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Originally Posted by celts32
Simple, he averaged 3.8 yards per carry. A quality NFL starting RB averages between 4 and 5 YPC. He needed 343 attempts to ammass his 1315 yards this season. By contrast he needed only 290 attempts to accumulate 1591 yards for Denver in 2003. Of the top 10 rushers in the NFL this year Portis had the lowest YPC. Seven out of the top 10 averaged at least 4.5 per carry. The 100 yards = win stat goes for all teams and all backs. Usually when a RB goes for 100 yards the team wins. This is not a stat that points to Portis's value just simply the value that running the football has in winning NFL gameplans. There are conservatively speaking at least 20 RB's in the NFL that could get 1300 yards in 343 carries. This is simply not a special season by any measn. Look I love the Redskins as much as anyone and I hope Portis is great next season but I just don't think he had a good season last year regardless of the 1300 yards.
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You're absolutely right, celts32, and I also would have put Cooley, Ramsey and Portis in that order.
Cooley was a very pleasant surprise, and was the most reliable skill player on offense. He was consistent throughout the season, and promises to be an even more valuable component of the offense in years to come. I don't think anyone expected Cooley to perform as well as he did in his rookie year.
Ramsey would have been my second choice, since the offense really began to show progress once he settled into the starting role. Without Ramsey's development into a starter, this team would have lost all hope. I really believe his progress gave the team (particularly the wide receivers) a glimmer of hope that perhaps not all was lost, and kept them from giving up completely out of sheer disgust.
At any rate, this offense has a good core of young players to build around, and will make big strides next season if the O-line gets the necessary upgrades at center and perhaps guard, and maybe an upgrade (or addition by way of subtraction) at WR. I also expect that Portis will benefit tremendously from those improvements.