Season Awards: Offensive MVP (skill positions)

[Luxorreb]

Gotta say Portis cause without him wouldn't have even been 1 dimensional.

[joecrisp]

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.

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.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

I can't wait to see what it will be like to have enough blocking to get the passing game going and then to see how many yards Portis runs for. I'm going to make a bold prediction like I did in pre-season when I said we would make it to the NFC Championship game. I bet Portis runs for 1600+ yards next season with a rejuvenated offensive line and passing game.

[Redskins8588]

Originally Posted by celts32

Okay point well taken. You are reminding me of other bad seasons by RB's. This does not mean Portis had a good season though, it just means that there have been other RB's who have had less than steller seasons yet accumulated a lot of yards.

I don't hate Portis at all. i just don't think in any way he had a quality season. I think he would tell you himself he had a bad season. What are we trying to cover up here? Hopefully, next season with improved OL play Portis will once again be the dangerous RB that he was in Denver.

Just so everyone knows I did vote for Cooley, but I just dont see how Portis had a decent to good season only for the sloe fact that this offense is nothing like Denvers. Now I do understand that Gibbs used zone blocking at times, but still the offense is not the same. Portis got 1315 yards and 5 touchdowns on a brand new team in a brand new system with a brand new coach.

As for the other RB's that I mentioned they were already established on the team that they played for, nothing was new to them!!!

[Redskins_P]

Originally Posted by Redskins8588

Portis got 1315 yards and 5 touchdowns on a brand new team in a brand new system with a brand new coach.

Good point. I agree 100%.

[SkinsRock]

Portis did well getting over 1300 yards in a new system with little to no passing game and a O-line that I wouldn't say was bad, but certainly was not dominant. I expect better next season. At least the same amount of yards, but with fewer carries (due to splitting more with Betts combined with actually having a downfield passing game), which of course would give him a better average.
Ramsey provided the spark that we needed, and was 3-1 against teams not in the conference finals....4-0 if that fu#%ing last-minute fluke play in Dallass didn't happen....but I digress. He showed improvement, and that he can be a QB that manages the game and doesn't have to try to win it himself.
Cooley was basically the man that came out of nowhere. Some people expected him to be decent, but not as good as he was. And he's only gonna get better the more time he's in the system and as they design more plays around his strengths.
All that said, I'm torn on who to pick. I actually thought about "writing in" the Defense as offensive MVP because they always kept us in the game, but decided against it because until late in the season, they didn't score points like other dominant defenses tend to do.
I'll go with Portis since he still did pretty well despite the mediocre line play and lack of a passing game....which I expect both to be vastly improved next season.

[Redskins8588]

Portis also was 3rd overall for yards from scrimage this season with 1550, he was behind Tiki Barber and Shawn Alexander.

[Shane]

Defenses stacked the box to such a degree that Portis had little room to run. Also the blocking schemes were not optimal for his talents as mentioned, though they began to change that. It's a team game and I wonder how many running backs would have gotten more yards under the same circumstances. I'm sure that Portis has responsibility as well, however, and could have played better. With Jansen and maybe a new center? he will be very significantly better next year with his yards per carry and total yards from scrimmage.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

I'm preparing for anneurism when we finally see Portis run like we all know he can next year behind a rejuvenated line.