Running Game

Tim Hightower hopes to bounce back from injury in 2012

On Sunday, the Skins resigned Tim Hightower to a one-year deal, as they look for a repeat performance from the first five games of 2011 before Hightower went out because of a season-ending knee injury. Through those five games, Hightower rushed for 321 yards and 1 touchdown, as well as 10 catches and 1 receiving touchdown. Not bad for 5 games. Luckily, for the Skins, rookie Roy Helu took over and was a fine, if not better, replacement for Hightower. The Redskins finished 25th in the league last year in rushing yards, averaging 100.9 yards a game. This leaves a lot of room for improvement, if we are finding the silver lining. However, if you've read my previous posts, this could be an OL problem.
Hightower seems excited to return to the team by tweeting from his account (@Tim_Hightower) "I'm baaaaaaaack http://pic.twitter.com/9qG4TDTB"which includes a picture of Hightower rocking his Skins hat. I'm sure no Redskins fans are complaining about this resigning. Me included. Aside from his Tiki Barber syndrome of fumbling, Hightower is a solid downhill runner with good vision. Also, his pass-blocking skills are a key part of his game. And believe me, this is needed. It's good to have an experienced back on a team to do the dirty work; tough 3rd down yards, a good chip block, or a sack saving block.

Second-year back Evan Royster

        With two second-year backs in Helu and Evan Royster out of Penn State, and this year's 6th round pick, Alfred Morris, it will be good to have Hightower back there. This brings up the issue of the 53 man roster though. The team will not keep 4 backs on the active roster. This leaves a couple of options for the Skins. One would be to move either Royster or Morris down to the practice squad, and keep three on the active roster. The other would be to possibly convert Morris to a fullback and keep 3 backs on the roster. I'm an advocate for the second option. I've watched Royster play since he won the Virginia AAA State Championship with Westfield High School in 2007, and I've seen his electricity and power coming out of the backfield. The man can run the ball. And also, Helu just has so much potential. Watching him last year, gave me hope for this team. With his crisp cuts and sharp turns, there is a lot to work with for the Shanahans. With Coach Shanny's zone-blocking scheme, the potential for these backs is endless. With the addition of new QB Robert Griffin III, this could be deadly for defenses. 

Rob Ryan and his long, flowing locks

The NFC East has some tough DL players, with DeMarcus Ware of the Cowboys and Justin Tuck of the Giants. However, with the use of play-action passing, straight head on running, and Griffin's speed, there are many weapons for defenses to focus on. That's a lot of time in the film room. Have fun with that, Rob Ryan....

Shanahan Names Griffin Starter...Too Soon?

As everyone is well aware, our beloved Redskins drafted Robert Griffin III with the second overall pick in this year's draft. Head Coach Mike Shanahan needed no time to name Griffin the starter, by coming out on Sunday and saying, "He's the starter, period." This is a little interesting to me. This eliminates all competition and drive to get the job in training camp. Where does this leave newly drafted Kirk Cousins and newly resigned Rex Grossman? I think this might be a little soon to name someone the starter. Especially a rookie, after 5 practices. A interesting call by Ol' Shanny. But, on the other hand, the Redskins did give up copious draft picks for Griffin. This is the main reason that this happened, in my opinion. What would be the point of drafting him for him to sit on the bench? Unfortunately for Kirk Cousins, he won't have a chance for the starting job....but the backup job? Absolutely.

Cousins (12) and Griffin (10) throw at practice

Now we are left with one of the most intense backup QB battles since Patrick Ramsey vs. Tim Hasslebeck. A true thriller indeed. In one corner, Sexy Rexy Grossman. And in the other, the Golden Spartan Kirk Cousins. Who knows what the future will hold for this battle? But in all seriousness, this might be a tough decision for Mike and Kyle.  Grossman, who was a product of Steve Spurrier's "Fun and Gun" offense, underachieved last year in the starting role. But, he was signed to a 1 year, 1.3 million dollar contract in March. With the drafting of Cousins, one can only assume that Grossman will take the back seat to him. This would make sense, since they are planning for the future. Only time will tell, to see who comes out on top! Or....one under the top.