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Theismann wants Betts in, Randle El out

servumtuum

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This ought to kick up some commentary; from Dan Steinberg;'s D.C. Sports Bog. Once again I'm going to take the liberty of putting in bold the statements that jumped out at me.

Theismann wants Betts in, Randle El out

(By John McDonnell - TWP)


Joe Theismann has a reputation as an incurable optimist, and, sure enough, he was finding great hope in the offensive line Monday morning. Still, he's shown increasing willingness to challenge the Redskins' status quo this season, and he took on two frequent fan targets this week: Clinton Portis and Antwaan Randle El. Took them on hard, as a matter of fact.

The Portis stuff came early in his segment with Larry Weisman, when the Redskins.com columnist mentioned that the Redskins are "good enough to be better than they've been, and they're good enough to compete in every game."

"Did they feel like something was holding them back?" Theismann said, in the mother of all set-ups.

"You know, some guys don't want to say it, but you can tell that it's there," The Sourcerer the team's editorial director replied. "And I think that they think that Clinton Portis has been holding them back just a little bit, in that he doesn't explode into the hole. There's been this, I don't want to call it a subliminal feeling, but this feeling that he hasn't given everything that he could give to this team in terms of coming in in shape, in terms of practicing. And the problems you have on that offensive line, you know how important it is to be out there and understand the timing and the flow of the game. Ladell Betts is always there."

So a Redskins employee is sort of reporting here that some players in the locker room feel Portis hasn't given his maximum.

"Well we heard that also from Clinton, 'Hey look, I don't really need to practice, I know where I have to be,' " Theismann said. "I said it on this show after he made that comment, I thought your offensive line has to know where they need to be so that you can be where you need to be. He's coddled all through training camp. It's like, 'Oh, let's not [tick] Clinton off.' And it's one of the things that Jason has mentioned. Matter of fact, when we had the Night of Legends, with Sonny, Jason and myself, Jason mentioned the one thing that he felt like was missing on this football team was discipline, in that everybody needed to be held accountable in an equal fashion. Well gee whiz, if you can't read between the lines on that...."

(Other views: "Betts Isn't Better Than Portis, People," from Mister Irrelevant. "Betts Not Better Than Portis, But Certainly a Better Fit," from Stet Sports Blog. "Ladell Betts should start the team's next game in Dallas and every one after that if he's healthy. Clinton Portis should sit, and heal, and come back in 2010 with some motivation to practice and play," from Russ Thaler.

My own view: if offensive linemen say it's easier to block for someone they practice with, and coaches say it's easier for them to block for somebody they practice with, maybe we should believe them.)

"If he's healthy -- and that will probably be the question of the week -- does Ladell start against the Dallas Cowboys?" Theismann finally asked.

Weisman's answer was that the Redskins would likely stick with a healthy Clinton Portis, a view later endorsed by Jim Zorn at his Monday news conference.

"I don't want this to be something where Ladell came in and did a wonderful job -- good grief, he really did a tremendous job -- and yet have Clinton lose his job because Ladell came in in support," Zorn said. "[Portis is] our running back, and who knows what kind of game he might have had."

Theismann, though, would lean the other way.

"To me, it isn't even a question," he said. "I would think it wouldn't be a question.

"But then again, I would think that Antwaan Randle El returning punts was not a question either," he continued, in a refrain that every single breathing Redskins fan would agree with. "But forgive me if I was wrong, but I looked up yesterday and I saw the ball hit the ground and travel about 15 yards towards our goal line, and the man returning the punt was Antwaan Randle El. When does this stop? When does somebody -- and if it's Coach Zorn -- when does he decide that it is not in the best interest of this football team to have those things happen with that individual returning punts? And I can't say it enough, I love the guy, he made great plays yesterday, he's tough and everything, but he hurts this football team in the return game."

"I'm mystified as to why they stick with it," Weisman agreed, "and when you talk to Jim about it, he says he doesn't want to expose starters."

"Oh baloney," Theismann said. "Like Wes Welker for the New England Patriots? i'm telling you something, that's bad coaching.... Why wouldn't you just stick Santana Moss out there and let him go? What are we protecting? Are you protecting an investment? Are you protecting a player? I'm just sorry. It's like the Ladell Betts thing. To me, you earn the right to be on the field or you play yourself out of the ability to be on the field. If coaches don't make that decision, then they're not good football coaches. They're not making the right decision. They're not making decisions that are in the best interest of a football team winning. And this is the thing, I looked up and saw that yesterday, and I'm thinking Why? Why does this happen?"

Randle El's 5.2-yards-per-return average is 47th in the NFL. His 11 fair catches are sixth in the league. To the question of "Why does this happen?" you got me.

Here's the link to the article.http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2009/11/theismann_wants_betts_in_randl.html
 
Completely agree. Portis should be our 3rd down back - he's the best pass blocking RB in the NFL - but I don't think he's giving it much effort otherwise.
 
I think Joey T said what a lot of us here have said before.

Can't say I disagree on either count.

The quote that stuck out to me was this:

"I don't want this to be something where Ladell came in and did a wonderful job -- good grief, he really did a tremendous job -- and yet have Clinton lose his job because Ladell came in in support," Zorn said. "[Portis is] our running back, and who knows what kind of game he might have had."

I can't disagree more with Zorn. It would be one thing if Portis had looked anything like himself this season, but he has lacked any burst of speed or sudden motion.

I mean, remember when Portis had his 78-yard run? Remember that? He had one defender to beat with a blocker and STILL could not score on that play.

And I mentioned this on the blog, but do you really think Portis could have pulled off that spin move that Betts had against the Broncos? I, for one, don't.
 
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If he's mailing it in, then he should get reduced carries or sit until such time as he decides he wants to play at 100%
 
It should be all about production. Betts has produced and Portis hasn't. Decision should be simple.
 
I mean, remember when Portis had his 78-yard run? Remember that? He had one defender to beat with a blocker and STILL could not score on that play.

Here it is again...

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hWBnl6ZyiY[/media]

I'm not sure that Sellers didn't make it worse for Portis.
 
I doubt Portis is mailing it in, I don't think he's got the explosive burst in his legs anymore that was propelling Betts through gaps on Sunday. With a back who is quick to the hole like that they don't have to hold their blocks as long, and they can win shorter battles.
Portis might do better as the change up back.. more of a power hitter.

~Bang
 
Maybe. I wish this video included the End Zone view that they showed on TV after the run (that is what I was actually looking for and this is what I could find). From that perspective it looked like if Portis had gone back to the inside he would have given a couple of chasing defenders a much better angle to get him. I remember thinking at the time that he had gotten all there was to get without Sellers stoning that one guy ahead of them.

*shrug*

It is all conjecture. What happened, happened. Anything else is just us guessing.
 
Can't say that I disagree. Taking guys like Portis, Randle El, and Rogers out is smart. They aren't going to be here next season anyway. Well wait, they shouldn't be
 
The Redskins offensive line improved because each of the 5 players were put in against Denver at their natural positions.

Jones is a left tackle, Heyer is a right tackle. Rinehart is a guard and Montgomery is back at center behind Rabach.

I think it is clear that Portis is no longer a 30 carry back and the team will need to lean on Betts and Cartwright until the offseason.

With Portis, though, the diminishing of his lead role is going to have to be watched.

I can see Portis lashing out 2 or 3 weeks from now if he is still part of a rotation.

Zorn doesn't look like he is strong enough to handle a confrontation with #26.
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With Portis, though, the diminishing of his lead role is going to have to be watched.

I can see Portis lashing out 2 or 3 weeks from now if he is still part of a rotation.

Zorn doesn't look like he is strong enough to handle a confrontation with #26.
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Funny but I was thinking just the opposite. Zorn has never really been in a stronger position. I mean, what does he have to lose? His job is, the way things stand right now, gone at the end of the season. He has been publicly embarrassed over the play calling thing. I just can't see it getting much worse for him.

I the team is winning (big IF I know), or at least performing better, with a rotation then it would be tough to argue to change it. About the only way it falls apart on him is if he is ordered from above to play Portis. That he would have to comply with or risk being fired for cause and I doubt that Danny or Vinny would force it if the team is obviously doing better then with CP as the main back.
 

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