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HTTR24-7; Fun With Weapons; Chris Thompson Can Take Redskins Offense Over The Top

KCClybun

By KCClybun
in The Stadium

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KCClybun

KCClybun

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Chris_Thompson_Knee_Injury.jpg

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It’s really hard to quantify how much of an impact Alfred Morris had on the Redskins in his rookie season. His 1,613 yards and 13 touchdowns propelled this team to having a top 5 offense. While Robert Griffin III is an elite talent, without Alfred Morris’ hard nosed, physical style of running, the offense likely doesn’t work quite the same way; Morris allowed us to keep a balanced attack. With RG3′s accurate passing and his Morris’ threat as a runner, play action passes out of the pistol and the zone-read were a problem defensive coordinators could never figure out.

But, as awesome as Alfred Morris is — and let’s be clear here, Alfred Morris is awesome — his contributions in the passing game were lacking. Usually utilized as a last resort after Robert had gone through all his progressions, Alfred Morris only totaled 11 receptions for 77 yards out of the back field, while back-up running back Evan Royster had 15 receptions for 109 yards and fullback Darrel Young had 8 catches for 109. All told are running backs had a combined 34 receptions for 295 yards.

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SWFLSkins

SWFLSkins

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I thought Roy Helu was the catching out of the backfield change of pace RB on the team? Do you expect him to lose his job on the team?

Did you read the quite excellent article or just the headline?

inside.....Chris Thompson has some nagging health issues of his own, but despite being smaller than Roy Helu, I actually think he’s somewhat less of a health risk than Helu. Helu’s up right running leads to more hits on his legs and therefore more smaller, nagging injuries on his hamstrings, where as Thompson runs behind his pads a little more. And without having to take all the carries of an every down back, that would allow Thompson to be fresher. Here’s Thompson running a similar play at Florida State.

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KCClybun

KCClybun

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I thought Roy Helu was the catching out of the backfield change of pace RB on the team? Do you expect him to lose his job on the team?

At this point I think Helu has more question marks health wise than Thompson.

I think Helu still probably makes the team, but I see Thompson being utilized in more way and Helu being more of a spell back when Alfred Morris needs a blow.

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KDawg

KDawg

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Thompson, not Amerson, is actually the biggest question mark of a draft pick I have. I like his skills quite a bit, as well as his fit within the offense, it all melds together very well. But I'm very nervous about his health and his ability to stay healthy with the NFL contact. If he can last through that, I think he'll be an excellent addition.

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KCClybun

KCClybun

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Thompson, not Amerson, is actually the biggest question mark of a draft pick I have. I like his skills quite a bit, as well as his fit within the offense, it all melds together very well. But I'm very nervous about his health and his ability to stay healthy with the NFL contact. If he can last through that, I think he'll be an excellent addition.

Yeah, I understand that. It might be the riskiest part of the draft. But he wouldn't be taking the bulk of the carries, which helps keep him heahty. His butter zone is probably going be 10-15 touches a game between catching the football and running it. We got Alfred to take the heavy load, and even Jamison or Helu can be a spell guy while reserving Thompson's reps.

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TSO

TSO

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So excited to see these guys play in preseason... hopefully both Jenkins and Thompson are healthy enough to play most games. Both Thompson and Jamison may end up being upgrades from our current back up situation in Helu and Royster. I'm most intrigued by Thompson and Helu battling it out in camp. If Jamison can't beat Royster out, we can cut him and still put him on the PS most likely, so no harm done. Thompson would be too dangerous to put on the PS if he loses that battle, but you never know.

That's how I see the battles in camp going: Thompson vs. Helu and Royster vs. Jamison. I'm thinking our RB depth chart is going to be Morris/Helu/Thompson/Young. Jamison to PS and Royster gets cut.

I might be the only guy who still believes in Roy Helu. Watching his highlights in 2011 is a nice reminder of just how good he was.

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Lavarleap56

Lavarleap56

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Great job on the article KC. I can't hide my excitement that Thompson is a Redskin. This kid is a special player who will do a lot of damage out the backfield, as long as he's healthy. The back injury was a fluke injury & doctors say there are almost no chances of the same injury reoccurring. The acl is what it is.

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Conn

Conn

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There were some draftniks out there who were extremely high on Chris Thompson before the draft, so he wasn't even really as much of a "who??!?" pick as some think. And there are also other Sproles comparisons floating around out there, aside from college workload and health. Here are some examples:

http://sportswunderkind.com/nfl-draft-player-evaluation-chris-thompson-rb-florida-state/

There is an enormously talented player in this year’s draft who no one is talking about: Chris Thompson, the running back from the Florida State Seminoles. When I brought up the clips on DraftBreakdown, I was floored by Chris Thompson’s athleticism and strength as a smaller back. I believe that Thompson has a chance to perform a near-perfect imitation of Darren Sproles, with shades of Chris Johnson and C.J. Spiller. Every year someone has a new flavor-of-the-week “Sproles-lite” running back prospect. A few years ago it was Jacquizz Rodgers, last year it was LaMichael James. Those player are Sproles rip-offs, cheap Chinese made shells of the real thing. Until now, there hasn’t been a player like him in the NFL. Almost every major NFL draft site you visit barely has him ranked, and ESPN doesn’t even have him listed. My only conclusion is that they didn’t even bother to watch him. Chris Thompson will join the ranks of other UDFA’s or day 3 draft picks to have an NFL impact due to sheer scouting laziness.
On film, the first thing that pops out about Thompson is his speed. When completely healthy, he looks like a high-4.2 to low-4.3 guy on tape. There are plays where multiple defensive players will take perfect angles, and he will outrun them anyways. He frequently had to adjust to poorly through balls on wheel routes because quarterbacks (*cough* E.J Manuel *cough*)couldn’t get the ball to him because of his speed. I think the 4.42 he ran is more reflective of his current speed, not his actual speed. He’s still only 7 months recovered from a torn ACL. He has a Chris Johnson-level of speed, where all it takes is one crease, one miniscule hole, and he’s gone
So many of these other smaller back prospects suffer from an inability to power through contact from larger defenders, or keep moving through ankle tackles. Thompson does these things better than any of the smaller backs in this class, including Jonathan Franklin and Giovani Bernard.
NFL Draft Outlook: Thompson has a 7th round-UDFA grade from Walter Football, behind guys like Onterio McCalebb and Montel Harris. Some NFL team is going to get an absolute bargain with Chris Thompson. If I were a GM, I would be absolutely enamored with the talent of Chris Thompson. I’d let all the other teams take guys with limited upside, while I stood stealthily by and nabbed Thompson with a 7th round pick. I’d take him over guys like Andre Ellington, Kenjon Barner, Kerwynn Williams, Jawan Jamison, Montee Ball, Joseph Randle, Stepfan Taylor, Mike Gilleslee, and Knile Davis.

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/UnderRated-Prospect-FSU-RB-Chris-Thompson.html

There is little doubt that NFL teams do not love 5’8 running backs that are not thickly built like Maurice Jones Drew, but Thompson’s skill set warrants him being drafted. A naturally instinctive runner with excellent vision, Thompson finds the hole/crease, can make the sharp cut to get to it and has the burst to get through it. While many running backs can make tacklers miss out in space, his ability to change directions quickly in the hole to avoid tacklers in tight quarters is a rare and valuable trait. For a small back he attacks the hole with uncommon aggressiveness, gets shoulders down to make himself a smaller target and has the lower body strength and balance to run through arm/grab tackles/hits to consistently gain yards after contact.
Many short backs are often compared to Darren Sproles despite lacking the quick change of direction ability, explosiveness through the hole, elusiveness and top end speed to take plays the distance. Thompson is different as he has a similar skill set to Sproles, but has not proven he can stay healthy consistently when he gets many touches
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Conn

Conn

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Good post NLC, but I think with Fred Davis coming back, Almo's catching abilities will be mute because our scheme doesn't use screens as much, it's not a west coast offense. The TE is the preferred dump off guy...

Hail!

Our read-option stuff with Banks would have been deadly if it was....well, someone other than Banks back there.

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KCClybun

KCClybun

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Good post NLC, but I think with Fred Davis coming back, Almo's catching abilities will be mute because our scheme doesn't use screens as much, it's not a west coast offense. The TE is the preferred dump off guy...

Hail!

What do you mean it's not a West Coast Offense. Of course it's a WCO. Google it.

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Lavarleap56

Lavarleap56

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Good post NLC, but I think with Fred Davis coming back, Almo's catching abilities will be mute because our scheme doesn't use screens as much, it's not a west coast offense. The TE is the preferred dump off guy...

Hail!

Huh? Shannys offense is a West Coast variant..

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RG3Hunna

RG3Hunna

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Good post NLC, but I think with Fred Davis coming back, Almo's catching abilities will be mute because our scheme doesn't use screens as much, it's not a west coast offense. The TE is the preferred dump off guy...

Hail!

Our scheme doesn't use screens because the only player who can run a screen has been hurt "Roy Helu". We didn't use the zone read pistol offense because we didn't have a QB who could run it until we got RG3. Now that we have Chris Thompson trust me, if he is healthy he is going to get an abundance of screens when teams try and blitz.

The key to keep your offense explosive is to add as many wrinkles to it as possible, and with Thompson he gives us the "Sproles" element and with Reed he gives us the "Hernandez" element. I agree however Thompson and Reed are the chinese knockoff of Sproles and Hernandez but they'll still be effective none the less.

BTW our offense is a west coast offense.:ols::ols::ols:

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SWFLSkins

SWFLSkins

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I agree with most of what's been said...

We made three picks on offense. If we hit on one of them our offense would be incredible. If we hit on all three.... :thud:

Yes, they rolled the dice and I am thinking they get lucky with two, to be seen which two. My gut tells me that they do their homework and there is a greater chance all three make it over just one.

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MartinC

MartinC

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Good post NLC, but I think with Fred Davis coming back, Almo's catching abilities will be mute because our scheme doesn't use screens as much, it's not a west coast offense. The TE is the preferred dump off guy...

Hail!

Our offense is very much rooted in the WCO - don't let the window dressing of the pistol and small amount of read option confuse you. It's a more run heavy variant and uses play action more as a result but its still very much a WCO in the pass concepts we use.

---------- Post added May-12th-2013 at 10:17 AM ----------

Yes, they rolled the dice and I am thinking they get lucky with two, to be seen which two. My gut tells me that they do their homework and there is a greater chance all three make it over just one.

History and the odds are against all 3 becoming significant contributors. Fingers crossed though.

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