Why does Portis never break off big runs?

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Maybe because when he came here he weighed 205 and now is listed at 225 maybe?

:applause::applause:

[SirClintonPortis]

Portis lacks the instincts and break-away speed (explosion) to be a great RB ... note how he lfrequently stumbles in space trying to cut off his blockers. He does have a big heart muscle though.

Why are Colt fanatics always of alleging a certain player has a certain property that they cannot verify?

[Wyndorf25]

I think part of Portis' problem is ball security. As in, he secures the ball to well when in the open field. I've noticed alot of times when Portis gets in the open he still keeps the ball up tight in his arm. When you see other backs break big runs once they get in the open they start pumping their arms more like they would be if they didn't have a ball. Not pumping his arms i think slows Portis down and allows defenders to catch him.

That's a good observation Ballz. I think you're right on. But there lies the gamble...carry the ball loose to allow for better coordination and balance but risk a fumble--or carry it high and tight, limiting the chances of that costly turnover?

Although, Tiki Barber managed to figured out how to strike that balance...

[dwills1]

lol....some of you guys are funny...lol. this post is really making me smile....and to think some of u guys are really serious too.

[Wyndorf25]

You know, come to think of it...I can't remember the last time an actual HOLE was opened for Portis (then again, my memory isn't what it should be--let's just balme college for that ;-)). You know what I mean, you've seen them made for other backs on other teams. Those gaping holes that make an average RB look awesome because he is able to run past the line of scrimmage untouched with a full head of steam and make a cut on a LB or Safety that springs a big run. Seems like Portis always has to fight through traffic just to get into the open.

[CG]

Some people are taking this a little too personally. Portis has definitely lost a step off his top-end speed. No one is saying he's not a great back. He is still the best overall RB in the league, but you can tell when he's in the open field that he's going to get chased down. Wear and tear, nagging injuries, overuse, whatever.. he's not the same guy as he was when he first came here and busted an 80 yard run in his first play from scrimmage.

[Dan T.]

One thing I've noticed about his decisionmaking when running - if he breaks free toward the sideline and appears to have an angle to the outside on a potential tackler, he seems to not trust his speed and tries to cut back inside the tackler. I look at the replays and think, Damn, if you had just continued sprinting to the outside, you could have broke that.

dwbiggs' point that he's playing at 225 now instead of 205 is important. The fact is that he's a different type of back at this stage of his career.

Let's not lose sight that he's having a career year and carried this team earlier in the season when they were reeling off wins.

[GaryGreenMonk]

I don't think this thread is attacking Portis, we all know he is a great all around running back. He just doesn't show the ability to go 60-70 yards like say a Westbrook or Peterson. I don't know if that matters too much, his output is still tops in the league. It would be nice to have someone on our team that is a threat to take it to the house out of the back field.

We need a speed back that can come in during the 4th Quarter when we've worn down the defense and Portis needs a break anyways.

Someone like a Sproles from the Chargers.

[Dan T.]

We need a speed back that can come in during the 4th Quarter when we've worn down the defense and Portis needs a break anyways.

Someone like a Sproles from the Chargers.

No, that's when we need to line up Sellers at tailback and hand him the ball 12 times.

[da#1skinsfan]

show me a wide open hole for clinton portis to hit and ill show you a 40yd gain. it just isnt happening.

trust me man, in the beginning of the year I had the same concerns as you - it seems he always gets chased down by a DB or streaking LB and can never take it to the house. Not to take anything away from him, but thats reality. Im realizing now, with the luxury of being able to see so many of this 20+ runs, that 95% of them are the result of Clinton making something out of nothing. Very rarely does he have the type of defensive coverage that would allow for him to streak past the secondary, teams are all over him.

[pjfootballer]

stop making excuses for him

fact is that if portis could break off runs like he used to, he WOULD be MVP

He still ran with Laron Landry in TC. He still has speed.

Im sure the OP is talking about runs where no one catches him!!!!

make all the excuses you want, 8 men in the box, too beat up, lost a step...whatever

fact is, when portis has gotten to the 2nd level, he hasnt had that desire to take it the distance

And you know this personally how?

he has slowed down, done a bad stiff arm and gone out of bounds, or just trips on his own

im talking about when he has been one on one with a DB, he just hasnt gotten it done....theres no excuse, we see AP do it every week! he cuts and goes, or punishes the defender with a stiff arm and he has the will and heart that he is not going down or out of bounds

AP is like 5 years younger and has 1500 less carries in his career than CP. And if you actually watch games, like the Sunday night game against Chicago, AP was getting up slow and was beat up also.

im hating because i love CP and he is so close to being the absolute STUD we all know he was in denver

As others have said, he went from 205 with a zone-blocking scheme to 225 and pulling guards. Not the same back. And he's not the same type of back that Peterson is.

[Baculus]

I've also asked myself this same question, of both our WRs and our RBs, both of whom rarely "take it to the house."

With that in mind, I think it's obvious that Portis still has speed, but he does not have the top-speed that a did when he first came to the team from Denver. Thus, I believe he has lost a step, probably due the various factors that others have already outlined, but he's still a fast bruising back.

Portis used to be a home run threat every time he touched the ball; he just isn't anymore at this time.

[Darth Tater]

It's hard to break off 40 yard runs when defenses are putting 8 men in the box. You can't expect him to break a big run every time. He his averaging the most YPC this year since being with the Skins. I'm happy when he breaks off a 10-20 yard run. You can't get the big one every time.

Its not just 8 men in the box and that has happened a LOT less this year. 'Tana is our only consistent deep threat and also seems to be one of our best down field blockers. If you are the DB whose primary assignment is 'Tana, you can tie him up while the DB whose giving you help over the top already has the angle to stop Portis from the home run. Many times when I've seen Portis breaking a 20+ yarder, the deep blocker on that side it 'Tana and because he's drawing double teams, he can only block one while the other can keep CP from breaking into a sprint and thus get caught from behind or make the play himself.

[Darth Tater]

why are we even talking about Portis?......

He's literally the only player that has showed up for EVERY game....(even cooley has had a game with a good amount of drops)

As pointed out, he has more 20+ runs then anybody except peterson(has 2 more)..

You've actually just answered your own question. The problem with all the other guys is obvious, they've taken games off. So, there are a lot of possible reasons Portis has NO big runs this year. Big runs are runs of 20+ if it ends in a TD, 30+ if it gets the ball inside the 5, 40+ if the run gets the ball inside the 25 and 50+ otherwise.

[Gregpeck99]

The Portis fans on this site are in denial ... he has a lot of garbage yardage this year that masks his lack of production per dollar of salary. Its time to write him off. Beanie Wells here we come!

[fire3fighter4]

The Portis fans on this site are in denial ... he has a lot of garbage yardage this year that masks his lack of production per dollar of salary. Its time to write him off. Beanie Wells here we come!

you can't really be that stupid, can you?..

I think even McD5 gives him more credit than you...:doh:

[meek]

The OP has a valid point. There are 53 RBs in the league who have recorded a run longer than Portis' long of 31.

53 is a lot of running backs.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?season=2008&seasonType=REG&d-447263-o=2&conference=null&tabSeq=0&statisticCategory=RUSHING&d-447263-p=2&d-447263-s=RUSHING_LONG&d-447263-n=1

[JC#17]

Seems to me like Portis just doesn't have the burst or agility to break big runs. He's an amazing back, but there is nothing like watching AP run.

[McD5]

you can't really be that stupid, can you?..

I think even McD5 gives him more credit than you...:doh:

Contrary to what some believe, I always give credit where due.

Before the season began, I predicted Portis to be our most improved player this year by a wide margin. Seems to be working out.

That was based on the fact that he actually practiced this offseason--something that with his huge salary, he should have been doing every year prior. :2cents:

My problem has never been with Portis specifically. Rather, with what we are missing out on by paying him so much money, when other rbs can do pretty well for much less.

That, and the fact that no team that focuses on only one superstar back in this league wins a superbowl anymore.

He is giving his all. Playing injured, and stepping up. You can't possibly ask for anymore from any player.

Now thinking we can win a SB focusing solely on him...even if he ran for 1,700 yards is a whole other story.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Contrary to what some believe, I always give credit where due.

Before the season began, I predicted Portis to be our most improved player this year by a wide margin. Seems to be working out.

That was based on the fact that he actually practiced this offseason--something that with his huge salary, he should have been doing every year prior. :2cents:

My problem has never been with Portis specifically. Rather, with what we are missing out on by paying him so much money, when other rbs can do pretty well for much less.

That, and the fact that no team that focuses on only one superstar back in this league wins a superbowl anymore.

He is giving his all. Playing injured, and stepping up. You can't possibly ask for anymore from any player.

Now thinking we can win a SB focusing solely on him...even if he ran for 1,700 yards is a whole other story.

Great post.

I love CP, but we really need to begin building from the inside out (lines then skill player) not the other way around.

[McD5]

Great post.

I love CP, but we really need to begin building from the inside out (lines then skill player) not the other way around.

[TheItalianStallion]

you can't really be that stupid, can you?..

I think even McD5 gives him more credit than you...:doh:

I think it was a joke.

[HitStickTaylor21]

kinda hard to run for 40+ when you're going up the middle 90% of the time

[martin49]

He has not had a run of more than 40 yards since 2005. Is it him, or the line? Is he too much of a bruiser now, lacking the elusiveness he once had?

Portis has played amazingly well this year. He just can't seem to get a big play.

(Maybe I'm just frustrated with the lack of big plays on offense overall)

I think if you look around there is only afew backs every year that run off 2or 3 60 /70 yarders in a season, so when CP had a couple years of that happening its easy to notice a couple of years without them happening.

[SteveFromYellowstone]

kinda hard to run for 40+ when you're going up the middle 90% of the time

That's a good point also. He always seems to be ramming it up the middle and not running to the outside very often. Maybe it's the style of run game we run? Maybe it's our o-line? I'm not really sure.

But I would like to reiterate that we need a home run hitting backfield threat