Portis concerns

yes i know he's great. and you guys are gonna laugh but...

i been playing ESPN 2k5 like a madman, fantastic game, and been counter-treying Clinton Portis all over the field. the guy is amazing, and in game terms, he's a 'balanced' back, which means he's just as good at stiff arms and shoulder charges as he is at spins and jukes. good stuff. but halfway through the regular season i'm realizing something that affects REALITY...

Clinton Portis is small.

tough sure, but small. no amount of toughness will affect gravity. he's the same size as Trung Canidate! he definitely won't be pushing any piles, or running over first contact when going between the tackles, and isn't that what Gibbs is used to? is it gonna be Rock on every 4th-1? of course he'll draw up the perfect playbook for his personnel, but if he's gonna be used like i think Gibbs will use him then long term durability concerns me as well.

i never watched Denver games (certainly wont now, hurts too much to see Champ). all i know is he's great but i dont know how he plays. did the Broncos have a fullback? did they throw Portis in on short yardage just the same, if so how did he fare? i'm super excited about this guy, but maybe i'm just old-school and clearly not over Stephen Davis...

He may not be a big back but he does run with quite a bit of power for someone his size.

He's not afraid of contact and he does break his share of tackles.

You kind of answered your own question, Gibbs will tailor the offense to suit his personnel. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the offense Gibbs runs this year looks totally different than the one we are used to. I'm sure the basics will be there, the motion, the formations, etc., but with a ton of new wrinkles.

I can also guarantee that one of the offenses Gibbs closely studied this offseason was the Broncos. One, because he wanted to see what sort of plays Portis excels in and two because Denver over the years has been the NFL benchmark for running games.

Illdefined, I can certainly understand your concern about Portis' size, but you have to remember that Joe Gibbs is an offensive genius. He won the Superbowl with not only 3 different quarterbacks, but three different running backs as well. Each had their own talents which Gibbs catered to. So the new running attack isn't going to necessarily be better or worse than the old one, just different.
As far as durability goes, Barry Sanders (one of the greatest backs of all time) was only 5'8", 200 lbs., while Clinton Portis is actually a bigger back at 5'11", 205 lbs. He can draw some comparisons to Barry, considering his shifty, "ankle breaking" running style. He has the speed and shiftiness to avoid most direct hits (his 5.5 yds. per carry just go to show this fact). As a running back he has all of the essentials and although he may not be as big as some other backs, his variety of other skills (which includes great hands) will propel him to the top of the game for a while.

I think Portis might be bigger than Byner was when he was playing. Can someone check on that?

Regardless Portis plays with a lot of heart and he's running behind a pretty good o-line. I'm sure he'll have some bumps and bruises here and there, but he's a durable back.

Even though Gibb's usually used a power back, I alway's felt he would have been better suited with a break away type of back, reason, those big back's running behind the hog's used to see alot of day light, and could have accumulated more yard's if they had that 5th gear, Portis has that gear, I think he will be more productive in this offense than any back Gibb's has ever had.

Portis is a very strong guy for his size, he doesn't really lack stregth, what he lack's is bulk, but with his moves and ecceleration will make him hard to get a hold of, and your not going to arm tackle him, the only thing he won't do for you, is push a pile, but he will slither through any crack in the front line, plus remember the success smaller back's with speed had under Gibb's, ricky ervin's comes to mind, Joe Washington, and Kelvin Bryant, both had success but more so as reciever's, because we had primary back's, and neither of those guy's where pure runner's like Portis, plus Portis gives Gibb's more of an elimate of surprise, he can throw to him at any time, Gibb's doesn't have to tip his hand on 3rd down, or when it's 1st and very long, Portis can do it all, and very effectivly I might add.

I think Portis might be bigger than Byner was when he was playing. Can someone check on that?

Regardless Portis plays with a lot of heart and he's running behind a pretty good o-line. I'm sure he'll have some bumps and bruises here and there, but he's a durable back.


Byner had about 20lbs. on Portis.

As Matty and Winskins mentioned, the key is Joe Gibbs. He knows how to design an offense around his players talents, and that is exactly what he'll do. Actually, I could see this offense being a lot more pass-oriented than many people think, because of the threat of Portis in the backfield (as well as the great depth at WR). Don't get me wrong, he'll still get his carries, but because of that, he'll bring the defense up and open things up for our QB to get the ball to Coles and co.......he may not have quite as many carries as a bigger back, but could very possibly gain more yards.

I dont think coach Gibbs will run Portis like the dolphins bruised ricky williams. we will have a balanced attack he will get carries but coach Gibbs is too smart to wear him out.

Portis is tough. Hes small in height but its still built. He doesnt play like his size, he does run pepole over. THe only concern that I have with Portis, and I said this before he was drafted, that hes going to be an elite back in teh NFL, he'll probably break a bunch of records, but hes not going to have a very long career because of the abuse he puts on himself.

I hope im wrong, but he is small and runs up the gut as if he was ricky williams. Hopefully that will just be a maturity thing where he learns how to protect his body more and doesnt get dinged up as easy. But in the meantime I dont want any back other than portis in on 4th and 1.

Gibbs won't run him in to the ground either, Betts and the other backups will play a significant role in this offense.