SOW| Happy Thoughts Alfred Morris Looks a Heckuva Lot Like Terrell Davis Through Two Games

[rd421]

If you asked me to describe the Washington Redskins of the last 15 years in a word, you might think I would use something within the four letter variety. But when I really think about it, I would probably have to go simply with the word “old”.

When you look at the list of “superstars” this franchise has had post Y2K, few of them have been homegrown. In fact, most of them have been past their prime has-beens looking for one more pay day.

Thankfully, those days are gone.

If asked to describe the 2012 Redskins I would use the polar opposite description: youth.

More than anything, this season’s Redskins are young. With an average age of 26, the Redskins have gone from being the oldest team in the league 3 short seasons ago to one of the youngest.

At every position, there are young, hungry players that just cannot wait to make their mark in the NFL.

While it is clear through the first two weeks that the story is 100% RG3 and Griffining, there are other rookies on this team that you just cannot ignore. One of those players is rookie Running Back Alfred Morris.

Through two games Morris has been fantastic, leaving no question as to why he won the starting job at RB when just a few short months ago most people expected the sixth round pick to spend 2012 on the practice squad.

While the sample size is extremely small at this point, Morris has been outstanding. His 185 rushing yards, two touchdowns and his impressive 4.2 yards per carry have many wondering if Morris is for real, and if he is, just how good can he be.

It’s no secret that Mike Shanahan came to Washington with a reputation of finding diamonds in the rough at running back. Unfairly, every Redskins back since Shanahan’s arrival in 2010 has been subject to the inevitable questions, “Is player x the next great Shanahan back? Can he be the next Terrell Davis?”

Call it a hunch, call it blind faith, call it a man-crush – whatever. I have not been as impressed with a young back as I have with Morris in a very long time. So while it is not “fair” to put Morris in the “T.D.” box, it sure is fun.

When comparing Morris to the legendary T.D., there are some pretty fun similarities. For example, Davis was a 5-11 210lb back who posted a 4.72 40 time. Drafted in the 6th round, he was the 196th player drafted in 1995 – interesting.

Seventeen years later, Mike Shanahan goes back into the 6th round with the 173 overall pick to grab Morris, a 5-10 217 lb back who notched a 4.67 40 time – curious.

Not to even mention that Morris through two games has been far better than Davis was back in ’95 (31 attempts, 131 yards, and a 4.22 ypc with 1 TD).

Continue Reading Here

[shoefly72]

I'm extremely high on Morris and I love the attitude he brings as a runner. He's not a breakaway threat by any means but he reads his blocks and times his cuts and acceleration extremely well. He runs hard through contact and always falls forward, and he has great feet and agility. He may only run a 4.7 or whatever but I'll take a guy that runs a 4.7 and knows EXACTLY when to hit the hole and get upfield over a guy who runs a 4.4 but runs tentatively or doesnt use his downfield blockers well. (As a VT fan, that always killed me about David Wilson).While he doesn't physically jump off the charts, he has such a great knack for running the ball, especially in Shanny's system, that I don't see how he loses the starting job for awhile unless he gets injured.

[FunkedUp]

http://sonofwashington.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/morris.jpg

More than anything, this season’s Redskins are young. With an average age of 26, the Redskins have gone from being the oldest team in the league 3 short seasons ago to one of the youngest.

[/url]

Well calling the 24th youngest team is a pretty good stretching of "one of the youngest."

[darrelgreenie]

Love Morris but T.D. was a much more fluid and smooth runner imo.

Morris is more of a banger a poor man's Michael Turner who benefits greatly from the'Robert Griffin effect'.

[DogofWar1]

Morris is definitely a solid runner, and I'd like to see him getting a minimum of 20 carries a game from here on out if possible. He's solid in a lot of areas where Helu and Royster lack, vision, one-cut get up field running. And he's fine with contact. Helu was fast but always seemed to wither under contact, but Morris powers through it.

Hopefully, as the season progresses, our Oline continues to gel, get better at opening holes, and allow Morris to pick up chunks of yardage. He can power through weaker tackle attempts, which will equate to large gains if the line opens holes for him.

[Gurgeh]

It's a fun read but it's far too early in the season to put Morris on a pedastal. Royster's average last year was 5.9 yards per carry on 56 carries, Helu averaged 4.2 yards per carry on 151. Morris looks the part at the moment but really you can plug any one of the three into this system and you should pick up yards.

[TradeTheBeal!]

Take it easy dude. TD was a near hall of famer, AM is a fantasy flex pick.

[Phat Hog]

Punishing runner and falls forward...love this kid and hope he continues!!! HTTR!!!

[Heavy Jumbo]

Take it easy dude. TD was a near hall of famer, AM is a fantasy flex pick.

I agree.

While the sample size is extremely small at this point, Morris has been outstanding. His 185 rushing yards, two touchdowns and his impressive 4.2 yards per carry...

Not to even mention that Morris through two games has been far better than Davis was back in ’95 (31 attempts, 131 yards, and a 4.22 ypc with 1 TD)

The numbers look REALLY close to me. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

[Riggo-toni]

I think a more apt comparison might be Mike Andersen. Actually, the back he reminds me most of is Betts.

[amm0409]

Morris has been looking good since training camp. I was still thinking Helu was going to be our starter before training camp, but Morris has really emerged. He continues to surprise me with his strength and agility as well. He may not be the most explosive or home run hitting RB but he certainly gives a lot of extra effort. Hope he continues to surge forward like he has been

[hunterx]

He reminds me more of Stephen Davis than Terrell Davis. He's a train that can sidestep and make a good cut.

[Stophovr6]

I still don't even know what the dude looks like. Anyways, I think this piece is premature. Helu Jr was supposed to be the next big thing and he's an afterthought now? Shanny plays them while they're hot.

[Destino]

Alfred Morris doesn't look anything like Terrell Davis to me. While he is certainly shows impressive balance and toughness he doesn't have the quickness or the top end speed. Davis was not a speed back he was, to my eye, faster and quicker than Morris.

[bowhunter]

I agree with the Betts analogy. Stephen Davis was a powerful runner for a while, but his last 1.5 seasons here he seemed to fall down at minimal contact

[CrypticVillain]

I still don't even know what the dude looks like.

He looks like a little boy, sounds like one too. But the man lays the smackdown on the field...

[Skins n' Bones]

I agree about Morris, and if he can stay healthy, he definitely has a shot. That is the main problem with the other RB's, they have upside, but they haven't been able to get and/or stay healthy. And as long as Morris is productive, Shanny will likely stick with him.

But you also brought up another excellent point. The fact that this team is now so young is a great thing. The injuries to Rak and Carriker are an awful setback and it will be hard to replace them and their production, but that means the team just got even younger. If Cerrato was still here, he'd be desparately searching for vets to fill the spots (i.e. Jason Taylor, TJ Duckett, etc), but instead, Shanahan & Allen sign two players that were here during preseason and add them to the depth chart, allowing them to push the backups that have now been pushed into starting roles. This is what NFL teams do!!! It is a huge example of how the philosophy has changed in the Redskins organization, and that makes me very glad.

[Laxpunk2006]

I appreciate that you add to the discussion here at ES but it seems to me SOW has been using more and more hyperbole and comparisons without factual basis.

Maybe Morris is the next player in line to crank out a 2000 yard season. I certainly I hope so. However its much more likely he is the next 1000 yard back Shanahan gets a few seasons out of. There's nothing wrong with that. Comparisons to T.D. are a little premature.

[Forehead]

Well calling the 24th youngest team is a pretty good stretching of "one of the youngest."

No kidding, that's already been pointed out in other threads so I'm surprised to see it appear in this article. I mean, the difference is only 10ths of years to move up a few spots, but we're not even close to being one of the youngest teams. That needs to be changed.

[Skins n' Bones]

No kidding, that's already been pointed out in other threads so I'm surprised to see it appear in this article. I mean, the difference is only 10ths of years to move up a few spots, but we're not even close to being one of the youngest teams. That needs to be changed.

It is actually skewed by just a few players, and productive players like London Fletcher and Santana Moss make it worth it IMO.

[Forehead]

It is actually skewed by just a few players' date=' and productive players like London Fletcher and Santana Moss make it worth it IMO.[/quote']

Actually, for grins, I tested this out. Having an average age of 26 would put us at 10th youngest. So I multipled 26 x 50 to get 1300 team years, a nice target, then added (three) 38 year olds to represent Fletcher, Moss, and Rocca. I know that aren't all 38, it was just an example. 38*3 = 114, so 1,414 team years / 53 players = 26.68.It's not a perfect example, but it's reasonable to assume that an outlying older player on a team of normal aged players would increase the average age by about .2 to .3 if they're in the 37-38 range. Based on the average ages published as of week 1, that would put us around 15th youngest. That's still not one of the youngest teams in the league.

[Gurgeh]

Actually, for grins, I tested this out. Having an average age of 26 would put us at 10th youngest. So I multipled 26 x 50 to get 1300 team years, a nice target, then added (three) 38 year olds to represent Fletcher, Moss, and Rocca. I know that aren't all 38, it was just an example. 38*3 = 114, so 1,414 team years / 53 players = 26.68.It's not a perfect example, but it's reasonable to assume that an outlying older player on a team of normal aged players would increase the average age by about .2 to .3 if they're in the 37-38 range. Based on the average ages published as of week 1, that would put us around 15th youngest. That's still not one of the youngest teams in the league.

Unfortunately I believe the Eagles are one of the youngest teams in the league, which puts in perspective how much work we still have to do on the roster. But at least we are no longer the over the hill gang.

[Timmy Smith]

Well calling the 24th youngest team is a pretty good stretching of "one of the youngest."

Interesting. I honestly thought, too, that we had one of the youngest rosters in the NFL. To be fair, there's not THAT much variance from team to team, but even so... weird.

[nightbird]

This is where I come in with a "Simmuh don nah!"

Alfred has had a nice two-game start. I'm thrilled for him, and I'm throwing it back in all the faces of those in my fantasy league who laughed at me when I nabbed him with my final pick.

But . . . . . . let's dial it down and maybe not compare him to a borderline hall of famer after two games.

Didn't we just go through this with Royster (did we all forget him already), who finished up last year on a tear, and averaged a whopping 5.9 YPC?

[Koolblue13]

It's been all of 2 games and I know I don't know you, but HoF maybe?