I got here I still wasn't able to practice, but now we're able to get in together and go through a full offseason, compete throughout the OTAs, throughout the training camp and just see where it lands. Last year I had more of a grasp of the offense being that it was such a short period of time that we had to get ready for the games, so that kind of gave me the lead on Charlie [Whitehurst]. But it's a lot different this year. I'm just here to compete like always and just see how things play out."

Jackson and Flynn aren't the only ones in this quarterback derby, either. There's second-year backup Josh Portis who has more of a realistic chance to get fourth-game reps in the preseason and little else. The X-factor this year hasn't even arrived yet -- third-round pick Russell Wilson, the height-impaired Wisconsin quarterback who led the NCAA in passing efficiency in 2011.

Carroll and general manager John Schneider can't say enough about Wilson, and IMG performance coach Chris Weinke recently told Yahoo! Sports Radio that of all the signal-callers he's worked with (including Cam Newton, Ryan Tannehill, Christian Ponder, and Kirk Cousins), Wilson is his favorite. Most draft experts and several NFL teams agree than if Wilson was a hair taller than 5-foot-10 5/8, he'd have been a top 10 overall pick. As it is, the Seahawks see no issue with throwing Wilson into the ring for the short and long term. He'll be in town for next weekend's minicamp.

Russell Wilson has college success, but he wants much more. (Getty Images)

"We'll take a good look at Russell," Carroll said.