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

Alot of people are bragging about how Portis will be a big pass catcher as well as a runner; I have to, sadly, disagree.

In Denver, Mike Anderson made the screen catches and caught those dump offs. portis's main use here will be too block and keep our QBs off their backs and keep Tim Hasselbeck and, God forbid, Gibran Hamdan off the field.

Well, all I can say is that he has been pass catching really well in camp from what I saw. He may not be a pass catcher but that's what he'll be doing a bit of this year.

Brunell hit Portis with a seam pattern for a touchdown that was so reminscient of Kelvin Bryant it's almost scary.

He is a pass catcher, but Shannon Sharpe was used more for Plummers check downs.
Portis did have a 72 yard reception last year, so he can do things with a pass. He'll likely get a few passes, but remember that Coles, Gardner, McCants, and our H-back will be the primary receivers.

in his first 2 seasons, Portis has 71 catches for a 9.5 yard avg. .. that's about 35 a year which is more than most team's 3rd WR's.. he will catch the ball out of the backfield and make some plays. he joked about how LT got 100 catches last year so he's going to get 101 and told Coles to not expect another pro bowl.. he was being humorous but he knows he's going to be in the passing game more than he was w/ Denver.

He will definately make some catches as a check-down out of the backfield.

Honestly, with the receivers that we have, I don't mind if Portis only catches 1-2 passes per game, as long as he runs well and keeps the other guy's defenses honest. If he does that, he will be worth what he is getting paid, because of the options it'll open up on offense. I mean, let's face it, how many times did Riggo catch a pass in any given game, and look at how successful the Skins were in his heyday.

Try to remember that Portis' background favors good hands. In Denver, he was so good at what he does primarily that it wasn't really necessary for him to pull down 6-7 passes a game. They ran him, and ran him ragged. Joe Gibbs will do his best to ensure that he has himself an all-purpose back. If he's not ready for that, he'll be an excellent decoy for the long ball on third-and-short, no ? I probably have to disagree with using Portis as a blocker, though. I'm not sure what his track record is as a blocker, but why put all that money out there to block when you have approximately 14,451,502 TE's hanging around ?

the only pass i want him to be able to catch is the handoff ( yeah i know thats not a pass) but thats my point. REDSKINZ4EVER

Actually, I've seen it in a few articles, but Gibbs said one of the reasons he pulled the trigger on Portis was because of his blocking skills. Portis is an excellent blocker.

here's one very good article on portis with a mention of his blocking skills.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar ... 4Aug4.html

"Perhaps Portis's most overlooked skill is his pass blocking, particularly his knack for picking up blitzes."