Offseason On the Brink: Which Running Back Will Lead the Redskins in Total Yards from Scrimmage?

I thought this would be a good week to revisit some of the more hot-button arguments we kicked around back in December. On this week’s Sixpack, I mentioned three specifically, and we spent most of the night last night on The Audible reconciling where we stood six months ago with where we stand now. This is the exact moment on the calendar when we feel about as far away from any actual football as we will be at any time of the year. Thankfully, we had Walt Williams on The HotBox last night, and our conversation with him was simply amazing. That Tuesday night show is hosted by Kevin and Darren McLinton and yours truly. You may recognize the McLinton brothers as the sons of Redskins great Harold McLinton. Listening to Walt talk about Len Bias, Gary Williams, high socks and his love of his teammates was amazing to me. Kevin McLinton was the point guard on that Maryland team that collected a record amount of assists thanks to the sharpshooting of The Wizard. It was a great way to get the night started, with the juice from that conversation spilling over into The Audible’s presentation of Offseason On the Brink.

It is always difficult to know if we are actually better off now than we thought we would be or if we are just being optimistic fans and making lemonade out of lemons. I think in terms of wide receiver and running back, the Redskins are exactly where they need to be, which is far and away a better place than we all predicted we would be from our December perches.

Josh Doctson and Terrelle Pryor present a bit of the unknown, but against the backdrop of the impossibility of signing either DeSean Jackson or Pierre Garcon, I find our current situation actually pretty above average. Rob Kelley, Samaje Perine and Chris Thompson comprise an extremely useful stable at the the running back position. You might argue that the group lacks a superstar talent, but in today’s NFL, you can more than get by with a duo or trio of runners that help you metriculate the ball downfield. I continue to hold onto the notion that Chris Thompson will lead the group in total yards from scrimmage, which I recognize is a very flimsy prediction. Perine and Kelley should be able to best his number if we assume they will get the lion’s share of the work, but I am thinking that Thompson is going to get work. He’s on a one-year deal, which—for better or for worse—usually eliminates a lot of hand-wringing in terms of preserving the longevity of an NFL player. I think we all know that Jay Gruden is going to want to run the ball, and Perine and Kelley are going to get lots of touches. To me, I feel like when the Redskins get to the business of moving the ball between the 20’s, they are going to throw it to Thompson out of the backfield a lot more than they did last season. Thanks to the increased size of our wide receiving corps (which I am saying will result in better blocking), I think Thompson will find a lot more running room to the outside. His yards after the catch should see a sizable uptick, and that would allow him to pile up the yardage. Ahhhhhhhh...June plans. (By the way, Kevin ain’t buying any of this.)

We have some great guests coming up over the next few weeks to help us prepare for the coming training camp and preseason. Thanks as always for listening!