Commanders Post at The Warpath - View Single Post - Should We or Could We Draft Steve Slaton from West Virginia

theJBexperience · 10-30-2007, 11:36 AM

I've been considering the possibility of drafting an RB a lot this season, for a number of reasons.

We may have to face the fact that Clinton Portis is on the decline. He's had a lot of carries in this league and a lot of tough yards. That wears on any player, even the calibre of one like Portis. Yes, the O-line has been decimated and not opening a lot of holes for him, but CP looks to have lost some explosiveness and elusiveness when holes are there, and even if they're there or not, he just can't make players miss like he used to or break tackles. Him not having a carry over 20 yards is evidence of that. He set out this year to prove everyone wrong that the injuries haven't taken a toll on him and he still has his game breaking ability. Unfortunately, we haven't seen it.

Ladell Betts is a good back, but he's never been a great back. I think he would be best in taking the bulk of the carries in Saunders system, while a younger back learns. He's older than Portis and has had injury issues himself and even if he could be a premiere back in this league it could only be for season or two at best, and his window of opportunity is definitely closing.

So, why not consider taking a tailback in the draft? Most of the offense is funnelled through a game breaking tailback in Saunders system. There's not any really impressive WRs coming out in this year's draft. There's plenty of good tailbacks. More than likely, a great back is going to drop, and Saunders was able to find Larry Johnson late in the draft a few years back. Having a Darren McFadden, Steve Slaton, or Ray Rice in the backfield during JC's prime would be better than an aging Portis, Betts, or a free agent reach.

I said earlier in my post that Saunders system needs to be funnelled through the right back. We know there's been murmurings of Saunders' view that Portis isn't him, and if Betts were to get his shot, it probably wouldn't be for that long because of his age. Let Saunders go out and get his guy. Williams has been able to do that for a while, and yes, it's been out of necessity, but it's clearly more of a necessity that our stagnant offense get some life. I know fingers will be pointed to the OL injuries again, but when those guys were healthy, we weren't an explosive offense. We were definitely better but not explosive. And with all the injury problems, we still have three better offensive linemen in there right now than KC ever had on their line when Saunders was there.

10-30-2007, 11:36 AM	#15
theJBexperience Impact Rookie Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Boone, NC Posts: 579	Re: Should We or Could We Draft Steve Slaton from West Virginia I've been considering the possibility of drafting an RB a lot this season, for a number of reasons. We may have to face the fact that Clinton Portis is on the decline. He's had a lot of carries in this league and a lot of tough yards. That wears on any player, even the calibre of one like Portis. Yes, the O-line has been decimated and not opening a lot of holes for him, but CP looks to have lost some explosiveness and elusiveness when holes are there, and even if they're there or not, he just can't make players miss like he used to or break tackles. Him not having a carry over 20 yards is evidence of that. He set out this year to prove everyone wrong that the injuries haven't taken a toll on him and he still has his game breaking ability. Unfortunately, we haven't seen it. Ladell Betts is a good back, but he's never been a great back. I think he would be best in taking the bulk of the carries in Saunders system, while a younger back learns. He's older than Portis and has had injury issues himself and even if he could be a premiere back in this league it could only be for season or two at best, and his window of opportunity is definitely closing. So, why not consider taking a tailback in the draft? Most of the offense is funnelled through a game breaking tailback in Saunders system. There's not any really impressive WRs coming out in this year's draft. There's plenty of good tailbacks. More than likely, a great back is going to drop, and Saunders was able to find Larry Johnson late in the draft a few years back. Having a Darren McFadden, Steve Slaton, or Ray Rice in the backfield during JC's prime would be better than an aging Portis, Betts, or a free agent reach. I said earlier in my post that Saunders system needs to be funnelled through the right back. We know there's been murmurings of Saunders' view that Portis isn't him, and if Betts were to get his shot, it probably wouldn't be for that long because of his age. Let Saunders go out and get his guy. Williams has been able to do that for a while, and yes, it's been out of necessity, but it's clearly more of a necessity that our stagnant offense get some life. I know fingers will be pointed to the OL injuries again, but when those guys were healthy, we weren't an explosive offense. We were definitely better but not explosive. And with all the injury problems, we still have three better offensive linemen in there right now than KC ever had on their line when Saunders was there.