The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

Posted: **Tue Dec 19, 2006 12:27 am**

There's Room to Run for Betts and Portis

By Jason La Canfora

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 19, 2006; Page E03

Even with Ladell Betts compiling 100-yard games each week lately, Coach Joe Gibbs said there will be room for him and Clinton Portis in the Washington Redskins' offense next season. Betts is on the verge of his first 1,000-yard season, stepping up with Portis out for the season because of hand and shoulder surgeries.

The Redskins have reemphasized the rushing attack since Portis, who set a franchise rushing record in 2005, went down. Betts has 196 rushes for 933 yards (4.8 per carry) this season, shattering his previous highs. Betts had never previously rushed more than 90 times or gained more than 371 yards. Should he reach 100 yards again Sunday, he would match Portis's run of five straight 100-yard games last season. Still, Gibbs said he looks forward to having both healthy and together, and, given their strong relationship, he believes they can handle role-sharing.

"We feel great about those two guys carrying the ball for us," Gibbs said. "They've been great partners in the past. Clinton leads off and Ladell had a huge portion of the offense and what he's done this year has been great -- great for him and great for us.

"And certainly Clinton's our guy. He's rushed for a ton of yards for us and Ladell has a huge role for us and certainly there's room for having two good running backs and Ladell can also do a lot of other things for us. He's a heck of a receiver coming out of the backfield. He has been extremely aggressive. He's got some goals for himself in there, and I think it's showed up. He's made a real statement about himself and what he can do, and certainly that affects you as a coach."

Noise Factor in New Orleans

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Although the Redskins were called for procedural penalties in Sunday's 16-10 victory over New Orleans, they actually fared relatively well considering that the Louisiana Superdome was as loud as any stadium in which they have played since Gibbs returned in 2004. The noise was piercing at key times when Washington had the ball.

Gibbs had to use a timeout early in the game at least in part because of the noise, which caused a poor exchange between center Casey Rabach and quarterback Jason Campbell as well.

The inability to hear and communicate played a part in Gibbs's decision to opt for a field goal on fourth and short yardage late in the game.

"A couple of times in short yardage it really bothered us, and I think that influenced me, too, as far as going for it," Gibbs said. "When you have that happen to you, it influences you to say, 'We'd better get the points here because anything can happen on a short-yardage play if you're having that kind of trouble getting the snap.' "

Posted: **Tue Dec 19, 2006 4:47 pm**

I really look for Saunders and Gibbs to come up with a game plan that utilizes our backs and receivers a lot more effectively than we saw this year. I think that Portis is one of the best backs in the league and having Betts now is going to make our running game a lot more dangerous.

I think this will set up the passing game also as I believe that we have a very good receiving corp right now but this will be better with Jason having time to get used to the playmakers.

I would expect that Lloyd can be utilized a lot more in this offense as I really think we have not seen him used properly - this kid will be a force next year. I think he plays a lot taller than we have seen as I like how he does not mind how high or where the ball is - he seems to make a big effort to catch anything near him.

I think that Thrash is still very good with the special teams and he is still a good receiver. I am not sure that Patten will make this team next year.

Posted: **Tue Dec 19, 2006 4:51 pm**

As far as the sound at the New Orleans game is concerned - IF we ever get another stadium, I hope that it can be made so that when we want to make noise it can be as effective as possible. I have been at FedEx at tmes when you would think it would be very noisy but even with that many people screaming it does not seem to be as effective as it used to be at RFK.

Posted: **Tue Dec 19, 2006 4:51 pm**

SkinsJock wrote:I think that Thrash is still very good with the special teams and he is still a good receiver. I am not sure that Patten will make this team next year.

I was really hoping to see more out of Patten this year. Given his salary next year, I'm thinking that we'll give his spot to a younger receiver who is fighting to make a name for himself in the league. (Mike Espy would be my guess).

Posted: **Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:03 pm**

The one thing we have to realize is that Betts has been the lone beneficiary of Gibbs' return to "Redskins football" and also the only one to run while in the same backfield with a QB who presents a down-the-field threat on every snap.

It's enticing to think how Portis will perform in the same scenario.

Posted: **Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:27 pm**

They are paying Portis waaaay to much to be splitting carries. It is a really difficult situation because you can't trade portis because of his salary, you can't cut him because of his value, and you can't really trade Betts after what he has done the last 5 or so weeks. I am not trying to come off as anti-Portis, but the fact of the matter is he isn't necessary for the salary he is bringing in. And he's not alone...

Posted: **Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:43 pm**

brad7686 wrote:They are paying Portis waaaay to much to be splitting carries. It is a really difficult situation because you can't trade portis because of his salary, you can't cut him because of his value, and you can't really trade Betts after what he has done the last 5 or so weeks. I am not trying to come off as anti-Portis, but the fact of the matter is he isn't necessary for the salary he is bringing in. And he's not alone...

brad7686, how much are the Redskins paying Portis? How does that compare to other RBs in the league? Why is it "waaaay" too much to pay him if we also have Betts in the backfield? What would be a good salary to pay Portis for his role next year? Is giving Betts 5-15 carries a game taking too much away from Portis?

Posted: **Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:47 pm**

Well, Portis is often nicked up, if not injured. There's carries for Betts right there. And Betts has been very productive and may end up almost splitting halfway next year. At least hopefully. I'm saying the skins have cap issues and they don't have enough talent to have cap issues basically. Credit ignoring the draft and wasting gobs of money on mediocre-bad free agents. Portis salary isn't really expensive but he would be hard to trade because of it and lack of runningback need. Betts is MUCH cheaper.

Posted: **Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:50 pm**

brad7686 wrote:Well, Portis is often nicked up, if not injured. And Betts has been very productive and may end up almost splitting halfway next year like what denver does. At least hopefully. I'm saying the skins have cap issues and they don't have enough talent to have cap issues basically.

What are the cap issues that you are talking about? How much are we under the cap, how badly are we in need of cap space next year (in dollars)? How much does Portis affect the cap next year?

How many games has Portis missed due to injury, and how does that compare with other RBs around the league? What makes you think that he's likely to miss significant time in the future due to injury?

I apologize if these seem like a lot of questions, but the claims that you are making seem to be rather sweeping assertions. Further, when I try to find out what you mean about a given claim, you simply change the subject. . . sounds fishy to me. . .

Posted: **Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:45 pm**

brad7686 wrote:... And Betts has been very productive and may end up almost splitting halfway next year. At least hopefully. .

I hope you are kidding but I did not see any indication - Are you serious? ROTFALMAO

Portis is our best back and Betts will be our back-up - if we get rid of anyone or decide to limit anyone's carries it will be Betts. Betts cannot carry Portis' jock strap - he has a lot to learn about this position and he will be a very good back-up - that is what he is.

Posted: **Wed Dec 20, 2006 1:27 am**

SkinsJock wrote:
brad7686 wrote:... And Betts has been very productive and may end up almost splitting halfway next year. At least hopefully. .

I hope you are kidding but I did not see any indication - Are you serious?

Portis is our best back and Betts will be our back-up - if we get rid of anyone or decide to limit anyone's carries it will be Betts. Betts cannot carry Portis' jock strap - he has a lot to learn about this position and he will be a very good back-up - that is what he is.

Right now he is the starter, He appears to always be the team player and will be more than happy to take a back seat to CP. It's the fans that will go crazy everytime CP hits a hold too fast or does something else they don't approve of. I think Betts os starting material and should be starting for us next year when we go to a 2 back line up to start the game

Posted: **Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:35 am**

Right now, IMO, if we don't blow this thing up in the off-season like we've done in the past, we are very, very scary going into next season. I am certain that Gibbs and Saunders will come to a happy medium over the off-season and find a way to co-exist, run and gun the ball.

IMO, teams might not be saying it right now, but they are taking notice of what we are doing down the stretch. They are probably hoping for us to do what we did last year and blow this thing up. I seriously don't think so this off-season. I think that the only changes we will make this off-season is on the defensive side of the ball. Maybe go and get Smoot and Clark back, insert Rocky in as a starter, and maybe draft or go after a young FA DE and or DT.

The only thing this team really needs right now are a couple of young bodies on defense, coaching and discipline and continuity. Fit in a few pieces on defense and change nothing on offense. Coach'em up....

Posted: **Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:41 am**

SkinsJock wrote:
brad7686 wrote:... And Betts has been very productive and may end up almost splitting halfway next year. At least hopefully. .

I hope you are kidding but I did not see any indication - Are you serious?

Portis is our best back and Betts will be our back-up - if we get rid of anyone or decide to limit anyone's carries it will be Betts. Betts cannot carry Portis' jock strap - he has a lot to learn about this position and he will be a very good back-up - that is what he is.

that's it in a nutshell. with every goood runnning back there HAS to be a good back up. betts is in a amazing back and has a good future with the skins. duckett, well that's different.

Posted: **Wed Dec 20, 2006 12:04 pm**

1niksder wrote:
SkinsJock wrote:
brad7686 wrote:... And Betts has been very productive and may end up almost splitting halfway next year. At least hopefully. .

Are you serious?

Portis is our best back and Betts will be our back-up - he has a lot to learn about this position and he will be a very good back-up - that is what he is.

Right now he is the starter, He appears to always be the team player and will be more than happy to take a back seat to CP. It's the fans that will go crazy everytime CP hits a hold too fast or does something else they don't approve of. I think Betts os starting material and should be starting for us next year when we go to a 2 back line up to start the game

I understand - Betts is the starter and has done a great job, and I think Betts will be a very good player for us. I was really reacting to the thought that anyone feels that Betts might get more carries than Portis - Betts might be an integral part of our plans for next year but IMO he will not even get half the carries that Portis gets. I really want to emphasize that that in no way diminishes his importance to both the Redskins and their offensive plans or to Portis himself. Betts actually will benefit by playing with someone like Portis as his game can only get better IMO by playing alongside someone as great as Portis. Now that will be a scary looking backfield.

I also agree that I hope this offseason we do not see many changes on offense - yes we need some depth but this group will hopefully be back intact (for the most part). Defense needs a lot of tweaking and additions and subtractions - that will be interesting.

We also need to get younger and add depth - but who doesn't? :wink:

Posted: **Wed Dec 20, 2006 5:01 pm**

I think that we have a wonderful opportunity this year to take advantage of minimal needs. I think it would be nice to get a 1st round DE but if we were able to trade that pick and get say a late 1st and an additional 2nd round pick, it could help us out a lot. We could get a DE in the latter part of the 1st, a CB in the 2nd, and go all lineman the remaining draft. I would think that a lineman in the 1st to just sit back and watch would not be a wise decision unless you think that a guy may be gone in '08. Just my thoughts.

As for CP and LB in the backfield together can be really good. I immediatly think of how Philly used Westbrook and Duce back in the day. They would have both guys in the backfield and spread Westbrook out as a reciever. Betts is a good reciever and a good RB so making him multi deminsionable would help us.