Do we have a solid back-up at running back?

Hog lover · Post by **Hog lover** » Mon May 10, 2004 4:15 pm

I want to say first and foremost, we may have some back-ups with the great potential but i truly do not believe trung or betts will get the job done. I think our best bet is to go with Cartwright at back-up running back. I like Trung speed and break-away capabitities but in the NFL you have to do more. I recall several times last season where it seemed Trung would make a game-breaking play but only to get "shoe-stringed tackled" or simply go down too easy.

With Betts i love his capabilities but i have to question his heart, i recall last season when he would run the ball good at times but "sucked" with the intangible's like blocking, injuries, etc.

I dont know what we would do w/out Portis but in the NFL you have to have a back-up plan which i think we should address ASAP!

redskincity · Post by **redskincity** » Mon May 10, 2004 4:18 pm

We trade Trung for Faulk and next year Faulk for Holmes and the year after that we get Jamal Lewis for a 6th round pick

We are good to go at RB with Trung busting out of the backfield. :wink:

Jake · Post by **Jake** » Mon May 10, 2004 4:45 pm

redskincity wrote:Trung busting out of the backfield.

He actually plans on doing that this year?? :shock:

Wow, do you have any inside info? Last year, he couldn't bust out of a nursing home! :lol:

Irn-Bru · Post by **Irn-Bru** » Mon May 10, 2004 5:08 pm

Wow, do you have any inside info? Last year, he couldn't bust out of a nursing home last year!

That's because Bruce Smith was in there to make the tackle!

oafusp · Post by **oafusp** » Mon May 10, 2004 5:30 pm

This will be interesting to watch over the next few months. Betts will be great if he can stay healthy (he has had plenty of time to let the broken forarm to heal), Trung will get to showcase his skill with a "Real" NFL offense instead of the "fun n gun", and Cartright is on the fringe.

Word is that Rock wants to switch to tailback since Gibbs does not use fullbacks...that will be his best chance at making the team. Believe it or not he does have a good chance...think back to Byner and Garald Riggs...Rock being Riggs and Portis being Byner..

We could carry 4 RB's and have great depth..otherwise this will be just as interesting to watch as the QB competition

SkinFan 0-16 or 16-0 · Mon May 10, 2004 6:59 pm

Here is how are Running Back Situation will be:

Potis: Feature Back/Starter

Candidate: Speed backup

Betts: Power backup

Morton: KR/3rd down running back.

Cartwright: Shortyardage/ goaline back.

McCoullough: Practice squad (the guy has talent, he just needs time to develop)

Simon: Backup For Someone else.

redskincity · Post by **redskincity** » Mon May 10, 2004 7:14 pm

Jake wrote:
redskincity wrote:Trung busting out of the backfield.

He actually plans on doing that this year??

Wow, do you have any inside info? Last year, he couldn't bust out of a nursing home last year!

Man you crazy Jake Cool

Chris Luva Luva · Post by **Chris Luva Luva** » Mon May 10, 2004 7:25 pm

I say we rid ourselves of Candidate and use McCoullough. Candidate thus far has been a bust in the NFL. McCoullough is a young guy with talent who needs some time to shine, if he's worth the trouble I say we stuck him in there every so often. I hope that he gets a shot and the he isn't just trapped on the practice squad.

Magoo · Post by **Magoo** » Mon May 10, 2004 7:43 pm

That's too many backs for an opening season roster.

I agree with oafusp - Betts has the potential to be a the kind of #2 who teams without a good back will want to sign for their #1 back.

I can't see how you can take McCoullough over Candidate since McC has yet to be a regular season contributer. Plus, he can't be on the practice squad for more than one season, and he's already gone that route.

Candidate can play. He might need to be a role player like Kelvin Bryant back in the day.

The odd men out here seem to be Rock, unless he earns his spot on special teams, and Morton, who seems to be missing in action in all of the mini-camp, off-season reporting we've seen to date.

GibbSkins · Post by **GibbSkins** » Mon May 10, 2004 8:49 pm

SkinFan 0-16 or 16-0 wrote:Here is how are Running Back Situation will be:

Potis: Feature Back/Starter

Candidate: Speed backup

Betts: Power backup

Morton: KR/3rd down running back.

Cartwright: Shortyardage/ goaline back.

McCoullough: Practice squad (the guy has talent, he just needs time to develop)

Simon: Backup For Someone else.

yeah that sounds about right....
its kinda hard to really judge any of them yet... S.S kept switching the guys around and non of them had a chance to get in a grove..but now that the Hog trainer is back to farming the Oline =P~

whoever follows Porttis will find lots of holes to run through.... and i dont think there will be many offside penalties this year either My 2 cents

there hasnt been any mention of morton yet this offseason...anybody know what the story is there? is he comming back?

Chris Luva Luva · Post by **Chris Luva Luva** » Mon May 10, 2004 9:43 pm

Candidate is injury prone. Yea the blocking may not have been too swell last year but its still an issue and a possibility. We have a young promising back in Sultan, I think we need to play him a lot in the preseason to see if he can be our 2nd man. I don't want to let good cheap talent go to another team.

Smithian · Post by **Smithian** » Mon May 10, 2004 10:07 pm

If you look at Trung's stats, you'll notice does pretty darn well as a backup RB. If Joe Gibb's can get the big boys to open up a hole for Trung to slip through, he can make about 10 yards before they catch up to him. He isn't a good starter, but if Gibbs needs a fix for a couple dames when Portis goes down, Trung won't be great, but he'll keep us afloat. Plus, he doesn't cost THAT much. His contract screams NFL minimum wage compared to the money Portis is getting.

Point being; In Trung's pure year as a backup, starting only two games, he had pretty darn good stats.

skinsfaninroanoke · Post by **skinsfaninroanoke** » Mon May 10, 2004 10:09 pm

unfortuantely with some of the things written lately I would have to say I think his days are numbered here... things like he has sat out the minicamps and so on...

sounds like Trotter to an extent - but I hope I am wrong

Chris Luva Luva · Post by **Chris Luva Luva** » Mon May 10, 2004 10:16 pm

I'm not doubting that Candidate would be a good backup, actually I agree with you. Sadly he can't seem to stay healthy. All Im saying is that if Sultan is in Candidates mold and shows promise during the pre-season then I say we give the young blood some playing time.

njskinsfan · Post by **njskinsfan** » Mon May 10, 2004 11:55 pm

C'mon Magoo .... Trung can be like Bryant.
Bryant could not catch a cold, especially if he was wide open. I have vivid nightmares of Kelvin dropping balls in the middle of the field being wide open. Bryant was SOFT just like Trung.

Jake .... I will tell you for the 5th time Trumg is gone before the 3rd preseason game. He can take his sissy style and bloated ave. per carry to some west coast style game and we will spend the $900,000 somewhere else.

JonC56 · Post by **JonC56** » Tue May 11, 2004 12:02 am

I had trung on my fantasy team when he was on the rams. I think it was three years ago, and he was amazing. when Faulk went down he put up some of the best numbers in the league. He's a little small to be a workhorse type back, but with speed like that I think he can be an ecxellent backup. I like betts also but he seems to get injured more then trung. He's been plagued with injuries since he came into the league. And as for Mcullough, he looked good against some third stringers in the preseason, but theres no way Id cut trung, rock or betts to keep mcCoulough, and you cant have him on the practice squad.

Redskins Rule · Post by **Redskins Rule** » Tue May 11, 2004 1:21 am

McCoulough shows some potential. I think we should wait until training camp and preseason before we pass judgement on him. Trung is almost certainly cut. We got so many running backs right now I can't see us keeping him. Coach Gibbs has already said that he liked Betts and we all know that cartwright is good and now with Portis in there I think the back to cut would be trung.

ii7-V7 · Post by **ii7-V7** » Tue May 11, 2004 10:26 am

I still don't think that Rock is as good as everyone seems to think. He really only had one good game. He had several games where he had 3 rushing attempts for three yards, or 1 attempt for -1 yards. But even when he was used as a featured runner he had games where he would post impressive stats like 12 attempts for 18 yards. But, I think that I know why everyone likes him. His best game came against the hated Pukes, and even though he didn't really have that many rushing yards he did have 4 touchdowns. So when people remember Rock they remember him running over the Cowboys, or they remember him punching it into the endzone.

Still, Trung's numbers are much better. He had more yards and more yards per attempt. He had more respectable games than Rock. But he also played a few games with a high ankle sprain. In those games he carried the bal alot with poor results. This undoubtedly lowered his Yards/carry average, yet he still had a signifcantly higher yards/carry than the uninjured Rock Cartwright.

I really think that odd man out should be Betts. He has had several chances to prove himself and yet he has come up short every year. I mean Kenny Watson outperformed the guy, and Kenny was undrafted. But Gibbs sees somehting that he like in him, so he will most likely stay.

Who do I like better? I like Rock better than Candidate, but if I was a GM I would rather have Trung than Rock. Trung's track record as a second RB is pretty darn good. He just isn't healthy enough to carry the full workload. Even when Rock is healthy he has proved that he is mediocre at best.

Chad

REDEEMEDSKIN · Post by **REDEEMEDSKIN** » Tue May 11, 2004 11:42 am

IMO, Rock and Sultan are the odd men out. It will be an interesting competition to watch during training camp. I hadn't thought about it before.

Good stuff to keep in mind.

Hey, just to stir the pot a little, any chance Portis gets beat out by any of our other backs? Who would have the best chance?

riggofan · Post by **riggofan** » Tue May 11, 2004 2:44 pm

Hard to judge Trung off of last year, but I still think Betts has shown a lot of potential. If he can stay healthy, he would be a nice backup for Portis. Maybe some trade value down the road?