How Special is Alfred Morris

I respect a lot of your scouting and analysis. In getting ready for Sunday, I would like to know more about Morris.

Morris seems to be the more unheralded key for the Skins.

Here is the deal, following the Seahawks, I am pretty familiar with the success that Shanahan has in running backs putting up numbers.

I remember when they traded Clinton Portis to the Skins for Champ Bailey. My buddy (a redskins fan) was pretty happy because they were getting a big time back (I think he felt like Portis was the best all around back in the league at the time). While he did have a nice career at Washington, Denver got the best cover corner in the league and I have a feeling Shanahan was chuckling the whole time.

Anyway, Denver continued to church out great numbers from the running back position.

So, are there attributes with Morris that make him a special back regardless of where he plays, or is this more about playing against Shanahan's offense with a special emphasis on the QB because he is a special athlete (zone reads, etc).

Maybe a more succinct question would be, does Alfred Morris possess unique talent that would have brought him success if he had been drafted by anybody else, or is this a case where Shanahan is simply doing his thing?

Morris gets lost with all the RGIII hoopla . . . That being said he is a really good, powerful running back that plays faster than his combine numbers would suggest. He is very good at finding the cut back lanes nad hitting them hard and is a load to bring down. Kind of reminds me a bit of Lynch actually. He does benefit from playing with RGIII as the thread of RGIII running can make defenders hesitant, but was very effective even when the Skins played Cousins against a semi decent Browns defense . . . if it wasn't for Wilson or RGIII Alfred Morris would have a good shot at offensive rookie of the year . . .

Alfred Morris (along with Russell Wilson) was one of the guys that Doug Baldwin called out as being a future star and sleeper before the draft. Baldwin may have a future as a GM.

I just read an article that uses those so called "Advanced Metrics" that said that Morris was overrated. Apparently his EPA is 13th in the NFL. The only good point they made was with RG3's impact in the offense. With Griffin in the line up, his yards per carry was well above 4.5. The game in which Rg3 didnt play, it plummented to 3.2.

I go by the eye test. My eyes tell me that Morris runs over people and breaks tackles. I think he is 3rd in the NFL in yards after contact.

rdskns4eva":1qolfss0 said:

I just read an article that uses those so called "Advanced Metrics" that said that Morris was overrated. Apparently his EPA is 13th in the NFL. The only good point they made was with RG3's impact in the offense. With Griffin in the line up, his yards per carry was well above 4.5. The game in which Rg3 didnt play, it plummented to 3.2.

I go by the eye test. My eyes tell me that Morris runs over people and breaks tackles. I think he is 3rd in the NFL in yards after contact.

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in the game against the Browns the Browns sold out to stop the run . . . once Cousins got in a groove and the Browns had to respect the pass a little the running lanes opened up a bit for him . . . if i remember correctly he did nothing on the ground in the first half, but was pretty good in the second . . . there is no question that RGIII makes him better, but he is darn good nonetheless . . .

kobebryant":30i9xioq said:

Alfred Morris (along with Russell Wilson) was one of the guys that Doug Baldwin called out as being a future star and sleeper before the draft. Baldwin may have a future as a GM.

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Baldwin played ball with Morris as a kid. They are friends. He happened to be correct. I don't think Almo is all that special- I just think RG3 commands so much extra attention because of how electric he is. With RG3 out vs a below avg run stopping cleveland team- morris rushed 27 times for only 87 yards which is 3.2 yards per carry.

Baldwin was also asked who would be the starting QB in training camp and he said something via twitter along the lines of "Flynn or Tavaris- Wilson is good too but has a lot to learn". I wouldn't give him GM considerations based on a friendship bias that went well.

He seems to have that ideal mix of power and speed. Clearly he is a well-rounded feature back. Schematic fit is also clearly a huge plus for him. Seems like a really good player to me, and one who should have been drafted well earlier. He is not the ultra elite athlete that a guy like Trent Richardson is, but clearly he has plenty of ability.

Metrics or not, if you're churning out +1600 yards a season, you're doing pretty good. Being the featured back in the league's leading rushing offense certainly makes him pretty special. I think he has a number of very excellent years ahead of him, which is a great thing for Washington. One position they're not going to need an upgrade in, without the draft picks to do so.

Thanks for the responses guys. It's hard for me to find a lot of info on him, other than stats this year. I did look at his scouting combine numbers (which weren't all that impressive). In fact, I think in the snapshot they had him figuring to be a back up fullback.

Starman, love you avatar. Those are some really cute kids, you are a lucky man.

Chukarhawk":yz9k6oob said:

Starman, love you avatar. Those are some really cute kids, you are a lucky man.

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Thanks! I hope to have an update soon. I just got the boys Wilson and Thomas jerseys for Christmas. Now, if they could just put the football down for a second and stand still so I can get them in the same picture with their sister!!

I might even get their other sister in there next time, if she'll cooperate...

When teams are better at taking away RG3's running, I think that'll help take away some of Morris's. He had a great year, no two ways about that; but I'll be curious to see what his numbers are next year.

RolandDeschain":1jtvebbo said:

When teams are better at taking away RG3's running, I think that'll help take away some of Morris's. He had a great year, no two ways about that; but I'll be curious to see what his numbers are next year.

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buts its not RGIII's running that make Morris better . . . its the threat of RGIII running that does . . . and unless the Skins stop running him completely that threat will still be there . . . the designed runs were far less in the second half of the season than they were in the first, but will be part of the offense going forward to help keep defenses guessing

Yea, Rg3 really doesnt run a lot, all it takes is a couple of gashes for 10 or yeards before the defenses starts staying on the perimiter to keep RG3 from getting the edge. Once that happens, you're playing run defense with 10 people.

SkinsGuru":136ovb1o said:

buts its not RGIII's running that make Morris better . . . its the threat of RGIII running that does . . .

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I know. That's my whole point. When teams aren't as scared of it because they've figured out how to somewhat contain it, it's not as much of a threat and won't leave as many holes, or as big of holes, for Morris.

Morris is damn good. He breaks tackles. there isn't much more to say.

I think of it like how we use the zone read..... just think what lynch's numbers would look like if we implemented that zone read in game 1...
Whats he at 11 yards a carry since implementing it? how many carries? even at 6 or 7 ypc is pretty impressive. right?

I think without rg3' the 3.2 ypc that he got with cousins is indicative of what he would do without him.
doesn't mean anything because rg3 is playing .... but... I would also suspect to see lynch's numbers drop significantly without Wilson.

RolandDeschain":kkrzdn7q said:

When teams are better at taking away RG3's running, I think that'll help take away some of Morris's. He had a great year, no two ways about that; but I'll be curious to see what his numbers are next year.

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I can't remember where I read it now, but someone pointed out that Shanahan will probably give half his carries next year to some other 6th round back. It's just what Shanahan does.

I have no idea how he is getting yards, I have to go with shanahan doing his thing on this one except for one thing, tacklers fall of off him for some reason.

He is not explosive like lynch, not fast, does not have a change of pace. He would be the third option in our offense behind Turbin in terms of measurables, no question.

Immeasurables its a different story. He complements rgiii perfectly, runs tough and smart finding open lanes and he is coated in vaseline or something because defenders just slip off him. I am dying to see how our defense stops this kid.

Would Turbin have had a season like Morris if he was drafted by Washington? I mean are they comparable as runners? I know its probably hard to answer, but Robert was looking pretty decent pre-season when getting a few more carries (albeit some against backups) and has had a few good runs throughout the season. Just wondering cause as huge for us as Marshawn is (no hate on him at all) I would kind of like to see a smidge more of Turbin.