Robert Griffin III: Giants pass rush doesn't scare me

Robert Griffin III has been the talk of New York this week as he makes his way around town before Thursday night's 2012 NFL Draft, but the future quarterback of the Washington Redskins might have picked his own words a little better last night.

The projected No. 2 pick says the prospect of facing the New York Giants ferocious pass rush of Jason Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora does not scare him.

"I'm not going to play with fear," Griffin III said.  "I'm a talented guy and  I respect talent.  I respect Pierre-Paul, I respect Tuck, Umenyiora all of those guys, but I am not going to go out and play as if I'm scared they are going to sack me."

RG3, the headline player posed with former-NFL great Barry Sanders at EA sport's NCAA Football '13 Draft Party at Lavo nightclub on Tuesday.  He said he isn't going to change the way he approached the game in college.

"That's the one thing I've never done as a player," he said.  "Never play with fear, always play fearless but respect your opponent.  Those guys are so great, so use your strength against them."

The Heisman Trophy winner believes he can lead his team to victory without scoring a lot of points.

"From what I heard, you score 21 points in the league and you win 70 percent of your games," said the QB.  "I come from the Big 12, where if you score 56 points you might win a couple so I look forward to only having to score only 21 points and win, it's a great feeling."

The naivety of youth.  Hate to break this to you RG3, first, you have to score 21 points.

Griffin III attributes the evolution of quarterbacks— from pure drop-back passers to modern NFL signal callers who can play inside and outside the pocket— to some past and present Giants pass rushers.

"First and foremost, you have to blame guys like Mike Strahan, Reggie White, Justin Tuck for making quarterbacks more mobile," he said.  "The game always evolves, because defensive linemen are so mobile now, quarterbacks have to be able to move a little bit.  They don't have to be world-class speed guys but they have to be able to move."

It looks like RG3 is ready to work with Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan and be embraced by the playoff-starved Hogs fans.

"The way I look at it, it shows that not only is a team aligned with its fan base, but also the team believes in you," Griffin III said.  "I love that, I wanted a team to fall in love with me and I can't be mad about that."

"It's not a knock on the Colts, but they never had a moment like that, it was always back and forth.  Washington made a decision and said, 'look, we want this guy,' I'm humbled by that."

Don't expect the same love from the Giants.