ESPN.com's Top RB Duos No Portis/Betts

[81+83+84=Posse]

It absolutely blows my mind that they don't list Portis and Betts. They give you Barber and Jones, though Jones hasn't played a down in the league. They give you Parker and Mendenhall, though Mendenhall hasn't played a down in the league. And they also give you Jones and Duckett. No comment lol.

[I]Dynamic Duos

Minnesota's Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor
The Vikings had the NFL's No. 1 run offense last season for many reasons, but their success starts with the guys who carry the rock. Peterson burst onto the scene as a rookie and showed he is the league's most physical runner between the tackles. What makes him even more dangerous is the power-speed combination he possesses. His ability to run over the defender without losing momentum makes him the most feared pure downhill runner in the NFL. That said, Taylor is no slouch. Two years ago, when Peterson was still in college, Taylor was a 1,300-yard rusher. Last season, he carried the load when Peterson was injured and finished the season with a 5.4 yard-per-carry average and seven touchdowns. Though neither Peterson nor Taylor is a pure speed back, each complements the other very well behind the best offensive line in the NFL.

Jacksonville's Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew
The Jaguars' backs make up one of the most explosive duos in the NFL. They pressure defenses to remain in position all day because any mental breakdowns or one guy's getting in the wrong gap can result in a big play at any time. Taylor is as healthy as he has been at any point in his career. His vision and ability to make the first defender miss in the hole look as good as they did earlier in his career. Jones-Drew plays much faster than he times and is a threat to score any time he touches the football.

Dallas' Marion Barber and Felix Jones
As soon as the Cowboys selected Jones, I started envisioning how this backfield would shape up in 2008. The rest of the NFC East likely started having nightmares. Now that Julius Jones has left for Seattle, Barber is now the lead back. He is one of the most physical runners in the NFL and leaves a mark when he runs over a defender. Jones' quickness and speed make him the perfect complement. One of the toughest adjustments a defense has to make is when it goes from seeing a physical, between-the-tackles runner to a speed guy. In terms of pure explosiveness when combining strength and speed, this duo is unmatched.

To read the whole article:

ESPN - Teams turning to two backs, but not all are created equal - NFL

[EARTHQUAKE2689]

how is Seattle up there and two teams with running backs that havent played in an NFL game yet

[MTK]

that's a bizarre omission

[Ijaeger]

crack, it's all about the crack

[SmootSmack]

Had this been written last year, it'd be even more peculiar to leave Portis/Betts out. It seems though that Green is anticipating what he thinks the best duos will be next season, which is why he's including rookies. And perhaps the suspects (based on much of what Zorn has said) is that Portis will be such a prominent feature of the offense that it would render Betts (and the duo) somewhat moot. But then, you could possibly make the same argument for Peterson.

I don't know that I would include Portis/Betts (or for GTripp's amusement Portis/Rock) either. My top five would probably be (in no order):

Jones-Drew/Taylor

um...and then four other duos

[Skins fan 44]

It is just ones personal opinion. If a skins fan would of wrote it we would of been on top.

[SmootSmack]

FYI. I had to amend the original post. Full reposting of ESPN Insider articles is not allowed.

[irish]

I'm not surprised. Betts is just too weak a second fiddle to CP.

[skinsfan_nn]

Originally Posted by irish

I'm not surprised. Betts is just too weak a second fiddle to CP.

I'm not surprised either........at your post.

Why am I not somehow even a little surprised in your analysis of Betts...?

CP has lost many steps from his days in Denver will never return to form, and Betts is just weak.

[irish]

Originally Posted by skinsfan_nn

I'm not surprised either........at your post.

Why am I not somehow even a little surprised in your analysis of Betts...?

CP has lost many steps from his days in Denver will never return to form, and Betts is just weak.

I didnt say anything about CP other than he can pop out one more great year but likely doesnt have 3 great seasons in him. As for Betts, besides the few games when he took over for any injured CP and ran well, what has he done thats so spectacular?

[skinsfan_nn]

Originally Posted by irish

I didnt say anything about CP other than he can pop out one more great year but likely doesnt have 3 great seasons in him. As for Betts, besides the few games when he took over for any injured CP and ran well, what has he done thats so spectacular?

And your basing your he can only pop out one more good year on what? Why would you think a 26 year old back that is coming of a great year especially with the o-line situation and healing from injuries ( and still producing 1300 yards rushing, 400 receiving...not bad huh) not be able to have at least three really solid seasons minimum left? Please explain that one.

And when Betts came in for 9 game starts in 2006 when CP went down, he had 1154 yards, 4.7 YDC not bad for a 2nd back, other than that not to much I guess. Just your generic middle of the road tandem......

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by skinsfan_nn

And your basing your he can only pop out one more good year on what? Why would you think a 26 year old back that is coming of a great year especially with the o-line situation and healing from injuries ( and still producing 1300 yards rushing, 400 receiving...not bad huh) not be able to have at least three really solid seasons minimum left? Please explain that one.

And when Betts came in for 9 game starts in 2006 when CP went down, he had 1154 yards, 4.7 YDC not bad for a 2nd back, other than that not to much I guess. Just your generic middle of the road tandem......

What great year? He was sub 3.9 YPC and fumbled 6 times.

Anyway, thats what has me worried is that he had a poor year at age 26. It was probably just the line, but I'm not sure.

[irish]

Originally Posted by skinsfan_nn

And your basing your he can only pop out one more good year on what? Why would you think a 26 year old back that is coming of a great year especially with the o-line situation and healing from injuries ( and still producing 1300 yards rushing, 400 receiving...not bad huh) not be able to have at least three really solid seasons minimum left? Please explain that one.

And when Betts came in for 9 game starts in 2006 when CP went down, he had 1154 yards, 4.7 YDC not bad for a 2nd back, other than that not to much I guess. Just your generic middle of the road tandem......

Yes Betts was great in those 9 games but like I mentioned, thats the only thing he's ever done thats note-worthy. 9 games does not a great back make.

I dont think his year was great. It was good but not great and if he keeps that up he will be doing better than most backs and Skins fans will be happy. My problem is he has been having injury problems these past few seasons and I just dont see the o-line getting that much better (sure some of the injured guys will be back but they are a year older and likely will go down again) so I think what CP is doing now is the best he can do (which aint bad) but IMO his career has peaked and he is on the down-side now.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by irish

I'm not surprised. Betts is just too weak a second fiddle to CP.

I guess he sucks wind too?

[GTripp0012]

3 of those 5 are really really poor choices. How about LaDainian Tomlinson and Jacob Hester/Darren Sproles? Or Brian Westbrook and Lorenzo Booker? Or Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw? Or what about Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood?

To make things worse, three of the teams he chose for poor duos are arguably better than those last three teams he chose for great duos. With 32 teams to choose from, you aren't supposed to be this wrong.

I get that it's an opinion article and everything, but good opinion articles make people consider other possibilities even if they disagree with the conclusion. This one just makes me wonder what NFL Jeremy Green watches.