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Originally Posted by Daseal
Good post, Joe.
I agree, Offiss. I think we need a homerun threat at Running Back. We need a guy that can change the game in an instant which is something Portis can do. I wouldn't be suprised to see Gibbs have a lot of changes in his offense, he's probably been thinking about a lot of things he'd like to try while in Nascar. You can always quit coaching, but you can't ever stop thinking about it. So I hear!
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The idea of Gibbs having an all-around home run threat like Portis really is pretty tantalizing. The fact that it's reality just gives me goosebumps...
I agree that Gibbs has probably been cooking up some pretty nifty little wrinkles in his time off, dreaming up sadistic new ways to torture defensive coordinators. That daydream tinkering has most certainly shifted into full-throttle brainstorming since Gibbs returned as coach and began assembling the talent that will constitute his new racing machine.
While the basic, tried-and-true components of his one-back offense will most certainly be evident, I expect that we will see an evolved, more developed manifestation of the beast that wreaked terror on opponents in the '80s and early '90s. Gibbs has sat back and watched the league's offensive wunderkinds devise explosive, 21st century versions of his offense, taking note of what has worked and what hasn't, and how he would improve upon their revisions of his master work.
The strongest catalyst for change, however, will be the skillsets of the various new weapons he has at his disposal. When you have an F-22, for example, you don't waste a whole lot of flight hours in the old F-4. That analogy applies to both the offensive gameplan and the personnel. Gibbs will shape his strategy and tactics to maximize the talents of his QBs, RBs, WRs, TEs and blockers.
In the case of Clinton Portis, Gibbs will find a way to distribute his touches-- on the ground and in the air-- over the course of each game, and the season as a whole, so as to optimize the damage Portis inflicts on defenses, while keeping his body in peak operating condition. I suspect that will translate to a workload similar to what George Rogers got in the '86 season, where Portis will get close to 300 carries, while the other backs combine for the remaining 200 or so carries. In that scenario, Portis would total around 1650 rushing yards, with 15-16 TDs, assuming that he maintains his career average of 5.5 yards per carry and .052 TDs per carry.