ESPN: Clayton: Key NFC training camp battles

[Oldskool]

1. Washington Redskins: Running back -- No coach in football is better at putting together a running attack than Mike Shanahan. He's done it with low draft choices, castoffs and unknowns. Seeing how he sorts out the aged Redskins backfield will be fascinating. Clinton Portis turns 29 in September, but he has had a lot of wear -- Portis has 2,176 carries and 242 receptions in his career.

Instead of finding young replacements, Shanahan brought in 30-year-old Larry Johnson and 29-year-old Willie Parker. He also wants to sign 30-year-old Brian Westbrook. On top of that, the Redskins have 34-year-old fullback Mike Sellers. The addition of Westbrook would give Shanahan five former Pro Bowl running backs with age and experience. Who will get the bulk of the carries?

Q: Could you see the Redskins implementing a two-tight end system where both Fred Davis and Chris Cooley can be on the field at the same time? The Redskins have question marks at receiver, and two tight ends could help the running game and rookie tackle Trent Williams get accustomed to the NFL.

John in Chicago

A: Absolutely. Early reports are that Mike Shanahan really likes Davis, and Cooley is already an established star at tight end. The two-tight end formation is ideal for the zone running scheme because there is no strong side or weak side to tip off strengths and weaknesses of the blocking scheme. Plus, there are questions about the depth of the Redskins' wide receiving corps. Shanahan has always operated a strong two-tight end formation. Great point.

Q: With Redskins guard Mike Williams out for the year (and possibly his career), do the Redskins have a suitable replacement on the roster with Artis Hicks or Chad Rinehart? If one of them is not the answer, who is out there (via trade or free agency) who could fill that gap and fit in with what Mike and Kyle Shanahan are doing on offense?

John in Washington, D.C.

A: I think the Redskins can get by. Anything the Redskins would have gotten out of Williams was a bonus anyway. Remember, he had been out of the league and weighed 420 pounds before showing up last year during the offseason and working his way into a job. Williams was a player the Redskins couldn't count on even though he was a great success story last season. Patching a right guard spot isn't the hardest thing to do. The bigger challenge was getting a left tackle, and the Redskins addressed that when they drafted Trent Williams with the fourth pick in the first round. They then got good insurance by picking up Jammal Brown from the Saints. Now the Redskins are three deep for experienced tackles with Williams, Brown and Stephon Heyer. Hicks is good enough to get by with, but if he doesn't work out, the Redskins could go with Rinehart. At least the Skins are deeper and more talented than they were last year, when they had more questions than just right guard.

For the rest of the article, see: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=5391738

[Skinsfan4life83]

Portis will start and run for at least 1200 yds, Cooley and Davis will be on the field at the same time quite a bit this year it seems.

[GhostofSparta]

For all the questions about a 2 TE set, there's nothing that says Shanahan (either one) won't split Cooley or Davis out wide every now and then, especially if the WR core is percieved as weak. While I'm not saying they'll never use the 2 TE set, just because it's not used often doesn't mean both players won't ever be on the field at the same time.

[darrelgreenie]

1. Washington Redskins: Running back --

Instead of finding young replacements, Shanahan brought in 30-year-old Larry Johnson and 29-year-old Willie Parker. He also wants to sign 30-year-old Brian Westbrook. On top of that, the Redskins have 34-year-old fullback Mike Sellers. The addition of Westbrook would give Shanahan five former Pro Bowl running backs with age and experience. Who will get the bulk of the carries?

I don't think it matter which running back is named the starter it could very welll turn out to be a running back by committee and Shanahan could just go with the hot hand.

I'm really excited to see if Portis or Parker still have any wiggle or speed left because without that our running game may still be effective but it won't be explosive.

[Mahons21]

I don't think it matter which running back is named the starter it could very welll turn out to be a running back by committee and Shanahan could just go with the hot hand.

I'm really excited to see if Portis or Parker still have any wiggle or speed left because without that our running game may still be effective but it won't be explosive.

I may be mistaken but isn't Torrain a speedy guy? If so, I'd love to see a committee of LJ, CP, Ryan

[Dukes and Skins]

I may be mistaken but isn't Torrain a speedy guy? If so, I'd love to see a committee of LJ, CP, Ryan

Torrain has speed and can breakaway from players but you will notice that he's a guy who hits the one cut in between the tackles and then will take off for yards. He's not a real juke guy(at least from the videos I've seen of him) and he will be someone to really keep an eye on during the preseason and I believe he'll be the #3 behind CP and LJ

[jflow78]

...there's nothing that says Shanahan (either one) won't split Cooley or Davis out wide every now and then, especially if the WR core is percieved as weak....

It would be extremely interesting to see, since Davis was initially at USC ON a scholarship to play WR. I could definitely see him getting some time setting up at TE and then motioning out. I doubt he gets tons of time out there, but it would be a nice little wrinkle in the offense once in a while.

I may be mistaken but isn't Torrain a speedy guy?....

I like him too, and I think he'd add the extra dimension to the running game we've lacked. Hopefully he can stay healthy this season.

[SWFLSkins]

The Golden Girls will be running just fine, If Torrain beats out Parker it would not surprise however if Westbrook comes here I think even he is in trouble.

What is more exciting is what I thought would happen with the TE's. I think coming here MIke and Kyle were licking their chops. It was like a Ferrari with a flat and Zorn did not know how to use the jack. Not that the injuries were his fault, but certainly in the early going he did not use both at the same time.

[SkinsTribeVA]

For all the questions about a 2 TE set, there's nothing that says Shanahan (either one) won't split Cooley or Davis out wide every now and then, especially if the WR core is percieved as weak. While I'm not saying they'll never use the 2 TE set, just because it's not used often doesn't mean both players won't ever be on the field at the same time.

I'm expecting to see our TE's moved around quite a bit both in terms of position and pre-snap motion. Davis was originally a WR, and Cooley's been split out wide before. Cooley's blocking has progressed over the years and Davis' progressed by leaps and bounds last year. Seeing how Kyle will use these two gets me as excited as anything else for this season!

[jflow78]

The Golden Girls will be running just fine, If Torrain beats out Parker it would not surprise however if Westbrook comes here I think even he is in trouble.

I actually think Torrain would be okay if Westbrook came. I think Sellers is in trouble and Parker is out.

[mossomo]

I could definitely see him getting some time setting up at TE and then motioning out... but it would be a nice little wrinkle in the offense once in a while.

Awesome article from 2008 dissecting Shannahan's use of tight ends and plays with two TE formations: http://www.milehighreport.com/2008/2/10/184653/110.

...But with two TE sets we quadruple the number of diguised packages the team has available on offense, and with motions, we create a playbook fatter than consideration of all of the other positions combined.

Fourth, teams have discovered that in two TE sets they can compound-multiply the formations and abilities of an offense with alignments never before seen... More and more TEs in two sets (or even "twins" with both overloading one side) compound confusion by motioning one TE (the max allowed by the rules) to a slot, near the QB, or to the other side of the line. Is this a heavy run play with three blockers, or a massive pass attack with 5 total eligable and capable receivers?!? Does the defensive coordinator send in a 4-3, or a dime (or even a quarter)? No matter what he does, the offense can audible. Scary.

Do you think Shannahan compensates for our WR with our TEs?

The article also touches on 3 TE sets. With our draft pick Dennis Morris in the mix, what's the opinion on running plays with 3 TEs on the field?

More analysis on 3 TE sets: http://www.michaellivingston.com/3-te-offense-the-future-of-football/.

[Oldskool]

It would be extremely interesting to see, since Davis was initially at USC ON a scholarship to play WR. I could definitely see him getting some time setting up at TE and then motioning out. I doubt he gets tons of time out there, but it would be a nice little wrinkle in the offense once in a while.

From what i've read previously, it would be Cooley on the outside and Davis playing the TE in that formation, due to Cooley having more experience and Davis being a bit of a better blocker.

It will be interesting to see how the running game works with Cooley and Davis spread at the ends and Sellers lead blocking, which has always been a staple formation for Shanahan's ZBS.

[darrelgreenie]

I may be mistaken but isn't Torrain a speedy guy? If so, I'd love to see a committee of LJ, CP, Ryan

I don't recall Torrain being a speed guy i think he's a scheme fit for Shanahan and from what i remember would be somewhere between Portis and LJ when it comes to running style.

I get the feeling that people are down on Parker and training camp hasn't even kicked off yet at this point Parker is still ahead of Torrain.

I would love it if they invited Alridge to camp..........again

Still rehabbing from this injury, at the combine he decided to compete and ran a 4.61 40 but followed it up at his pro-day 3 weeks later with time between 4.49 and 4.51 and this past week he held a private workout in front of 6 NFL teams which was led by Kirby Wilson, RB coach of the Steelers

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1I7DLUS_en&&sa=X&ei=HPlETIv9GMP68AbskpWeDw&ved=0CBEQBSgA&q=Ryan+Torain+40+time&spell=1

[Mahons21]

I don't recall Torrain being a speed guy i think he's a scheme fit for Shanahan and from what i remember would be somewhere between Portis and LJ when it comes to running style.

I get the feeling that people are down on Parker and training camp hasn't even kicked off yet at this point Parker is still ahead of Torrain.

I would love it if they invited Alridge to camp..........again

Appreciate the info DG. Guess he isn't really the change of pace back, I had hoped/thought he was. From what I gather about Parker, people are down on him because his best attribute has been his speed, and he hasn't shown a lot of burst throughout the mini-camps. Obviously he could turn everything around during training camp, but I don't expect him to unearth the speed he once possessed. It's really too bad for Parker, he was once well hell of a RB to watch.

I agree about AA.

[Hitman21ST]

Q: With Redskins guard Mike Williams out for the year (and possibly his career), do the Redskins have a suitable replacement on the roster with Artis Hicks or Chad Rinehart? If one of them is not the answer, who is out there (via trade or free agency) who could fill that gap and fit in with what Mike and Kyle Shanahan are doing on offense?

John in Washington, D.C.

A: I think the Redskins can get by. Anything the Redskins would have gotten out of Williams was a bonus anyway. Remember, he had been out of the league and weighed 420 pounds before showing up last year during the offseason and working his way into a job. Williams was a player the Redskins couldn't count on even though he was a great success story last season. Patching a right guard spot isn't the hardest thing to do. The bigger challenge was getting a left tackle, and the Redskins addressed that when they drafted Trent Williams with the fourth pick in the first round. They then got good insurance by picking up Jammal Brown from the Saints. Now the Redskins are three deep for experienced tackles with Williams, Brown and Stephon Heyer. Hicks is good enough to get by with, but if he doesn't work out, the Redskins could go with Rinehart. At least the Skins are deeper and more talented than they were last year, when they had more questions than just right guard.

I think Rino's gonna have a good year as a reserve. I don't really know why, but I've always been rooting for him to do well since we drafted him. He should provide quality depth as the season wears on.