Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattyk72
Of course I think the Skins have to at least listen to offers for Betts, but if I were them I'd be very reluctant to trade him away unless it's an incredible offer. He proved to be very valuable last year and you just have to look at the teams in the Super Bowl this year to see how important it's become to have two capable RBs.
|
Not only on a seasonal level, but
run first teams have to use multiple backs if they want to sustain success over a long period of time. If a guy gets too many carries in a season (remember Jamal Lewis, Jamaal Anderson, or Shaun Alexander), theres a high probability that he's either going to break down or that his production will be slashed.
I'm actually going to take this a step further. I have noticed a uncannity ability for Clinton Portis to fall foward and absorb the hit of the ground on his shoulders. He also has mentioned having very sore shoulders after games. I'm pretty sure he's developed this tendency to lighten the beating his knees take and prolong his career. Seems like a great idea in theory. But is it really surprising that after the long offseason layoff, that the first time he ended up being forced to use his arms to make a forceful tackle, he suffered a shoulder seperation and torn labrum? Isn't it possible that this was the result of many years of getting his shoulder area beat to a pulp every Sunday, particularly in 2005?
Maybe that injury wasn't as much a function of luck as we all thought it was. Perhaps it could have been avoided by lightening his load of carries in that 2005 season.
So the key for 2007 is to use our great RB depth to keep Portis from consistently breaking the 20 carry mark while still allowing this team to run 30-35 times a game.
I guess the bottom line is to let somebody else gobble up Larry Johnson in fantasy drafts next season.