The Redskins rushing attack has been absent the past couple of months and there's been a lot of shuffling of personnel because of it. Even to the point of signing a back from Dallas (did I just say that?). Even going into the fourth quarter of games with a lead, the Skins run game drops off from the first half, as if clock management won't win you a game or two. And in games where the pass attack doesn't exist, we have RBs struggling to find holes. Our most effective all around back went down a few games back against Philly with an ACL injury that ended his season. It was very unfortunate because he not only did a great job running the ball but also on pass protection. So then the rushing jobs have been shuffled back and forth between Roy Helu and Ryan Torain. I'm glad Torain is staying healthy as long as he has this year (knocking on wood). I'm also glad that Helu is having the early success he is having. He's getting better at pass blocking and has great vision on the field.
A couple of weeks ago, Redskins signed RB Tashard Choice and then didn't activate him. Which means, they only had two guys prepared to run the ball the last few Sundays: Torain and Helu. Nothing wrong with going with two backs... if you're anyone else's team. But this is a Mike Shanahan program. A team run by a man who believes the era of a one-back league is over. The same man who had at least 3 backs activated most of last year in every single game.
It's also been obvious that the run game has been struggling lately. This past game against the Dolphins, the team didn't have 70 yards on the ground... between two guys. I don't care who you are, that will NOT win games in the NFL. You have to find the holes. You have to be able to eat up the clock to give the other team less of an opportunity to score points because Lord knows, you're not scoring very many yourself. Plus it keeps your defense fresh. Teams that control the clock win football games.
We all know the history of running backs here the past couple of years and what devastating blows injuries to these guys were. So it's important to have more than just two guys activated to carry the load, just in case. Just in case someone gets injured. Just in case someone is having a bad day. You gotta be able to put in the guy who gives you the best chance to win... right Mike?
And there is a guy on our practice squad that deserves another shot. A guy who in four years at PSU racked up nearly 4,000 rushing yards on 600 some carries, 29 TDs, and the only back in school history to have three 1,000 rushing yard seasons. And he's not a bad blocker either. He's a guy who was doing pretty well during the pre-season before taking a blow to the head on 9/1 vs Tampa Bay (But apparently he's been cleared to practice so he should be okay). He's a guy who could come in and be a new unknown on a struggling offense in Washington. All this leads me to ask one question:
Where the hell is Evan Royster???
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