The Redskins running game has struggled to say the least this year, and could use an upgrade. Apparently Mike Holmgren has all but eliminated the possibility of signing Peyton HIllis or using the Franchise tag on him. Should the Redskins look to get into the Peyton Hillis market next offseason?

Remember Mike Shanahan originally drafted him in Denver. Thoughts?

I’m not so sure. I think that their current trio of running backs is not bad. Torrain’s big knock is that he seems very prone to being hurt. Hightower isn’t exceptional, but I see him as a down-hill runner who seems to get positive yards. And he seems pretty good in passing situations. Looks good in pass protection. Roy Helu is the one I’m most excited about (if there’s any to get excited about). He is a rookie, and in college he was pretty effective. I’ll be curious to see what he does with an increase in touches now with Hightower out for the year. I think that this is the time for Helu to shine if he wants to be a primary ball carrier in this league. I’d wanna wait and see what develops with him before I would start trying to plan on acquiring a veteran running back for next season. They are lacking talent at a lot of places. I would think that they should try to fill those other needs first, before spending too much on a running back. They could always fill the slot with some stop gap measures (guys like Torrain and Hightower) until the meet other team needs. I see them as a long way away from really contending for much. I’m putting an article together on what I feel their offseason needs are, and the direction I think they should go in if you’re interested in reading it. http://www.mdsportsvoice.blogspot.com. Check it out and let me know what you think. It’ll be posted early next week.

No i agree they have other focuses (like getting an offensive line), but i’m not a huge Torain fan (since he doesn’t block or catch the ball too well), given his inconsistencies and injuries. And Hightower is a FA, he should come back cheap due to the knee, but it is an unknown how effective he’ll be. I’d look to see if you can pry a pick for Torain from someone and spend some cash on Hillis. He can help as we presumably break in a new QB.

Like your blog! You and steve could talk for days I’m sure about Redskins draft needs, etc.

I was fine with this trio too…but I’m honestly really not a Torain fan at all. Even on his Rams games….he’s just too inconsisent and hurt too often! I really liked Hightower and I’m really upset he’s out for year with injury! I hope we bring him back and he bounces back!

I would like Hightower, Helu and Hillis but not if we have to sacrifice too much for Oline upgrades…that’s first priority!

But Hillis would allow to keep just one fullback…right? So 4 RB/FB total as opposed to 5 this year!

-Megan
Hey thanks!! I just got it off the ground this past week. I used to write for a school athletics blog when I was at University of Maryland. I liked it so much I figured I’d give it a shot at the pro aspect of the game. Wanna try to keep most of my stuff geared toward local sports. I’m glad you checked it out and liked it. That’s always great to hear. Come back soon, both of you. And if there’s a particular article on there you like let me know. I love reader comments. I made quite a few friends at school through my blog. I agree with you about Torain. He sometimes seems to be a very potent runner. But then just as he looks on the verge of being solid he comes up lame. I don’t get it. And Hillis would allow just one fullback on the roster. I would totally love to see Mike Sellers blocking for Peyton Hillis. That’s about 500 pounds of muscle running at you. Linebackers get outta the way!!

Steve
– very good point about Torain and Hightower. Torain is a pretty poor blocker. He never seems to pick up the blitz. He looks like he’s never quite sure where the pressure is coming from. And Hightower being a free agent next year does open up the ‘Skins to try some things. A Hillis wouldn’t be a bad move. It would give them some depth. And a proven rusher. I just hope Helu works out to be at least a productive running back, even if he is just 50% of a platoon in the coming years. That would help alot. Washington always seems to have problems with depth at almost every position. I don’t understand why they can’t seem to find some low-cost quality back-ups. i know they exist, apparently just not in DC. hahaha.

That’s awesome Jeff…we’re looking forward to reading your stuff! Especially DC stuff! This site is for fans of any team….but my family is diehard DC fans (unfortunately…ha!)
Anyways, we’re really trying to build this site for sports fans AND bloggers like yourself to have a voice in many different ways. But for bloggers we want to give them another outlet for people to read their blog. We’re going to be rolling out some features this fall that will help bloggers like yourself…so you’ve come to the right place! We’ll keep you posted!

And agree with you on Helu…I think he will be an amazing part of a RB platoon for a long time! Now to find 2 more the complement him best…I hope Hightower is one of them. And I’m kind of over Mike Sellers. I think a Hightower-Helu-Hillis-Young RB/FB platoon would be perfect (and relatively young!)

More importantly they need to address offensive line…and as you mentioned including QUALITY depth at all positions, but especially offensive line. We always get hit with injuries there the worst.