NFL.com blogger Gregg Rosenthal recently took a whack at untangling the Redskins’ three-way competition running back. Like most of us who follow the team on a daily basis have done, he ended up throwing his hands up in the air and saying that he didn’t have a clue.
Rosenthal said that “ [Tim] Hightower is good at every facet of his position but not great at any,” and that Roy Helu Jr. “looked dynamic at times last year.” What was interesting, though, was his take on Evan Royster, who averaged 5.9 yards per carry last year (328 yards on 56 carries).
“Royster should not be overlooked,” he wrote. “He finished the season with two big games, and ran with more power than Helu. We went back to watch every Royster snap and he was unremarkable despite impressive numbers.”
This says a couple of things to me. One is that Royster won’t be the kind of running back who makes for a good subject for one of those slow-motion NFL Films shots of a graceful runner gliding through a defense. He’s more of a thrasher.
But it also tells me that the Redskins’ offensive line, a unit disrupted by injuries and suspension by the time Royster started carrying a heavy load, must have been performing at a fairly high level if an unremarkable back is going to average almost six yards a pop and pick up 312 yards of total offense in the last two games of the season.
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