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.
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