Offense in 2007

[RedzoneHunter]

I'm sure to be slammed for this, but I made a comment on these boards before yesterdays game that it's quite possible that Betts just may be a better back in this new system, than Portis is. And now, after watching Betts run over the Eagles yesterday, I'm almost positive that he is. There's no question he's a better receiver out of the backfield. It also appears that he hits the hole with more of a burst, uses his blockers more to his advantage than Portis does, and it also appears that he has better vision as well. I don't know what's going to happen, but I whole heartedly believe that Portis is going to have a hard time getting his job back. And since Portis is getting over twice the money of Betts, it would be wise to trade Portis to the highest bidder, but only if the price is right. Such a deal would be good in two ways. If we traded him, say for a player of need on defense, it would (1) help fill a hole on the team; and (2) it would create some much needed cap space for filling another weakness somewhere else on defense

We might want to keep T. J. Duckett if the price is right. However, he is not being used properly in this system. Saunders keeps trying to run him outside. He's a bruiser and to be effective, Duckett needs to run between the tackles. Running him outside gives an overwhelming advantage to the defense because he's not as quick as Portis and Betts. But this wasn't Saunders only mistake yesterday:

It was a huge mistake to try to throw that slant pattern to Cooley. We should never, never, I mean never line Cooley up wide. He isn't nearly quick or fast enough to beat a cornerback. A corner will always be able to get a jump on him. Campbell's second interception wasn't his fault either. It was Saunders fault for a poorly designed play, and it probably cost us the game. Please Mr. Saunders, quit thinking that Cooley can play wide receiver, and that Duckett can run sweeps outside.

Now on a more positive note: I love the way that Campbell is progressing in this new system. He is improving very rapidly from week to week. Next year is going to be AWESOME!! If we can get our defense where it used to be, that is.

[Skins4481]

Trade Portis? Thank you very much for your o-so-original idea!

[kiddhan625]

I agree that Betts is definitly an awesome back. He STILL can't lay people out like Portis does. Have you ever seen portis block in the backfield?

[H-O-G]

Just imagine what Clinton Portis would do in this system? He was averaging close to 5 yards a carry and had 7 TD with minimal playing time. Just wait till next year.

[WVUforREDSKINS]

Yea i get the impression that either Portis or Saunders will be gone. Campbell should get better with time but I just don't know what to expect from this defense next year.

[CM916]

Dual 100 yard rushers in Portis and Betts, 500 yards of offense, 30 points a game. This is what I see with an experienced and newly trained Campbell and a wide open Saunders offense. We might even see a few big come from behind victories like yesterday almost was.

[skinsngibbs4life]

Honestly, I think our offensive line is blocking better for betts. He ALWAYS seems to have a gaping hole to run through and get a big gain.

with CP, it seemed like there was never a good hole to run through, and that he had to get 2 or 3 yards by plowing people over.

I know that betts has looked great in his starts so far this year, however, I think if portis ever got blocking like that, he would be doing even better than betts.

I dont know what it is, but it just seems like the line is finally blocking very well, and it just happens to be that betts is the one taking the advantages from it

[Riggo-toni]

Actually, I think the roles are reversed of what they should be, with Betts as the hammer, and Portis as the 3rd down back. Betts is terrible at picking up blitzes, whereas Portis may be the best in the NFL. Still, I don't see it happening. Betts will get a lot more carries as the #2 since Portis can't survive many more years doing 30+ carries a game. He'll go down to about 20, and Betts will get 10 to 15 or so.

[RedzoneHunter]

I agree that Betts is definitly an awesome back. He STILL can't lay people out like Portis does. Have you ever seen portis block in the backfield?

I've seen Portis trying to lay people out, but that's not his strong suit. He's not a bruiser type. Betts has mastered this system, plain and simple. He breaks those arm tackles and has more frequent longer runs than Portis.

The difference is that Portis is trying to be a tough runner, but Betts is the smart runner, taking advantage of whatever opportunity is presented to him. He's more versitile in my opinion and more athletic than Portis.

[computerclone]

Offence wont be our problem next year... Portis is an amazing blocker and you can tell he wants badly to win with the skins. Portis isnt going anyplace. The guy has had alot of Great infulence on this team and I know he will be back..

Watching him grow over the past few years I have a ton of respect for him. He is a warrior and has the team at heart.

NEXT year will be BOMBS AWAY when JC gets the timing down with his recievers

I would love to see portis coach one day.. That would be a hoot...

[RedzoneHunter]

Honestly, I think our offensive line is blocking better for betts. He ALWAYS seems to have a gaping hole to run through and get a big gain.

with CP, it seemed like there was never a good hole to run through, and that he had to get 2 or 3 yards by plowing people over.

I know that betts has looked great in his starts so far this year, however, I think if portis ever got blocking like that, he would be doing even better than betts.

Portis was lacking in the vision department and too quick to lower his shoulder, as if he was trying to adjust to Gibbs system. Betts sees the whole picture.

[Riggo#44]

Actually, I think the roles are reversed of what they should be, with Betts as the hammer, and Portis as the 3rd down back. Betts is terrible at picking up blitzes, whereas Portis may be the best in the NFL. Still, I don't see it happening. Betts will get a lot more carries as the #2 since Portis can't survive many more years doing 30+ carries a game. He'll go down to about 20, and Betts will get 10 to 15 or so.

This is crazy - you're going to put Portis as the 3rd down back? You're going to put a 1500 yard back as a role player?

I see the Skins running for 2000 as a team next year.

[skinsngibbs4life]

Portis was lacking in the vision department and too quick to lower his shoulder, as if he was trying to adjust to Gibbs system. Betts sees the whole picture.

Portis ad NO holes to run throughl. its that simple. He was always bottled up at the line.

although I like betts style of hitting thhe hole quickly, I dont think portis got a fair shot with our line this year.

[tjlax]

Honestly, I think our offensive line is blocking better for betts. He ALWAYS seems to have a gaping hole to run through and get a big gain.

with CP, it seemed like there was never a good hole to run through, and that he had to get 2 or 3 yards by plowing people over.

I know that betts has looked great in his starts so far this year, however, I think if portis ever got blocking like that, he would be doing even better than betts.

I dont know what it is, but it just seems like the line is finally blocking very well, and it just happens to be that betts is the one taking the advantages from it

I'm not sure it's better blocking. Betts is a downfield runner which means he hits the hole faster. Also, I think Saunders has stopped using the stretch play so much and gone back to pulling blockers to run sweeps. BTW, they are much better running left than right. Randy Thomas is a nasty pulling guard and Samuels is doing a great job sealing the d-line with Dockery. When they run right, they aren't getting the same seals from Jansen -- I hope it's the injury.

[Oldfan]

Betts and Portis are very close in ability as runners. Portis is the better blocker, Betts the better receiver.

Here's the thing that will determine who gets more playing time: Many teams position a linebacker on the LOS who blitzes ONLY if the back stays in to block. So, keeping the back in protection only draws another blitzer.

Against a team like this, it's better to have Betts out in the pattern.

[RedzoneHunter]

Trade Portis? Thank you very much for your o-so-original idea!

Although Champ Bailey had to go, it was a bad trade. Portis hit the jackpot, however, but he wasn't really a Gibbs type back. Gibbs was almost forced to unload Bailey and get what he could for him. He ended up overpaying Denver, by throwing in that extra 2nd round draft pick, and then turned right around and overpaid Portis as well.

Trading Portis would be good, but only if we get a good deal. Even though he's overpaid, he's still a good back. We should keep him if the price isn't right.

[tone_dubbz]

I think we'd benefit more by having two different type backs in this system. I love how LB hits the wholes. I think Portis was starting to come around this year before he got hurt. He looked a little more patient, letting his blocks develop. But CP doens't hit the whole like LB. I say keep both, and we'll just wear defenses down.

[RedzoneHunter]

Actually, I think the roles are reversed of what they should be, with Betts as the hammer, and Portis as the 3rd down back. Betts is terrible at picking up blitzes, whereas Portis may be the best in the NFL. Still, I don't see it happening. Betts will get a lot more carries as the #2 since Portis can't survive many more years doing 30+ carries a game. He'll go down to about 20, and Betts will get 10 to 15 or so.

Portis won't be the third down back simply because a third down back should be a good receiving back. I agree that there will be a reversal though, Betts will get 20 to 25 carries per game, and Portis if he is still here, will spell him with 10 to 15 carries. But with his salary, he will need to play special teams as well.

If he doesn't start, though, I think it would be foolish to keep overpaying him. He would then be in the same category as Brunell, an overpaid back-up. Hopefully Brunell will retire and Portis gets traded. Too bad we're stuck with Archulets though. He was the worst deal of all.

[TSO]

Just imagine what Clinton Portis would do in this system? He was averaging close to 5 yards a carry and had 7 TD with minimal playing time. Just wait till next year.

Betts is awesome, but I can't tell you how many times he ran for 10-15 yards and I was saying Clinton would have taken that to the house. Clinton might not hit the hole as hard, but he's way more elusive and in open space he's 100% mor efficient than Betts. That being said, they're a great one-two punch.

[ncr2h]

Betts and Portis are very close in ability as runners. Portis is the better blocker, Betts the better receiver.

Here's the thing that will determine who gets more playing time: Many teams position a linebacker on the LOS who blitzes ONLY if the back stays in to block. So, keeping the back in protection only draws another blitzer.

Against a team like this, it's better to have Betts out in the pattern.

I sort of agree with this. And I think one thing that puts the odds in Betts' favor is Saunders' system...I get the impression that the RB is usually sent out on a pattern rather than kept in to block. That means Saunders doesn't see Portis' blocking skills as that much of an advantage, because he doesn't need a good blocking back.

[Lil Kenzo]

We would be stupid to trade Portis. Yes, Betts is having a nice season. But I highly, HIGHLY doubt that Betts is truly a full season starter. Look at it this way, right now, we are racking up the yards on the ground with our BACK UP RB, imagine when we get our Pro-bowl RB back next season. This offense is going to be something to watch next year.

The best way to deal with this is to probably have Betts as the starter at the beginning of next year and split time with Portis because the man off of off-season shoulder surgery and will need a little bit of time to get back in the groove of things, and then start giving Portis the bulk of the carries.

[DiscoBob]

How quickly people forget!!!

Betts has been on the roster 4? years and hasn't been a healthy player for large chunks of that time....whereas Portis rushed for: 1500, 1500, 1300, 1500...so before we start talking about trading away the guys who has the franchise rushing record (an getting killed with the cap hit of his SB).....lets wait and see Betts prove that he can last a full season where he is getting 10 - 15 carries a game....

[tjlax]

Betts is awesome, but I can't tell you how many times he ran for 10-15 yards and I was saying Clinton would have taken that to the house. Clinton might not hit the hole as hard, but he's way more elusive and in open space he's 100% mor efficient than Betts. That being said, they're a great one-two punch.

That's why I thought the Saints model is a good one for us (from another thread). Get Portis out in space like Bush, let Betts run like Deuce. Could be a very good way to use both effectively and to their strengths.

[GibbsFactor]

We've got to get rid of TJ, he's a great guy and all but we already have three backs that are useful, I can't justify a forth when we have Mike Sellers.

I think our offense may be pretty damn good next year. I remember hearing how much time would be needed to adjust to the Saunders O and dissmissed it since the terminology was so similar to Gibbs'. I hope the only changes we make are for depth on the O-line and THAT'S IT!

[G-Prime]

We haven't really seen a healthy Portis in the system so how could you know?